The Fritz Building for Forum Affairs

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

A bit early perhaps, but since I have an updated voter roll to test out, I'm jumping things a bit before Q gavels the nomination vote to a close.  The new voter roll has a few differences besides simple updates from the last.  The biggest one is that rather than the Microsoft *.xls format, It's in the Open Document *.ods format.  Let me know if that causes accessibility problems with antiquated closed source software.  I can save in other formats, but the file won't be anywhere near as small.  Also let me know if you'd rather if I deleted the macro before upoading it next.  All it does is sort the data in the "By *" sheets.  To the existing By District, By Region, and By Party sheets, I added a By State sheet.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Since I have been informed that in the opinion of the Presiding Officer of the Senate, no vacancy will be created in District 4 when Bono becomes Secretary of the Treasury, I have no plans to hold a special election.

I have chosen to abandon the star system for determining when registrations lapse and instead to institute a system that uses the actual date of the last election voted in, regardless of whether it be a regular or special election.

I also plan on asking the Attorney General whether or not Regional elections sould be counted.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Actually it's not an open source version of Micro$oft Office, tho it is an office suite.  I would be surprised if the next version of Microsoft Office does not support the format since several governments are mandating that any software they buy be able to support open standard document formats.  However that will be then and this is now.

<voterrolls> *.ods (59K)
<voterrolls> *.xls (204K)

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Wow, just excellent Ernest. Truely the best voter list I have yet seen come out of this office.

I thank for your praise, but I think it needs improvement, and the improvement it needs most is to be longer.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Voter Rolls have been updated.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Quick question, since I can't vote for the next six months in federal elections, does that mean I will be kicked off the voter rolls?

60 Days not 6 months.

Even if it were 6 months it would be debatable.  One could argue you won't have failed to vote in any elections, because you were not eligible to vote in any, hence you won't be triggering the Article V Section 2 Clause 6 deregistration obligation for failing to vote.  Depends on how that clause is interepreted.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

As per President Ebowed',s executive order, The registration of True Democrat in Puerto Rico is revoked and he is considered to be registered in Washington.  The Department of Forum Affairs will not be accepting any further attempts to register in Puerto Rico.
In a bit of unrelated news, just to clear up some confusuion on the matter, MHS2002 is still Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs.  I never asked for his resignation when I took office as Secretary, and he has indicated that he is willing to continue serving in that post.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

As per my authority under Article VIII Section 2 Clause 2 of the Constitution, I am declaring the following:

1. Persons wishing to be on the ballot as candidates for the Senate Election scheduled to be held from April 20 18:00 EST to April 23 18:00 EST shall, in a candidacy thread on the Atlas Fantasy Government forum that will be created for that purpose, post their intent to be a candidate between March 30 18:00 EST and April 13 18:00 EST.

2. Major parties (as defined by Article V Section 1 Clause 8 of the Constitution) shall have until April 19 18:00 EST to identify which, if any, candidates they wish themselves associated with. Such endorsements must be posted in taht same thread to be noticed by the Department.  In the event that a race has only one candidate who is a member of that party, then in the absence of an indication that another candidate or no candidate is endorsed in that race, the candidate will be assumed to be endorsed by that party.

3. Candidates listed on the ballot shall be listed with their State of registration, and with any party endorsements they have received.

4. In the event that law affecting the time of elections should be changed, the times above may be changed to maintain the deadlines of 21 days, 7 days, and 1 day before the elcetion specified above.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

As per my authority under Article VIII Section 2 Clause 2 of the Constitution and other relevant electoral law, I am declaring the following:

1. Persons wishing to be on the ballot as candidates for the Special Senate Election scheduled to be held from March 30 18:00 EST to April 2 18:00 EST shall, in a candidacy thread on the Atlas Fantasy Government forum that will be created for that purpose, post their intent to be a candidate no later than March 28 18:00 EST.

2. Major parties (as defined by Article V Section 1 Clause 8 of the Constitution) shall have until March 29 18:00 EST to identify which, if any, candidates they wish themselves associated with. Such endorsements must be posted in the thread referred to in section 1 to be noticed by the Department.  In the event that a race has only one candidate who is a member of that party, then in the absence of an indication that another candidate or no candidate is endorsed in that race, the candidate will be assumed to be endorsed by that party.

