June 2019 Federalist Convention, San Antonio, TX (NEW OFFSITE POLICES - READ!!)

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Okay to preface this our bylaws for endorsements of regional legislature are garbage. You see the way it is written was prior to the change removing automatic endorsements, that Feds would be automatically endorsed and then a number of non-Fed endorsed candidates could be endorsed up to the maximum number in that legislature if the number of declared (auto-endorsed) candidates) Fed candidates was less than said maximum number.

The way it reads now is exactly the same except the auto-endorsement part is switched to requesting the endorsement, and as such it is rather inoperable as such.

Therefore, the best approach since it is an at-large chamber would be to treat it the same as House, meaning that it is a preferential vote up to the majority of the chamber, whatever that number might be (Pretty sure it is higher than two).

The whole endorsement section needs to be rewritten.

OFFICIAL PRIMARY RESULTS PART IV

Lincoln Councilor:
Ninja
SNJC

[AustralianSwingVoter]

The whole endorsement section needs to be rewritten.

We really do need to rewrite this then given almost everyone voted against endorsing Suburban.

I think the best would be a yes-no vote on each individual candidate, then some mechanism for if we endorse too many candidates.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The whole endorsement section needs to be rewritten.

We really do need to rewrite this then given almost everyone voted against endorsing Suburban.

I think the best would be a yes-no vote on each individual candidate, then some mechanism for if we endorse too many candidates.

Here is the concern though. Six people voted for SNJC for Council, but consider this, suppose we do that and turn every election into a majority vote contest, even at-large races.

For years, this party operated on the assumption that we would run someone from each faction for the House so that each group would be represented that comprised the party. Granted this has fallen to the wayside the past year or so, but my concern is that you run into a problem where certain factions are perpetually outvoted on an ideological basis and are thus have incentive to splinter off.

You also then have to consider that you have an all regional Fed primary voting on the endorsements for a particular region. You could run into a situation where the bulk of the votes within a particular region favor an endorsement but voters from the other regions reject it.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I think the best approach is to do at-large in the same methods as their regular election STV for the number of seats being endorsed for whatever that maximum maybe.

Then if you have a situation like say a Matthew you can resort to the un-endorsement process.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

The problem here is that we voted on a couple endorsements way too early. We should vote on our endorsements for Legislatures such as for the Lincoln Council all at once. Otherwise we endorse candidates like suburban by chance even though he almost certainly wouldn't be endorsed in a total vote with all eventual Lincoln Council candidates.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

The whole endorsement section needs to be rewritten.

We really do need to rewrite this then given almost everyone voted against endorsing Suburban.

I think the best would be a yes-no vote on each individual candidate, then some mechanism for if we endorse too many candidates.

Here is the concern though. Six people voted for SNJC for Council, but consider this, suppose we do that and turn every election into a majority vote contest, even at-large races.

For years, this party operated on the assumption that we would run someone from each faction for the House so that each group would be represented that comprised the party. Granted this has fallen to the wayside the past year or so, but my concern is that you run into a problem where certain factions are perpetually outvoted on an ideological basis and are thus have incentive to splinter off.

You also then have to consider that you have an all regional Fed primary voting on the endorsements for a particular region. You could run into a situation where the bulk of the votes within a particular region favor an endorsement but voters from the other regions reject it.

With all respect Chairman, I don't find this argument to hold much stock. If different factions voted against each other factions candidates, then yes it would make sense, but such events do not occur any more. Factions do not vote against each others candidates, so this argument doesn't really make much sense.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The problem here is that we voted on a couple endorsements way too early. We should vote on our endorsements for Legislatures such as for the Lincoln Council all at once. Otherwise we endorse candidates like suburban by chance even though he almost certainly wouldn't be endorsed in a total vote with all eventual Lincoln Council candidates.

The problem here is that we also seem to have a cycle where last clustf@$k's target became the next one's aggressor and I am getting tired of watching this same movie play out in reruns.

We seem to be spending a lot of time defining ourselves based on who we are against, which is the epitome of what has ruined RL Conservatism. And yes it is great way to gain temporary street cred on Discord I guess, but is damaging long term.

You bring up an interesting point, about voting too early. I would say that our candidates have routinely been declaring too late or are too uninterested in running except after so much prodding and encouragement that they get in at the last minute. We then end up with non-mainstream candidates declaring early because "Their Chance" and then we end up with sh**t fests b/c "OMG Feds endorsed so and so" and I don't like it.

