June 2020 Federalist Party Convention (Adjourned)

[FairBol]

You are mocking this party, now.

I am.  It's funny to me to see the dysfunction that is apparent here.  You had your chance to embrace change...but you blew it.  If my words are offensive to you, well...BITE ME. 

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

You are mocking this party, now.

I am.  It's funny to me to see the dysfunction that is apparent here.  You had your chance to embrace change...but you blew it.  If my words are offensive to you, well...BITE ME. 

The voters made their choice. I offered you a high ranking position in the leadership afterwards, to give you a chance to prove to the party members that you had something concrete to offer.

At this point it isn't about the success of the right anymore it seems, which was your priority stated during the campaign, but ego dictating your every answer and response.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I would like to move onto the bylaws and platform and especially the bylaws. The first order of business is to get the bylaws compiled in one place. The wiki hasn't been updated in this regards since the Nix administration and the Party thread links to the text from 2017.

This appears to be the first amendments since 2017: https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=302721.msg6541805#msg6541805

This one was passed in July 2019: https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=320845.msg6866443#msg6866443

There may be others that I missed.

There is a conflict in the text of the July 2019 text with October 2018's. 

[FairBol]

The voters made their choice.

Yes they did. 

I offered you a high ranking position in the leadership afterwards, to give you a chance to prove to the party members that you had something concrete to offer.

Maybe I missed it, but I haven't seen any such offer from you.  I could be mistaken, though. 

At this point it isn't about the success of the right anymore it seems, which was your priority stated during the campaign, but ego dictating your every answer and response.

Says the guy who dismisses legitimate voting concerns (along with Fhtagn), and moans about being "sick" of "arcane (ass) bylaws".  Pot, meet kettle.  Kettle, meet pot. 

[West_Midlander]

Maybe I missed it, but I haven't seen any such offer from you.  I could be mistaken, though.

I want us to put aside our differences, leave this election in the past and work together to rebuild the Atlasian right. I will gladly offer you a portfolio responsible for recruitment, GOTV or any of the areas you are interested in working on. I can even call it Deputy Chair if you like.

Says the guy who dismisses legitimate voting concerns (along with Fhtagn), and moans about being "sick" of "arcane (ass) bylaws".  Pot, meet kettle.  Kettle, meet pot.

Yankee is only following the bylaws as written and shouldn't get flak for doing so. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

As Yankee said:

Like it or not these are the rules you helped to bring about, if you or S019 don't like how I interpret them, then I suggest you make changes in your own parties to reflect your preferred arrangements. I sure as hell intend to strip this bullcrap as soon as possible.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Says the guy who dismisses legitimate voting concerns (along with Fhtagn), and moans about being "sick" of "arcane (ass) bylaws".  Pot, meet kettle.  Kettle, meet pot. 

Do you even realize this sentence contradicts itself or understand at all what is going on? Those arcane bylaws are why those concerns existed in the first place and why nothing could be done to address them.

And as Westy pointed out, I did make the offer of Deputy Chair on a previous page right after the election was over with.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I. Membership
1. Eligibility. All members registered as Federalists with the Registrar General shall be granted membership in the Federalist Party and deemed eligible to participate in conventions, receive endorsements and access to the party's various offsite mediums including but not limited to Mibbit, Discord, and any "restricted access forums".
3. Revoking Eligibility: A member may have their eligibility revoked by a majority vote of the party members for a specified term, such members will still be considered registered members for census purposes. Request for eligibility revocation must be seconded. Restoration shall occur at the expiration of stated term or by holding a majority vote, following a seconded request for such.
2. Federalist Party members are required to maintain the highest standards of integrity in their conduct within Atlasia, as well as to operate within the boundaries dictated by the Federalist Party's stated core principles of equality before the law and creating an environment in the game that is welcoming to players both new and old.
3. Expulsion. A member may be expelled from the party by Two-thirds vote if that member behaves in such a way as to the detriment of the party and such continues after Clause 2 has been exhausted. Requests for an expulsion vote must be seconded.
4. All offsite mediums used for the purposes of organizing the Federalist Party must be subject to the leadership of the Chair or his designated administration team. Only the Chair, Vice Chair or designated official may remove someone from official offsite mediums in emergency situations absent the use of clause 2 above.

