L.C. 10.19 - Third Lincoln Constitution

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Voting on the S019 amendment

No

[S019]

AYE

[AGA]

Nay

[Sestak]

Just apply the Senate vacancy mechanism to General Court and Gubernatorial vacancies. Then get rid of the early court elections thing added to Article IV. The other amendments proposed are ok.

The one thing I wanted added to the vacancy bit, actually, was that in order to reduce unnecessary elections, any specials which would otherwise be exactly the week before any general election should instead be delayed until that election (or cancelled, if the election is for a new term). Not sure if this should be added to the gubernatorial, Senate, and GC vacancy provisions each or if it's better to just add one all-encompassing prediction to do this.

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

Just apply the Senate vacancy mechanism to General Court and Gubernatorial vacancies. Then get rid of the early court elections thing added to Article IV. The other amendments proposed are ok.

The one thing I wanted added to the vacancy bit, actually, was that in order to reduce unnecessary elections, any specials which would otherwise be exactly the week before any general election should instead be delayed until that election (or cancelled, if the election is for a new term). Not sure if this should be added to the gubernatorial, Senate, and GC vacancy provisions each or if it's better to just add one all-encompassing prediction to do this.

That sounds reasonable.

[Brother Jonathan]

Nay

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

If I need to formally object to the pending amendment I Do that as well. 

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Amendment fails 1-3.

[KaiserDave]

Can we get a final vote before the weekend or is that unrealistic?

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Can we get a final vote before the weekend or is that unrealistic?

During the weekend probably. Need to write up and pass an amendment actually fixing the LT issues, and then S019 will probably demand a cloture vote.

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

This should be the final amendment.

This makes special election timing clear and schedules a special gubernatorial election for June to complete the rest of Kaiser's term. Also some final stylistic stuff.

Again, the intention is for this to be the final document, so point out any remaining inconsistencies or any suggestions not already mentioned now.

A. The Lincoln Council is hereby renamed to the Lincoln General Court, and notwithstanding anything else in this amendment, the Councillors (who shall now be known as Deputies), along with the incumbent governor, shall serve as acting officials in their respective offices under this new constitution until the next applicable election. The first General Court's first order of business after electing a Speaker will be writing a new SOAP.

B. If any existing Lincoln laws conflict with this amendment, they are hereby amended such that they comply/agree with the amendment, with full severability if a provision would need to be removed.

C. The Lincoln Constitution is hereby amended to read as follows:

Third Lincoln Constitution

Preamble
We, the people of the states of Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Wisconsin, Vermont, and the Virgin Islands, acting in accordance with the great precept that all men and women are created equal, and for the purpose of preserving the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for Lincoln.
Bill of Rights
1. All persons born or naturalized in the Republic of Atlasia and being residents of one of the states of this region, are citizens of Lincoln, with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of the same. No citizen shall be denied equal protection under the law.
2. The General Court shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, nor of the press, nor the right to assemble and petition for the redress of grievances.
3. The General Court shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, nor obstructing the freedom of worship. No government organization shall sponsor religion in any way.
4. Neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude, shall exist within this region, or in any territories under its jurisdiction.
5. A well-regulated militia being necessary for the security of a free state, the right of citizens to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
6. In all suits of criminal law, the accused shall have right to a free and fair trial by an impartial jury of their peers.
7. No person accused of any crime under the laws of this region shall be subjected to warrantless search or seizure of their homes, persons, records, or possessions; nor excessive bail; nor cruel or unusual punishment; nor compelled to bear witness against herself; nor denied right to legal counsel.
8. The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, save when in times of war or rebellion the public safety may require it.
9. The enumeration of certain rights in this Constitution shall not be construed as to deny those natural and inherent rights herein unlisted.