We would not have these problems and we would not have the next ASV/SNJC each cycle, and the same desire to change the rules specifically targetting the circumstances that led to a particular endorsement. if we just focused on running for office and advocating an agenda on policy.

I think instead of these piecemeal endorsement process reforms that laser target the process that produced the latest "undesirable" primary result, we need a full endorsement section rewrite that is guided by a couple of major principles:

1. Comprehensive not laser targeted
2. Practical and Simple
3. Functional long term.
4. Respects the members and ideological factions of this party. 

[AustralianSwingVoter]

The problem here is that we voted on a couple endorsements way too early. We should vote on our endorsements for Legislatures such as for the Lincoln Council all at once. Otherwise we endorse candidates like suburban by chance even though he almost certainly wouldn't be endorsed in a total vote with all eventual Lincoln Council candidates.

I think instead of these piecemeal endorsement process reforms that laser target the process that produced the latest "undesirable" primary result, we need a full endorsement section rewrite that is guided by a couple of major principles:

1. Comprehensive not laser targeted
2. Practical and Simple
3. Functional long term.
4. Respects the members and ideological factions of this party. 

I am in total agreement Mr. Chairman, indeed we do need a total overhaul. We cannot continue with a system that isn't designed for an environment without automatic endorsement.
But I do think we can't formulate a variant of the current House system, given under such system we've endorsed a candidate even though 72% of people voted against endorsing him.
What we need is a balance between the will of the majority and respect to the minority factions.
Perhaps, might I suggest, we have a majority threshold for endorsing out of party candidates, but for loyal party members a 2/3rds supermajority is needed to reject their endorsement, making sure a substantial consensus is needed to shun fellow party members.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Here's the rough idea I'm thinking of, to balance both Yankee's valid factional concerns and those of the consensus of the party.
Basically, we hold an up/down vote on endorsing each candidate who requests our endorsement.
Non-Federalists are a simple majority yes/no vote, while Federalist Party members need a 2/3rds majority against endorsement for their endorsement to be denied.
I think something along these lines would be a good workable compromise, balancing the interests and arguments of both sides.

2. Regional legislature elections. All Federalist candidates running for regional legislature positions may request the endorsement of the Federalist Party. If the total number of open seats in a regional election is larger than the number of endorsed Federalist candidates on the first Friday prior to the vote, the party may endorse candidates from non-Federalist Parties. The number of non-Federalist candidates endorsed will reflect the difference between the number of Federalist endorsed candidates and the number of available seats. A primary election shall be held for all candidates who request the endorsement of the Federalist Party. A yes/no vote on endorsement shall be held for each individual candidate. A candidate from another party shall be endorsed unless a majority of votes are cast against endorsing them, while a candidate who is a member of the Federalist party shall be endorsed unless 2/3rds of votes are cast against endorsing them.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

III. Endorsements and Primaries
1. Endorsing non-Federalist candidates. If numbers permit the Federalist Party to endorse non-member candidates, candidates seeking the party’s endorsement can submit their names for consideration in the Federalist Party’s main thread or at a party convention. Alternatively, Federalist Party members may move to endorse candidates from other parties. An endorsement vote shall thereafter be held, the logistics of which shall be at the discretion of the party executive. The party shall not be required to endorse any non-Federalist candidates. The number of non-Federalists endorsed by the party must not conflict with the maximum candidates endorsed in a given race, as stipulated in section III, subsections 2-7.
2. Regional legislature elections. All Federalist candidates running for regional legislature positions may request the endorsement of the Federalist Party. If the total number of open seats in a regional election is larger than the number of endorsed Federalist candidates on the first Friday prior to the vote, the party may endorse candidates from non-Federalist Parties. The number of non-Federalist candidates endorsed will reflect the difference between the number of Federalist endorsed candidates and the number of available seats.
3. Currently, a maximum of five candidates may be endorsed for the House of Representatives. If the Federalist Party has more than this number of incumbent representatives seeking re-election, each of the incumbents may still receive the endorsement of the party. If, on the first Friday prior to the election, the number of endorsed Federalist candidates is equal to or less than the maximum number of endorsements, no primary election shall be held and those candidates shall request the endorsement of the Federalist Party. Any Federalist candidates entering the race after this time shall not enjoy the party’s official endorsement. If, on the first Friday prior to the election, the number of declared Federalists seeking endorsement is larger than the maximum number of Federalist endorsements, a primary election shall be held. The election shall run for three (3) days and shall be decided by public IRV. If the number of endorsed Federalist candidates is less than the maximum number of endorsements, non-Federalists may receive these remaining endorsements.
4. Regional executive elections. In elections for the office of regional executive, only one candidate in each region shall receive the party’s endorsement. If, the first Friday prior to the regional election, only one Federalist candidate has declared for a given position, no primary election shall be held and that candidate may request the endorsement of the Federalist Party. If more than one Federalist candidate has declared their intention to run, a primary election shall be held. This election shall run for three (3) days and shall be decided by public IRV. If no Federalist candidate has declared, one non-Federalist may be endorsed.
5. Regional Senate elections. Federalist endorsements in regional senate elections shall follow the same model for endorsements in regional executive elections (see section III, subsection 4).
6. Special elections to the Senate or House of Representatives. Federalist endorsements in special elections to the senate shall follow the same model for endorsements in regional executive elections (see section III, subsection 4), the only difference being that Federalist candidates must declare within a reasonable time of the notice of vacancy. If more than one position is up for election, the party will offer a corresponding number of endorsements.
7. Secondary endorsements. At the discretion of the party chair, the party may run elections giving “second preference endorsements” (or similar) to non-Federalist candidates.
8. Revoking endorsements. The Federalist Party may revoke endorsements if a motion is presented with a second and is then passed by a majority vote.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