3. Candidates listed on the ballot shall be listed with their State of registration, and with any party endorsements they have received.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I had thought I would have a bit more time to prepare these, but Texasgurl's abrupt resignation caused me to rush these a bit.  These are effectively the same rules I'd already announced for the special election and the upcoming Senate election, only gussied up a bit and made more general.

I'd especially like comments on how I've finessed the requrements for Presidential elections so as to reduce the departed running mate problem.  I'm taking advantage of the lack of any language in Article VIII Section 2 Clause 3 of the Second Constitution about the candidacy declaration deadline for election to the Vice Presidency to finesee the problem in a way that I think meets the letter of the law, but probably not its spirit, by moving the declaration deadlines for Vice Presidential candidates and Presidential tickets closer to the election than 7 days.


Candidate Regulations

DRAFT

Section 1. Controlling legislation.
   (a) It is the belief of the Secretary of Forum Affairs that the Constitutional and legislative provisions listed in this subsection are all of the controlling legislation for the candidacy process.
      (1) Article I Section 4 Clause 6 Sentence 1 states:
      "The Senate shall have necessary power to determine regulations for the procedure of and the form of Senate elections and shall have necessary power to determine a procedure for declaration of candidacy for such elections."
      (2) Article II Section 2 Clause 2 Sentence 1 states:
      "The Senate shall have necessary power to determine regulations for the procedure of and the form of Presidential elections and shall have necessary power to determine a procedure for declaration of candidacy for such elections."
      (3) Article VIII Section 2 Clause 2 of the Second Constitution states:
      "The Department of Forum Affairs shall be responsible for administering all elections to the Presidency and the Senate."
      (4) Article VIII Section 2 Clause 3 of the Second Constitution states:
      "The candidacy declaration deadline for election to the Presidency or the Senate shall be seven days, except for special elections to the Senate, in which case the candidacy declaration deadline shall be two days."
      (5) Article VIII Section 5 Clause 5 of the Second Constitution states:
      "The Senate shall have appropriate power via legislation to repeal or amend anything in this Section."
      (6) Section 1 Clause 5 of the Unified Electoral Code Act (F.L. 8-9) states:
      "In order for write-in votes for a candidate to qualify as countable votes, the person written-in must formally accept the write-in candidacy before the end of voting in the given election."
      (7) Section 5 Clause 2 of the Unified Electoral Code Act (F.L. 8-9) states:
      "None of the candidates defeated by the None of the Above option in the original may be declared candidates in the new election. However, a voter may still write-in any such candidate."
      (8) Section 5 Clause 3 of the Unified Electoral Code Act (F.L. 8-9) states:
      "The candidacy declaration deadline for the new election shall be the same as for special elections."
   (b) It is the intent of the Secretary of Forum Affairs that these regulations be reasonable rules for the candidacy process that are within the scope of the Constitutional and legislative provisions listed in subsection (a).

DRAFT

Section 2. Declaration Thread.
   (a) The Department of Forum Affairs shall open a thread in the Atlas Fantasy Government board for handling all declarations by candidates and parties concerning the election. The thread shall remain open until the end of the election including any runoff election resulting from the election.
   (b) In the case of a regular election the thread shall be opened 21 days before the start of the election.
   (c) In the case of a special election the thread shall be opened as soon as the need for a special election is recognized by the Department of Forum Affairs.

DRAFT

Section 3. Candidate Declarations.
   (a) Senate candidates who declare their intent to run for office before the deadline given in Article VIII Section 2 Clause 3 of the Second Constitution shall be listed on the ballot.
   (b) Vice Presidential candidates who declare their intent to run for office before 72 hours prior to the election may appear on one or more Presidential tickets listed on the ballot if selected by a Presidential candidate as a running mate.
   (c) Presidential candidates who declare their intent to run for office before seven days prior to the start of the election may appear on one or more Presidential tickets if a Vice Presidential candidate selected by the Presidential candidate agrees to appear on such a ticket with the Presidential Candidate.
   (d) Presidential tickets must be declared at least 48 hours prior to the start of the election to appear on the ballot. Such declarations may be retracted no later than 48 hours prior to the start of the election.
   (e) Candidates who retract their candidacy before the deadline for declaring their candidacy shall not appear on the ballot.
   (f) Declarations of candidates who are ineligible for the office shall be null and void. Eligibility shall be determined as of the declaration deadline.

