MB vs. Harry S Truman

[Dr. MB]

Greetings Honorable Justices,

I am filing suit in Fremont Circuit Court on behalf of myself, a citizen of Fremont and of Atlasia, against First Minister Harry S Truman, a citizen of Fremont and of Atlasia, regarding an electoral matter which occurred in the Region of Fremont. This falls under the realm of Associate Justice Ilikeverin.

It has come to my attention that irregularities on the ballot in last weekend's Fremont regional elections may have given a certain candidate an undue advantage. Specifically, the ballot for the February 2022 First Minister election was altered as to indicate incumbent First Minister Harry S Truman is a member of a party with which he is no longer affiliated.

On September 26, 2021, Mr. Truman defected from the Labor Party and formed a splinter group, the "Union Labor Party." Mr. Truman has not rejoined the Labor Party since.

Harry S Truman
Union Labor
North Dakota

Despite not being a member of the Labor Party, Mr. Truman, ever the impostor, continues to frequently insert himself in Labor Party business, as evidenced by his sign-in on the recent convention thread:

x Harry S Truman

It should come as no surprise then that Mr. Truman misrepresented his party affiliation once again on the ballot he designed and posted, presenting himself as a member of Labor rather than one of Union Labor:

FOR FIRST MINISTER
ONE (1) to be elected.
[    ] Harry S Truman of North Dakota
Labor Party | Fianna Frémont
[    ] Ishan of Northern Ireland
Neo-Kantian Front for Peace, Democracy, and Prosperity (Taylor's Version)
[    ] Write-in:________________

Despite the aforementioned irregularity preventing full disclosure to the voters, Mr. Truman decided to certify himself as the winner of the First Ministerial election:

COMMONWEALTH OF FRÉMONT
FEBRUARY 2022 ELECTION
OFFICIAL CERTIFICATION

(snip)

FOR FIRST MINISTER

Harry S Truman		32
Ishan		4
Blank or spoilt		3

(snip)

HARRY S TRUMAN is elected first minister.

(snip)

By the authority vested in me as first minister, I certify the above is a true and accurate account of the votes cast.

Due to the misleading and careless nature of this ballot, I do not believe a fair and accurate count of the voters' intentions could have possibly been gauged given the false information presented to them. I am seeking mediation in the form of decertifying the election of the First Minister in favor of a new, free and fair election.

I will be representing myself in this case and will post a more extensive brief if writ is granted.

Thank you Justices,

Dr. MB Esq.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I ask the court to dismiss this case on the grounds that it is stupid.

[Pedocon Theory is not a theory]

Dear Court,

This is an amicus brief in support of the plaintiff MB.

I believe that in order to fully reassure the Atlasian populace and ensure that our democracy remains sound, there should be a full inquiry into any potential concerns regarding the election at hand, pending the results of a request for comment among the citizenry to ascertain the breadth and overall seriousness of any concerns raised by the election.

We as responsible stewards of a thriving Atlasian democracy must open the windows and let some light into the workings of the government. Let in the audits, and let the people see how the sausage is made STOP

END MESSAGE

Senator-elect
CalamityBlue

[America Needs R'hllor]

Mommy, daddy, please stop fighting legally disputing in a fictional internet country 

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

Ilikeverin? You alive?

[ilikeverin]

Ilikeverin? You alive?

No, am I dead. However, I have now seen this thread and will try to respond shortly.

*hughughug*,

ilikeverin

[ilikeverin]

Petitioner brings a case before the court stating that the First Minister of Frémont has attempted to defraud the people of Frémont by misrepresenting his party identity as "Labor" rather than "Union Labor". Respondent counters that the suit is "stupid".

Disputes over elections are not stupid. Elections form the beating heart of the Atlasian enterprise. It appears the controlling laws in this case are the Electoral Procedures Codification Act of 2017, which sets out the form of the ballot (and interestingly does not mention party affiliation), and the Regional Party Label Act, which describes party labels. The petitioner is correct in their assertion that the party affiliation of Harry S Truman was incorrectly presented in the ballot.

However, the next question becomes: what is the remedy? The relevant laws are silent on this. The petitioner proposes that the Court take the amazing and unprecedented step of decertifying the election. This idea is stupid. There are circumstances in which the Court may need to step in and take extreme steps to prevent extraordinarily undemocratic actions on the part of election officials, but in circumstances such as these with a minimal violation it is inappropriate for the Court to generate a penalty of its own accord, let alone to force a revote.

In 2005, Secretary of Forum Affairs ilikeverin failed to lock the thread containing the federal election within an hour of the close of the election, as required by Atlasian law at the time. (It was past his bedtime.) Although this problem had not been foreseen by Atlasian law at the time, the solution was not to force a revote; instead, electoral law was improved and reinforced, and the bizarrely restrictive "hour of close" requirement was modified.

Clearly, leaving off a word in the party affiliation of one of the candidates does not constitute a grave violation of Atlasian and Fremonter norms. You don't need to take my word on it; the same problem arose in the November election but it was such a critical error that nobody seemed to notice. As such, it is inappropriate for the Court to do more than sternly wag its finger at Harry S Truman and say "please do a better job of copy-pasting next time". Such remedies require legislation establishing a penalty through the political branches or a truly extraordinary violation of norms.

This petition is hereby dismissed.