This is a work in progress and I need to sleep tonight for work tomorrow.

III: Endorsements and Primaries
Section 1: Convention Primaries and Endorsement Votes:
1. Presidential Primaries: In elections for the office of President and Vice President, only one candidate for each office on a formerly declared ticket under the laws of Atlasian elections shall receive the party’s endorsement. The Presiding Officer of the Party Convention, shall open a declaration period for President and Vice President. At the conclusion of the declaration period, a primary election shall be held lasting no longer than 72 hours and ending not more than three weeks before the end of the regular Presidential Election for that cycle. The vote shall be conducted using instant runoff voting and the winner the ticket with the most votes in the final round.

2. At-Large House Elections: In election for the House of Representatives, the the maximum number of candidates hall be pegged at a simple majority of the chamber. The Presiding Officer of the Party Convention may wave this pegged maximum subject to objection within 24 hours of the decision. A two-thirds vote shall be required to override the Presiding Officer. The Presiding Officer, shall open a declaration period for House. At the conclusion of the declaration period, a primary shall be conducted using the single transferable vote method and the winners shall be the final count finishers in order of highest to lowest place until the maximum has been hit.

3. Regional Senate and Governor: In elections for the office of regional Senator and executive, only one candidate in each region, per office, shall receive the party’s endorsement. Not more than four weeks prior to the election, a declaration period shall be called either during the convention or Midterm Gathering for said offices. Once the declaration period has concluded, a primary shall be held with the nominee being the one with the most votes in the final round for each office's primary.

4. Regional legislature elections. Not more than four weeks prior to the election, a declaration period shall be called for regional legislative elections occurring over that given period. At the conclusion of the declaration period, a primary election shall be held for these respective legislatures. A yes/no vote on endorsement shall be held for each individual candidate. A candidate from another party shall be endorsed unless a majority of votes are cast against endorsing them, while a candidate who is a member of the Federalist party shall be endorsed unless 2/3rds of votes are cast against endorsing them.

Section 2: Midterm Gatherings
1. At-Large House Elections: In election for the House of Representatives, the the maximum number of candidates hall be pegged at a simple majority of the chamber. The Presiding Officer Midterm Gathering may wave this pegged maximum subject to objection within 24 hours of the decision. A two-thirds vote shall be required to override the Presiding Officer. The Presiding Officer, shall open a declaration period for House. At the conclusion of the declaration period, a primary shall be conducted using the single transferable vote method and the winners shall be the final count finishers in order of highest to lowest place until the maximum has been hit.

2. Regional Senate and Governor: In elections for the office of regional Senator and executive, only one candidate in each region, per office, shall receive the party’s endorsement. Not more than four weeks prior to the election, a declaration period shall be called either during the convention or Midterm Gathering for said offices. Once the declaration period has concluded, a primary shall be held with the nominee being the one with the most votes in the final round for each office's primary.

3. Regional legislature elections: Not more than four weeks prior to the election, a declaration period shall be called for regional legislative elections occurring over that given period. At the conclusion of the declaration period, a primary election shall be held for these respective legislatures. A yes/no vote on endorsement shall be held for each individual candidate. A candidate from another party shall be endorsed unless a majority of votes are cast against endorsing them, while a candidate who is a member of the Federalist party shall be endorsed unless 2/3rds of votes are cast against endorsing them.