DRAFT

Section 4. Party Declarations.
   (a) Major parties shall have until 24 hours before the start of the election to indicate their preferences and have them listed on the ballot. These preferences may be altered no later than 24 hours before the start of the election.
   (b) In the event that a major party does not indicate its preference in a Senate race, then if there is only one member of that party in that Senate race, it shall be assumed to be the sole and first preference of the party in that race.
   (c) In the event that a major party does not indicate its preference in a Presidential election, then -
      (1) if there is a single ticket that consists of a Presidential candidate and a Vice Presidential candidate who are both members of that party, that ticket shall be assumed to be the sole and first preference of that party;
      (2) if there is no ticket as described as in paragraph (1), but there is a single ticket with a Presidential candidate who is a member of that party, that ticket shall be assumed to be the sole and first preference of that party; and
      (3) if there is no ticket with a Presidential candidate who is a member of that party, but there is a single ticket with a Vice Presidential candidate who is a member of that party, that ticket shall be assumed to be the sole and first preference of that party.
   (d) Parties may indicate a preference for a single declared candidate, an ordered list of such preferences, no preference, or support for the none of the above (NOTA) option in each race. A stated preference for an undeclared candidate or ticket shall be ignored, save that if part of a list of preferences, any remaining candidates or tickets that are declared shall be listed in the same order. If no preference for the party is determined under subsections (a), (b), or (c), then it will be assumed that the party had no prefernce.
   (e) For purposes of this section, major party status and the party membership of candidates shall be that as in effect 24 hours before the start of the election.

DRAFT

Section 5. Write-In Declarations.
   Candidates who declare their intent to run after the deadline specified in section 3 and before the end of the election, or their intent to accept office but not to run before the end of the election shall not be listed on the ballot, but such declaration shall be considered a formal acceptance of a write-in candidacy in accordance with Section 1 Clause 5 of the Unified Electoral Code Act (F.L. 8-9).

DRAFT

Section 6. Runoff elections.
   (a) Candidates advancing to a runoff election do not need to redeclare such candidacy, but may withdraw their candidacy as if they were a declared victor under section 9 of the Unified Electoral Code Act.
   (b) Major parties shall be able to specifiy preferences as per section 4. In the event that no preference is stated for the runoff election then their preferences for the election causing the runoff shall be used.

DRAFT

Section 7. NOTA elections.
   (a) Candidates who were on the ballot for an office in an election that triggers a new election for that office under section 5 of the Unified Electoral Code Act may not declare their intent to run for that office in the new election. This prohibition does not apply to any other office or election.
   (b) Candidates who were on the ballot for an office in an election that triggers a new election for that office under section 5 of the Unified Electoral Code Act shall be considered as having declared their intent to accept that office unless they declare otherwise.
   (c) Candidates who had write-in votes counted for an office in an election that triggers a new election for that office under section 5 of the Unified Electoral Code Act shall be considered as having declared their intent to run unless they declare otherwise.
   (d) Any eligible person shall have until 48 hours before such an election to declare thier intent to run or to accept office, save those barred from declaring their intent to run under subsection (a).
   (e) Major parties shall be able to specifiy preferences as per section 4.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Section 2. Declaration Thread.
   (a) The Department of Forum Affairs shall open a thread in the Atlas Fantasy Government board for handling all declarations by candidates and parties concerning the election. The thread shall remain open until the end of the election including any runoff election resulting from the election.

Correct me if I am wrong, but this would require that all candidacy declarations must be made in the candidacy declaration thread would it not?

Yes, altho if I spot them elsewhere, I'll give a gentle nudge in the right direction.  I don't read every post in every thread, so this is intended more so that candidates can be assured that I will notice their declaration.   In the absence of any legislation to the contrary, I'd say that having such a requirement to appear on the ballot certainly falls within the carried over provision of Article VIII Section 2 Clause 2 placing election administration in the Department's hands.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Article VIII Section 2 Clause 2 of the Constitution gives the SoFA extremely broad latitude on how to conduct elections except where the Senate lays down the law.