Article I: The Legislative power
1. All legislative powers granted herein shall be vested in a General Court.
2. The General Court shall consist of a number of deputies chosen at-large every second month by the eligible voters of Lincoln according to a method of proportional representation prescribed by law. When the number of candidates is five or fewer, that number shall be chosen; when it is greater than five but less than nine, five deputies shall be chosen; when it is nine or greater, seven shall be chosen. Write-in candidates shall not be considered in determining the number to be chosen.
3. No person shall be a memberdeputy of the General Court who is not a citizen of this region, and no person shall remain a memberdeputy who is found by a vote of three-fourths of their peers to be guilty of gross negligence, high crimes, or misdemeanors.
4. The General Court shall elect its speaker and other officers and shall have sole authority to determine its own methods of proceedings.
5. Every bill passed by the General Court shall, before it becomes law, be submitted to the judgment of the governor. If they approve of it, they should sign it and it will become law; but if they disapprove they may veto it, and it shall be returned to the General Court. If, after considering the objections of the governor, the General Court should by a two-thirds vote agree to pass the same bill, it shall become law regardless of the governor's objections. If the governor shall not act to sign or veto a bill, it shall become law seven (7) days after its adoption by the General Court. The Governor shall have the authority to submit revisions to passed legislation, if they deem fit, and return it to the legislature for reconsideration. If the redrafted bill is rejected by the General Court, and the original bill passed the General Court by a two-thirds margin, the original bill shall be sent to referendum. If the redrafted bill is rejected by the General Court, and the original bill passed by less than two-thirds, the Governor shall be compelled to sign or veto the original bill.
6. Whenever a vacancy should occur in the composition of the General Court, the governor shall appoint a replacement. Should the vacancy have occurred fewer than 336 hours before the next general election, the deputy thus nominated shall serve the remainder of the existing term; otherwise, they shall serve only until a new memberdeputy may be elected. If required, A special election for the General Court shall begin on the Friday following the creation of the vacancy; but if the vacancy shall occur on a Wednesday or Thursday, the special election shall begin on the second Friday following the creation of the vacancy.
7. The General Court may, by a four-fifths vote, impeach and remove the governor for gross negligence or criminal acts; but the governor shall not be convicted without the concurrence of four-fifths of all sitting deputies, and the penalty for his conviction shall not exceed removal from office and disbarment from holding any office under this region for eighteen months.
8. In the event of a tied vote of the General Court, the governor shall have the power to break the tie.
9. Where the text above references a two-thirds margin, it shall be construed to refer to the support of two-thirds of all sitting deputies.

