LGC 9.15 - Vote at 16 Act

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

THE VOTE AT 16 ACT

SECTION I — Title
This legislation may be cited as the Vote at 16 Act.

SECTION II — Voting at 16
1. The voting age in all elections held within the region of Lincoln shall be lowered to 16.

2. 15-year-olds who turn 16 before a general election shall be eligible to vote in its respective primary.

3. This legislation shall take effect immediately.

Sponsor: ZMUN M441/Adowemiti
Occupying: Slot 1 of 8

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Looking this over, I don't feel this really fits within the confines of this forum game.

The current minimum age to participate in Atlasia would be the same as Talk Elections as a whole, which is 13. We only impose restrictions based on an account/registration itself being too new. As for NPC elections, neither the Lincoln Constitution nor the Lincoln Downballot Elections Act currently mentions an age restriction. I'm also unaware of anything in the Federal Constitution. So it appears this choice is currently up to the state or locality holding the election.

I'm definitely opposed to mandating that atlas users are 16 before voting, if that is what is being proposed. It would require a newfound verification effort that neither election administrators nor the moderation team would likely be interested in doing. As for NPC elections, I would question what problem has arisen with the current state of affairs to require us to set a regional mandate. Also, the bill would need to be amended to clarify it is only covering those elections.

Further, there is the possibility we will be eliminating the NPC Canon entirely as a game, under which situation we would be passing and then soon repealing this law, which seems silly.

[ZMUN M441]

Dwarven Dragon's concerns are understood. This bill was meant in the context of NPC elections, rather they be held with speeches and campaigning like in the past, or simulated by the GM Team. I am willing to withdraw the act and wait to see if the 'NPC Canon' is eliminated or not before proceeding any further.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

I guess there's no problem with letting this linger on the floor, as we aren't lacking slots to use at the moment. But passing it before a decision is reached on the future of NPC elections themselves seems unwise.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Without objection, this will not proceed to a vote during final business, to the end that it remain on the floor for consideration in the next session.

[KoopaDaQuick 🇵🇸]

To be fair, I could be cool with this as long as there is a clause that says that this is just for the canon and that it won't affect actual players below 16. Worrying about how legislation intended for NPC purposes will affect real human players can unfortunately be kinda limiting in terms of passing election reform bills that actually feel realistic.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

If the Retcon Act fails, I guess that could yield an arc where the NPC elections are defacto still happening even though in practice no one cares anymore except Mr. R. Under that, this bill, amended to affect only NPCs, could be fine, though still not entirely convinced of the need for a regional mandate on this issue.

If the RetCon Act Passes, signaling that NPC stories/elections will be removed from Canon, then this should be withdrawn to avoid conflicts and references to things that don't exist.

[Former President tack50]

I mean, this could be tailored to the NPC elections or vague local elections. Not the first time people regulate non-playable elections as if it was irl.

In any case I'll veto this. I'm a firm believer that voting age should be the same as the age of majority. In other words, 18.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

With the Retcon Act signed into law, and the Governor's opposition, would urge the sponsor to withdraw this. We will be debating a package repealing existing npc elections legislation once we are formally in session for the new term, as such elections will no longer be formally run.

[ZMUN M441]

Tabling this legislation, due to the Retcon Act.