This is reinforced by Section 7 Clause 2 of the United Electoral Code which states: "The administrator of a voting booth shall be free to design the ballot as he or she sees fit, as long as the content of the ballot is clear and unambiguous."

In short, I feel allowing a major party to list its preferences on the ballot and to allow people to vote using the shorthand of a party line is within my discretion.  Not only that, but I think and hope it will strengthen our currently anemic parties.

I hadn't considered the campaigning aspect, so I double checked the relevant law.  Having this single candidate special election is proving a useful dry run to work out any problems.

I've modified the text in the ballot thread to avoid any potential problems with Section 1 of UECA by making it clear that using the party-line vote option is a way of specifying a list of preferences.

It basically comes down to how narrowly or broadly campaigning is to be construed.  I do not consider what I am doing as falling within the bounds of campaigning that would be prohibited by the first sentence of Article V Section 1 Clause 3.  If it were, it would mean that every single ballot cast would be campaigning, since the information provided is nothing except lists of preferences without any electioneering as to why that list should be favored.  If campaigning be construed that broadly, then constitutionally we would have to go to a secret ballot, since every open ballot would be campaigning.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Voter rolls have been updated and uploaded!

Open Document Format (70KiB)

PDF Format (168KiB)

Excel Format (221KiB)

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Voter rolls have been updated and uploaded again!
Barring a registration happening in the next 27 minutes this is the voter roll that will be used for the Senate elections.

Open Document Format (73KiB)

PDF Format (166KiB)

Excel Format (221KiB)

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

You can vote either normally or with the party vote system.  If you do both, then the normal vote is the one that counts.  None of the Above underthe  party vote is a way to indicate that you wish to use that option for all the races you can vote in.  Granted, you'll only have one vote you can make in this election, but in two months there'll be two and perhaps someday we'll make some or all of the cabinet be elected posts.
Or rather you could have had the party vote system not been invalidated by the court.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The vote of True Democrat in the Senate Election

Here's my vote again:

District 5
1. Mr. Hobbes
2.Gabu

This was a tough choice, and I like Gabu, but I just think we should give someone else a chance.

has been invalidated for campaigning since he is explaining why he voted.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The vote of Brandon H

D4

1. WI: Mike Hawk
2. WI: Dave Naso
3. Dave Hawk
4. Mike Naso
5. All of the Above
6. Does it matter at this point?
7. Chuck Norris
8. Chuck Norris's Total Gym

would be invalidated for comedy, except there isn't any.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It's valid, altho most of the entries will ignored as they don't refer to registered voters residing in District 4.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The vote of OWL in the Senate Election

District 3
For the record:
1. PBrunsel
2. ILV

has been invalidated for failure to meet the activity requirements.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Given that this will have a knock-on effect as to the eligibility of OWL's Midwest vote, may I ask the SoFA for more detail on the reason for this invalidation please?

Current regulations require all voters to have made at least 25 posts in the 56 days before the election weekend.  OWL made a total of 7 during this time period.

I thank the Chair of the Senate Forum Affairs Committee for his timely constituent service.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The following voters with new registrations have been deregistered for failure to vote in the first Federal election that they were eligible to vote in:

Sara
Reagan Raider
Matthews
Foley
Andrew (not Andrew Berger)

The following voters with old registrations have been deregistered for failure to vote in any Federal election in the past four months.

Samstrom
Max Power
KucinichforPrez
King
Danwxman

All voters who wish to continue participating in Atlasian politics are free to reregister as a new voter if they wish.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I've decided to suspend placing party endorsements on the ballot.  The main reason I was interested in them was the party vote option, and without that, I'm not certain that it's worth putting either me or the parties thru the extra hoops involved.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Notice
It is the determination of the Department of Forum Affairs that the poll currently being held by the Vice President under the Electoral System Reform Act does not count as an "election" for the purposes of Article V Section 2 Clause 6 of the Constitution, since the occupant of an office is not being determined.  All this means is that voting in that poll does not count towards the requirement that you must vote in an election every four months or be deregistered.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Voters are reminded that Federal runoff elections under the Unified Electoral Code Act do not use IRV.  You only need list your first preference.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

John Ford deregistered back in February, Emperor only said he was leaving at that time, bur AFAIK he didn't deregister.  If he did, he did so in a manner that escaped the notice of this department.