Article II: The Executive Power
1. The powers and duties of the executive shall be vested in the governor of Lincoln
2. The governor shall be elected every fourth month by the entire body of eligible voters. No person shall be governor who is not a citizen of Lincoln, and no elected governor shall be a memberdeputy of the General Court.
3. The governor shall have the power to carry out all acts in association with the enforcement of the laws passed under this constitution; to command the militia in times of war; to appoint the heads of such departments which may be established by law; to issue pardons and reprieves for crimes committed under the laws of this region, which shall be permanent upon their issuance, though they shall have no power to pardon themselves; to appoint, in accordance with Article V of the constitution of the Republic of Atlasia, the associate justice of the circuit court of this region; and to approve, or veto, all acts passed by the General Court.
4. Should the governor vacate their office either by their death, removal, forfeiture, or resignation, then the speaker of the General Court, or if there be no speaker the member deputywith the longest continuous service, shall act as governor until a successor may be elected. The acting governor need not vacate their seat in the General Court, but they shall have no vote in its proceedings so long as they continue to exercise the powers of the governor. If there is neither a speaker nor any membersdeputies of the General Court, then the powers and duties of the governor shall devolve upon the associate justice of the circuit court, or if there be none such officer as the president of Atlasia may appoint from among the citizens of Lincoln, until a successor may be elected. A special election for Governor shall begin on the Friday following the creation of the vacancy; but if the vacancy shall occur on a Wednesday or Thursday, the special election shall begin on the second Friday following the creation of the vacancy; but if this would make such election concurrent with or later than the next regular election, the special shall be cancelled and the acting official will serve the rest of the term.
Article III: Senators
1. Elections for the Senate of the Republic of Atlasia shall be conducted at regular intervals, in the months prescribed by the Constitution thereof.
2. Senators shall be elected by a direct vote of the people, and no person eligible to vote in elections for governor and General Court shall be denied the right to vote for Senator.
3. Should a vacancy occur in the representation of this Region in the Senate, the governor shall appoint an interim senator to serve until a replacement may be elected. Special elections for the Senate shall begin on the Friday following the creation of the vacancy; but if the vacancy shall occur on a Wednesday or Thursday, the special election shall begin on the second Friday following the creation of the vacancy.;but if this would make such election concurrent with or later than the next regular election, the special shall be cancelled and the interim official will serve the rest of the term.
4. Senators who are elected in a regularly scheduled election shall take office on the first day of the next session of Congress. Senators elected in a special election shall take office immediately upon election.
Article IV: Elections
1. The right to vote in all elections and referendums called according to the provisions of this Constitution shall be exclusive to those persons being eligible to vote in elections for President of the Republic of Atlasia who have been registered to vote in one of the states of this Region for a period of at least 72 hours prior to the commencement of the election. The General Court shall have the right to pass further residency requirements through legislation.
2. Voters shall be permitted to edit their ballots until 20 minutes after posting them in the voting booth. No voter shall edit their ballot after the official end of the voting period.
3. All elections and referendums of this region shall be administered by the governor, or a person of their choosing. Whenever the governor and their designee if applicable should be unable to perform this duty, the speaker of the General Court, or in their absence the most senior memberdeputy, shall administer the election.
4. Elections for governor shall be held in the months of April, August, and December. Elections for General Court shall be held in the months of February, April, June, August, October, and December.
- a. Notwithstanding any other provision of this document or the top matter accompanying it, a special election for the remainder of the current gubernatorial term shall be held in June 2021 concurrent with General Court Elections, after which elections shall follow the schedule dictated above.
5. Candidates for governor, General Court, and federal Senate must declare their candidacy in the appropriate thread by 2:00:00 PM, Eastern Time, on the Thursday preceding the election in order to appear on the ballot.
6. Except in the month of December, elections for governor, General Court, and federal Senate shall begin on the penultimate Friday of the given month. In December, all elections shall begin on the second Friday of the month. Special Elections are scheduled by the Governor at any date that they deem fit. In all cases, voting shall begin at 12:00:00 AM, Eastern Time, on the appointed day and continue for 72 hours hence.
7. Following the expiration of the voting period, the election administrator shall have 24 hours to produce a tally of the votes cast and to announce the persons elected.
8. All elections shall be by single transferable vote, unless otherwise specified by law.
9. The terms of the Governor and General Court shall begin at 12:00:00 Eastern Time on the first Wednesday following their election. Prior to assuming office, the governor and membersdeputies shall swear the following oath or equivalent: “I, [A.B.], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of [state office name] and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the constitutions of Lincoln and the Republic of Atlasia.” Any person elected to office under this constitution who shall fail to swear or affirm the aforesaid within 72 hours of the constitutional commencement of their term, shall forfeit their office.
10. All referendums on proposed amendments to this constitution and to the constitution of the Republic of Atlasia shall begin on the first Friday following their passage by the appropriate body; but if the passage shall occur on a Thursday, the referendum shall begin on the second Friday following passage. The appropriate election administrator shall open the voting booth at 12:00:00 AM, Eastern Time. Voting shall continue for 72 hours, and no vote cast more than 72 hours after the voting booth was opened shall be considered valid.
11. In all referendums, a “YES” vote shall be considered a vote in favor of passing the referendum and a “NO” vote shall be considered a vote against passing the referendum. Abstentions shall not affect the results of the referendum. In all cases, a simple majority of those voting “YES” or “NO” shall be required to pass the referendum.
Article V: Amendments
1. The General Court shall have the power to propose amendments to this constitution by a two-thirds vote.
2. Lincoln shall ratify amendments to the constitution of the Republic of Atlasia by public referendum.

24 hours to object to the amendment.

[YE]

Wouldn't it make the most sense to go back to the old Lincoln assembly procedures?

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Wouldn't it make the most sense to go back to the old Lincoln assembly procedures?

If you mean regarding the SOAP, not really as those rules were written three years ago and probably need an overhaul anyways.

[S019]

I will note that general policy has been if the vacancy occurs on Thursday or Wednesday that said election is held the following week. Two days is not sufficient time to prepare for an election. I am not formally objecting to give the sponsor a chance to address these concerns

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

I object to the amendment, general policy has been if the vacancy occurs on Thursday or Wednesday that said election is held the following week. Two days is not sufficient time to prepare for an election.