II. Leadership
1. Leadership positions. The national party leadership shall consist of two elected officers: chair and vice chair; and appointed officers: at the chair's discretion, including at minimum a Secretary. All members holding these offices must be registered members of the Federalist Party of Atlasia, with full eligibility.
2. The Chair. The chair shall be the executive leader and chief spokesperson of the party, as well as oversee all GOTV efforts.
3. The Vice Chair. The vice chair shall assist the chair in providing executive leadership.
4. The Appointed Officers.
              a. The secretary shall be responsible for maintaining an up-to-date list of all party members and maintaining a calendar of events for the party. These events may include, but are not limited to, leadership elections, primaries and endorsement deadlines, and national conventions. The secretary is appointed by the chair to serve a four month term bracketed by leadership elections.
              b. The Chair may appoint other officers to handle specific tasks within the party at his discretion for a term of four months, bracketed by the leadership elections.
5. Leadership Elections. The chair and vice chair shall be elected every four months. These elections shall be run concurrently for three (3) days in February, June, and October. Leadership elections for the chair and vice chair shall occur after party members have had ample time to declare their interest in a position. The elections shall occur by public instant-runoff vote (IRV).
6. Leadership Vacancies. Vacancies may be deemed to have occurred if party leaders resign, lose the confidence of the party by majority vote, or have not posted within the Atlasia sub-boards for two (2) weeks or more. In the event of a vacancy in the office of secretary, the chair shall appoint another member to the office. In the event of a vacancy in the office of vice chair, members shall have ample time to declare their intention to run for the vacant position. After that time, the chair shall hold an IRV election for the vice chair position, to last three (3) days. In the event of a vacancy in the office of chair, the vice chair shall become chair of the Federalist Party, unless he wishes to remain in his current position. In that case, an election for chair will be held.
7. Succession Snafus. In emergency situations where both the chair and vice chair positions are vacant, the secretary shall be responsible for running concurrent elections for both offices. In the event that all leadership positions are vacant, the most senior member of the Federalist caucus in the senate shall have the authority to run leadership elections. If there is no Federalist senator, this responsibility shall fall to the most senior Federalist regional executive.
8. Regional Chair. At his or her discretion, the chair may appoint up to one regional chair per region for the purposes of laser-targeting, recruitment, get-out-the-vote (GOTV) operations and other party activities. Regional chair will also have the authority to run endorsement votes for elections in their region.

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 convention or midterm 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.

IV. Conventions and Midterm Conventions
1. Timing. A convention shall be called by the chair 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.


V. Party Caucuses and Platform Committee
1. The Federalist Party shall contain three caucuses, the three caucuses should strive to represent a significant portion of the Party and shall be limited to registered members of the party only.
2. The Caucuses will elect leaders on a regular basis administered by the Party Chair and subsequently by the outgoing leadership. These elections will occur following the completion of the Midterm Elections.
3. The Caucus Leaders shall form the Platform Committee for the Federalist Party. Over the course of the month leading up to the Federalist Convention, they will be tasked with composing the Party Platform for the next election.
4. Each caucus may nominate two priority members for the House from among the party's candidates or aligned candidates. These nominations shall be held no later than a week before the General Election for which they are nominated.
5. The Party Chair shall maintain the right to intervene to hold elections for the caucuses when necessary.

VI. People's House Conference
1. The Federalist Members and aligned third parties of the People's House of Representatives shall be invited to join the Federalist House Conference.
2. The Conference will be administered by the Party Chairman as the interim conference chair until the election of a slate of leaders:
     a. Majority Conference: candidate for Speaker, Majority Leader, Majority Whip, Policy Chair and Conference Chair.
     b. Minority Conference: Minority Leader, Minority Whip, Policy Chair and Conference Chair.
     c. The Conference chair shall administer future leadership elections unless he leaves the House, then it will fall back on the Party Chairman.