Section 3: Special Elections and Miscellaneous
1.  Special elections to the Senate or House of Representatives. Federalist endorsements in special elections to the senate shall follow the same model for endorsements in regional executive elections (see Article III, Section 1, subsection 3), the only difference being that Federalist candidates must declare within a reasonable time of the notice of vacancy. If more than one position is up for election, the party will offer a corresponding number of endorsements. Special elections for the House shall follow the same rules as for President excepting the ticket component (see Article III, Section 1, Subsection 1).
2. If insufficient time exists for a formal primary process, the Chairman may motion to nominate a candidate by acclimation. Such will be subject to objections within 24 hours, and be followed immediately by a 48 hour vote.
3. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in a House seat held by a registered Federalist, the Chairman, or designee shall appoint a replacement.
4. Secondary endorsements. At the discretion of the party chair, the party may run elections giving “second preference endorsements” (or similar) to non-Federalist candidates.
5. Revoking endorsements. The Federalist Party may revoke endorsements if a motion is presented with a second and is then passed by a majority vote.

Article IV is amended as follows with existing Sections renumbered/restructured accordingly:
IV. Conventions and Midterm Gatherings
Section 1: Timing.
1.  A convention shall be called by the chair three (3) no later than four (4) weeks before the start of every regularly-scheduled presidential election. Conventions may deviate from this timeline in emergency situations.

2. A Midterm Gathering shall be held no later than four (4) weeks before the start of every regularly-scheduled At-Large House election not coinciding with a Presidential Election

Section 2: Location
1.  It shall be at the discretion of the party chair and vice chair on how to determine the location of the Federalist Party’s convention and Midterm Gathering.

Section 3: Leadership elections and non-confidence motions.
1.  Leadership elections may occur during a national convention.
2.  Additionally, a member of the party may call for a vote of non-confidence in the leadership of either the chair or vice chair. If the vote receives a majority, the relevant position shall become vacant.


Section 4. Endorsements and Primaries.
1. Primaries and endorsement votes as regulated in Article III may occur during conventions and Midterm Gatherings.
2. No primary or endorsement shall conclude more than four weeks prior to a given election.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

READ THIS FIRST!!!!

What I have done so far:

1. This restructures the text
2. Explicitly states a process for Presidential Primary for the first time since like 2013 when it was removed from the wiki for reasons I have never been able to find out.
3. Creates a Midterm Gathering to fill in a gap that has been rather inconvenient and hopefully for once allow us to actually close a convention.
4. I removed all of the awkward wording that resulted from Fhtagn's amendment removing automatic endorsement, while still requiring primary votes. That doesn't mean there isn't still awkward wording and I will work on that tomorrow (hopefully)
5. This moves up a lot of the declaration periods for a lot of things so I will merely say what I have said for years, candidates have got to declare and get started by the middle of the month prior to the election if not sooner.
6. Instituted a maximum four week window to prevent the real issue with the Lincoln primary that just happened.
7. I am tentatively using ASV's most recent text for the regional legislative section, but I find it clunky and am not yet sold on it.
8. I am probably going to condense Section II about Midterm Gatherings to reduce duplicated text.

[Co-Chair Bagel23]

Welp, Labor has the presidency and possibly the house now.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

This is a work in progress and I need to sleep tonight for work tomorrow.

III: Endorsements and Primaries
Section 1: Primaries and Endorsement Votes:
1. Presidential Primaries: In elections for the office of President and Vice President, only one candidate for each office on a formerly declared ticket under the laws of Atlasian elections shall receive the party’s endorsement. The Presiding Officer of the Party Convention, shall open a declaration period for President and Vice President. At the conclusion of the declaration period, a primary election shall be held lasting no longer than 72 hours and ending not more than three weeks before the end of the regular Presidential Election for that cycle. The vote shall be conducted using instant runoff voting and the winner the ticket with the most votes in the final round.

2. At-Large House Elections: In election for the House of Representatives, the the maximum number of candidates hall be pegged at a simple majority of the chamber. The Presiding Officer of the Party Convention may wave this pegged maximum subject to objection within 24 hours of the decision. A two-thirds vote shall be required to override the Presiding Officer. The Presiding Officer, shall open a declaration period for House. At the conclusion of the declaration period, a primary shall be conducted using the single transferable vote method and the winners shall be the final count finishers in order of highest to lowest place until the maximum has been hit.