Honestly I don't have a problem with this change. I'll edit the amendment above.

[YE]

Wouldn't it make the most sense to go back to the old Lincoln assembly procedures?

If you mean regarding the SOAP, not really as those rules were written three years ago and probably need an overhaul anyways.

Do they? If it worked then (at least when followed), why wouldn’t it work now?

[S019]

I object to the amendment, general policy has been if the vacancy occurs on Thursday or Wednesday that said election is held the following week. Two days is not sufficient time to prepare for an election.

Honestly I don't have a problem with this change. I'll edit the amendment above.

I changed my statement just as you wrote that .

[YE]

I will note that general policy has been if the vacancy occurs on Thursday or Wednesday that said election is held the following week. Two days is not sufficient time to prepare for an election. I am not formally objecting to give the sponsor a chance to address these concerns

Finally something that I can agree with.

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Okay, edit complete. I'll restart the 24 hour clock.

Edit: edited to prevent any odd situation where a special would be held during a lame duck if one goes on for some time. Restarting clock again.

[At-Large Senator LouisvilleThunder]

This looks wonderful.

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Wouldn't it make the most sense to go back to the old Lincoln assembly procedures?

If you mean regarding the SOAP, not really as those rules were written three years ago and probably need an overhaul anyways.

Do they? If it worked then (at least when followed), why wouldn’t it work now?

We just fixed up the rules in L.C. 10.17, and that should be the guide rather than the rules written for a body that hasn't met in 3 years. Obviously we can't carry it over exactly because it still references the Chancellor as this isn't ratified yet, but you get the idea. For a quick example of changes that will be retained going forward, we just narrowed the Lincoln Court's authority to rule on proceedings, which would be awkwardly re-widened if we went back to the Assembly's rules. Plus the assembly rules have a bunch of mentions of assembly, etc. which would need to be scrapped in any case.

[Sestak]

Just apply the Senate vacancy mechanism to General Court and Gubernatorial vacancies. Then get rid of the early court elections thing added to Article IV. The other amendments proposed are ok.

The one thing I wanted added to the vacancy bit, actually, was that in order to reduce unnecessary elections, any specials which would otherwise be exactly the week before any general election should instead be delayed until that election (or cancelled, if the election is for a new term). Not sure if this should be added to the gubernatorial, Senate, and GC vacancy provisions each or if it's better to just add one all-encompassing prediction to do this.

Reiterating this. If you want me to draft writing for this I can.

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Just apply the Senate vacancy mechanism to General Court and Gubernatorial vacancies. Then get rid of the early court elections thing added to Article IV. The other amendments proposed are ok.

The one thing I wanted added to the vacancy bit, actually, was that in order to reduce unnecessary elections, any specials which would otherwise be exactly the week before any general election should instead be delayed until that election (or cancelled, if the election is for a new term). Not sure if this should be added to the gubernatorial, Senate, and GC vacancy provisions each or if it's better to just add one all-encompassing prediction to do this.

Reiterating this. If you want me to draft writing for this I can.

Yeah go ahead and draft that.

[S019]

Also removing the power of Courtites to vote in the Chamber when they assume the Governorship is bad unless you also want to formally vacate the seat, since you have literal deadweight in a seat (i.e. someone who can't do anything as a legislater yet occupies a seat). I don't get the logic of this. Previous policy has been an acting Governor does keep their vote in the Chamber, and that makes more sense, imo.

[Attorney General, Senator-Elect, & Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Also removing the power of Courtites to vote in the Chamber when they assume the Governorship is bad unless you also want to formally vacate the seat, since you have literal deadweight in a seat (i.e. someone who can't do anything as a legislater yet occupies a seat). I don't get the logic of this. Previous policy has been an acting Governor does keep their vote in the Chamber, and that makes more sense, imo.

Logic there is that no one gets two offices at once. Once they are no longer acting governor they automatically get back their seat in the General Court. Becoming acting governor wasn't their fault, so they shouldn't lose their seat, but they also shouldn't get the power of two people while they are acting governor. If we said they retained all powers of both offices, they would get two votes in the General Court under certain circumstances (a tie vote, they vote originally and then vote again to break the tie), plus the ability to sign/veto/redraft. That is too much power for one person.