VII. General
1. Concurrent ballots. Intra-party elections may run concurrently on the same ballot for purposes of efficiency.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Mission Statement: The Federalist Party believes in empowering individuals instead of government and regions instead of the centralized state. We are committed to liberty and equality for all, and the checks and balances that protect both. We are committed to the preservation of markets and market choice. We welcome all players, both new and old and value their contributions to the game.

Positions:

Abortion

The Federalist Party believes that unborn lives should be protected from the immoral practice of abortion, and that late term abortions should remain illegal at the regional level, and that regions should remain permitted to legislate on restricting abortion to the fullest extent possible.  The Federalist Party opposes direct government funding for abortion procedures, whether at the federal or regional level.

Healthcare

The Federalist Party seeks to ensure that healthcare is left up to the regions to the maximum possible level, although the Federalist Party recognizes that federal resources to support regions are necessary.

Freedom of Speech, Religion, Press, Assembly, and Association

The Federalist Party believes in defending free speech rights in all situations that do not directly threaten to cause violence and libel. No Atlasian should be compelled to engage in types of speech and association against the will of that individual. The Federalist Party fully supports the right and free conscience of people to freely practice or not practice religious faith and worship.

Drugs

The Federalist Party believes that the issue of hard drugs is best left up to the regions.  Federally, drugs such as marijuana should be decriminalized.

Guns

The Federalist Party believes that the right to bear arms is a necessary right to retain in the Constitution, and believes that only the minimal amount of regulations should be enacted to preserve safety.

Independent Judiciary

The Federalist Party believes that a Judiciary free of partisan influence and bias is critical to both equality before the law and guarding against tyranny of either the executive or of popular majorities, and that the court should refrain from engaging in judicial activism on ideological issues, leaving legislatures with the power to legislate as they please.

Checks and Balances

The Federalist Party believes in keeping incumbent Presidents and Governors, regardless of party, in check. There should be, under no circumstances, abuses of power and corruption in an Atlasian government.

Government Finance

The Federalist Party believes that we should keep taxes as low as possible and still balance the budget, and therefore spending must be kept under control. Wasteful and abusive government spending should be targeted for cuts over useful programs.

Government Regulation

The Federalist Party believes that the federal and regional governments should regulate the economy and people's lives to the minimum extent possible to protect people from fraud, abuse, and violence from other institutions and people within society. Regulations that do not accomplish this objective are to be repealed.

Education

The Federalist Party believes that there should be no national curriculum, and that education should be left nearly entirely to the regions, aided by federal funding if necessary. 

Foreign Policy

The Federalist Party encourages diplomacy or non-interventionism, and believes war should only be a last resort in any foreign policy situation.  Military spending and foreign aid should be responsibly allocated and administered with prudence and caution, in order to allow our armed forces to remain strong and sufficient enough to defend the nation from foreign and domestic threats, without incurring unnecessary waste.

Trade

The Federalist Party believes that free and fair trade, that which primarily benefits the national economy and the livelihood of the Atlasian people, is the best possible scenario in trading with the world.  The Federalist Party believes that tariffs and other protectionist methods may be necessary to protect Atlasian jobs, as well as in other emergency situations.  In addition, sanctions may sometimes be necessary to help avoid war, protect against human rights abuses, and ensure the safety of Atlasia.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Leadership
Chair: North Carolina Yankee Elected
North Carolina Yankee (15): LT, UlmerFudd, Encke, Pessimistic, Muaddib, Westy, Rover, Spark, SlippingJimmy, Bagel23, Fhtagn, Deadprez, OSR, Brother Jonathan, Joseph Cao,
Fairbol (1): Fairbol
Abstain (1): Tmth,

Vice Chair: LT Elected
LT (16 ): LT, UlmerFudd, Encke, Pessimistic, Muaddib, Westy, Rover, Spark, SlippingJimmy, Bagel23, Fairbol, Fhtagn, Deadprez,  OSR,  Brother Jonathan, Joseph Cao,
Abstain (1): Tmth,

Convention City: Minneapolis, MN Selected

Secretary:
Encke is reappointed.

I was holding off doing this in case Fairbol had said yes, I could do them at the same time but sadly that has not been the case. The offer still stands though, in spite of everything.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

For the first time in probably years,


I declare this convention, official adjourned.