L.C. 9.18: Amendment to the Lincoln Downballot Elections Act

L.C. 9.18: Amendment to the Lincoln Downballot elections act:

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Lincoln Downballot Elections Act

I. Elections

a1. Gubernatorial elections and elections for state legislature shall occur every six months. The mayoral elections for New York City and Chicago shall also occur every six months. Gubernatorial elections will not occur at the exact same time in every state.

a2. Exception - Not withstanding anything else in this bill, The Game Moderator (GM) may delay elections to be scheduled in January 2021 to instead occur in February 2021, and extend all relevant terms by up to a month to accommodate. The GM may also have the February elections be for five month terms instead of six if desired. The GM may also make conforming modifications of one month or less to other elections being held or other terms expiring in 2021 if desired.

II. Composition

a1. Each of these states shall have a bicameral legislature
b2. House and Senate districts are not required to be nested unless stated otherwise, also each House and Senate seat must have equal population to other House and Senate seats
c3. The number of legislators per state shall be as follows:
i.Wisconsin: 33 members of the State Senate and 99 members of the State House of Representatives
ii. Illinois: 59 members of the State Senate and 118 members of the State House of Representatives
   a. 2 voting districts for the House must be nested into each Senate district
iii. Michigan: 38 members of the State Senate and 110 members of the State House of Representatives
iv. Indiana: 50 members of the State Senate and 100 members of the State House of Representatives
v. Ohio: 33 members of the State Senate and 99 members of the State House of Representatives
   a. 3 voting districts for House must be nested into each Senate seat
vi. Pennsylvania: 50 members of the State Senate and 203 members of the State House of Representatives
vii. New Jersey: 40 members of the State Senate and 80 members of the General Assembly
   a. Each Senate district shall elect two representatives, in other words House and Senate districts have the exact same lines
viii. New York: 150 members of the State Senate and 63 members of the State House of Representatives
   a. nesting not required, however nesting districts is preferred, if possible
ix. Connecticut: 36 members of the State Senate and 151 members of the State House of Representatives
x. Rhode Island: 38 members of the State Senate and 75 members of the State House of Representatives
xi. Massachusetts: 40 members of the State Senate and 160 members of the State House of Representatives
xii. Vermont: 30 members of the State Senate and 150 members of the State House of Representatives
xiii. New Hampshire: 24 members of the State Senate and 400 members of the State House of Representatives
xix. Maine: 35 members of the State Senate and 151 members of the State House of Representatives
   a. three additional non-voting seats in the House of Representatives must be set aside for members of the Penobscot Nation, the Passamaquoddy Tribe, and the Houlton Band of Maliseets.
xx. Virgin Islands: 15 members of the upper house of the Legislature of the Virgin Islands and 25 members of the lower house
xxi. All elections for State Senate shall be conducted by ranked choice voting. All elections for House of Representatives, except in New Jersey shall be conducted by ranked choice voting
xxii. Elections for the General Assembly in New Jersey shall occur based on a first-past-the-post voting system.
4. All states shall have their “default” systems for electing the lower houses of their legislature as elections by instant runoff voting for single-member district constituencies; excepting New Jersey, whose default system shall be the election of two members in each upper house district by two separate instant runoff elections. Each state may additionally choose to adopt one of the following alternative systems:
i. Proportional list representation with no districts
ii. Mixed-Member Proportional system
iii. Elections to multi-member districts via Single Transferable Vote; each district electing 3 or more members.
States that choose to adopt such a system shall adjust their districts and nesting requirements accordingly. Such adoption may be simulated by the GM, including adoption by a state prior to the passage of this bill.
5. All upper houses of state legislatures must be elected by Instant Runoff Vote in single-member districts.
6. States shall have the option to switch to a parliamentary system, mirroring Lincoln’s own system; in such a system the Governor’s role would become more procedural and facilitators while the head of government would be selected by the governor and required to command confidence of a majority of the lower house. Adoption of such a system may be simulated by the GM, including adoption by a state prior to the passage of this bill.

III. Redistricting

1. Redistricting shall consist of a commission of the majority and minority leader of both houses of the state legislature, as well as 5 citizens, and 2 legislators from the minority party in the State House of Representatives
2. The commission must create a map that prioritizes one of these two goals: maximizing the competitiveness of districts or drawing districts proportional to partisanship
3. In areas where there is a high minority population, and it is possible to draw a seat where the voting age population of a minority coalition is greater than 50%, or where the voting age population of a specific minority group (i.e. African Americans or Latinos) that seat must be drawn by the commission.
4. In areas where it is possible to draw a seat as described in Section 3, Clause 1, but with a minority coalition or individual minority group population of above 40% of the voting age population, it is recommended that the commission draw that seat
5. For the purposes, of this act, the seats in Section 3 shall be known as Voting Rights Act seat (if it is a majority of a single minority) or a Minority Coalition seat (if they seat is formed by a majority of multiple minority groups)
6. For the purposes, of this act, the seats in Section 4 shall be known as Opportunity Seats
7. Redistricting shall occur every two years on this calendar (2021, 2023, 2025, 2027, etc.) as well as when necessitated by an election system change.

IV. Implementation

1. This act shall take effect two weeks after being signed into law.

Sponsor: Speaker Dwarven Dragon
Occupying: Government Slot 2 of 12

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