3. Regional Senate and Governor: In elections for the office of regional Senator and executive, only one candidate in each region, per office, shall receive the party’s endorsement. Not more than four weeks prior to the election, a declaration period shall be called either during the convention or midterm convention for said offices. Once the declaration period has concluded, a primary shall be held with the nominee being the one with the most votes in the final round for each office's primary.

4. Regional legislature elections. Not more than four weeks prior to the election, a declaration period shall be called for regional legislative elections occurring over that given period. At the conclusion of the declaration period, a primary election shall be held for these respective legislatures. A yes/no vote on endorsement shall be held for each individual candidate. A candidate from another party shall be endorsed unless a majority of votes are cast against endorsing them, while a candidate who is a member of the Federalist party shall be endorsed unless 2/3rds of votes are cast against endorsing them.


Section 2: Special Elections and Miscellaneous
1.  Special elections to the Senate or House of Representatives. Federalist endorsements in special elections to the senate shall follow the same model for endorsements in regional executive elections (see Article III, Section 1, subsection 3), the only difference being that Federalist candidates must declare within a reasonable time of the notice of vacancy. If more than one position is up for election, the party will offer a corresponding number of endorsements. Special elections for the House shall follow the same rules as for President excepting the ticket component (see Article III, Section 1, Subsection 1).
2. If insufficient time exists for a formal primary process, the Chairman may motion to nominate a candidate by acclimation. Such will be subject to objections within 24 hours, and be followed immediately by a 48 hour vote.
3. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in a House seat held by a registered Federalist, the Chairman, or designee shall appoint a replacement.
4. Secondary endorsements. At the discretion of the party chair, the party may run elections giving “second preference endorsements” (or similar) to non-Federalist candidates.
5. Revoking endorsements. The Federalist Party may revoke endorsements if a motion is presented with a second and is then passed by a majority vote.

Article IV is amended as follows with existing Sections renumbered/restructured accordingly:
IV. Conventions and Midterm Conventions
Section 1: Timing.
1.  A convention shall be called by the chair three (3) no later than four (4) weeks before the start of every regularly-scheduled presidential election. Conventions may deviate from this timeline in emergency situations.

2. A midterm convention shall be held no later than four (4) weeks before the start of every regularly-scheduled At-Large House election not coinciding with a Presidential Election

Section 2: Location
1.  It shall be at the discretion of the party chair and vice chair on how to determine the location of the Federalist Party’s convention and midterm convention.

Section 3: Leadership elections and non-confidence motions.
1.  Leadership elections may occur during a national convention.
2.  Additionally, a member of the party may call for a vote of non-confidence in the leadership of either the chair or vice chair. If the vote receives a majority, the relevant position shall become vacant.


Section 4. Endorsements and Primaries.
1. Primaries and endorsement votes as regulated in Article III may occur during conventions and midterm conventions.
2. No primary or endorsement shall conclude more than four weeks prior to a given election.

[Pericles]

Welp, Labor has the presidency and possibly the house now.

We've got a trifecta , the presidency, the House, and a Senate supermajority. Good luck trying to take them back (but not too much luck ) !

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

Welp, Labor has the presidency and possibly the house now.

We've got a trifecta , the presidency, the House, and a Senate supermajority. Good luck trying to take them back (but not too much luck ) !

Remember October and February? It can all go away.

[FairBol]

Just noting that we also need to decide on a host city for the next convention.  If it is in order, I nominate Las Vegas, NV, and Atlanta, GA. 

[UlmerFudd]

I nominate Boise, Idaho

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

I nominate Albuquerque, NM.

[tmthforu94]

I nominate Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

[S019]

I nominate Chicago, IL

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

A quick note on things, YT has expressed some interest in how we move forward but this was before the election had ended and with this break I am sort of reluctant to proceed on some things until we know what he is doing.

That being said some things we can move ahead on like the city nominate. I also want to finish the bylaw and put that to a vote probably on Saturday along with the city. By the time it ends, we should know what YT is doing and then we can move ahead with additions to the leadership team, as well as the leadership election.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Federalists, for the next 48 hours, we will be accepting declarations for the positions of Chair, Vice Chair, as well as entertaining any bylaw amendments and city nominations. All the cities nominated heretofore will be included on the ballot.

[Fmr. Representative Encke]

I hereby declare for another term as vice-chair.

[Attorney General & LGC Deputy Dwarven Dragon]

I nominate Sydney, Australia