Amendment (...) Regarding the Role of Parties... (Failed)

[minionofmidas]

24th  Amendment to the Atlasian Constitution Regarding the Role of Parties and Its Citizens

        1. No registered person shall have a right to vote in any federal or regional election for office (“General Election”) who is a registered member of any political party (“Non Viable Party”) which has less than five registered as of the commencement of the 9th day EST prior to the date scheduled for such election to commence (“Registration Close Date”). A party which has at least five legally registered voters as of such time is hereinafter referred to as a "Viable Party,” and its registered members who are legally registered voters as of such time, “Eligible Members.” Voting events for Constitutional Amendments or referenda are not General Elections for purposes of this Amendment, and the right to vote in the same shall not be affected hereby.

     2. In a case where the number of  legally registered voters who are members of a Viable Party timely declare candidacy (“Timely Declared Candidates”) for the same office in a General Election  is in excess (“Excess Party Candidates”) of the number of seats (“Available Seats”) for which a registered voter is entitled to vote (which number as of the date of adoption of this amendment, is one such seat for region specific seats, and five such seats for at large seats), then at a time no less than one week before the earliest possible time for the commencement of voting in such General  Election, a primary election shall be conducted  for each such Viable Party with Excess Party Candidates. The polls for each such primary election shall remain open for 72 hours, and be administered by the party chair of each such Viable Party, if such party chair holds office pursuant to the rules of such Viable Party (“Party Chair”), and in cases where no such Party Chair exists, such primary election for such Viable Party without a Party Chair shall be conducted by the Secretary of Forum Affairs. Such primary election shall be conducted in a manner such that such Viable Party nominates a number of candidates for the subject office which does not exceed the number of Available Seats, with each of those so nominated, or who are Timely Declared Candidates of a Viable Party which does not have Excess Viable Party Candidates, referred to herein as a “Eligible Viable Party Candidate.” Any Eligible Member of the applicable Viable Party shall have a right to vote in such primary election. Except as otherwise specified herein, the manner of conducting such primary election shall be within the discretion of the Party Chair (or the Secretary of Forum Affairs if paragraph 3 below is applicable).

     3. If a sitting Party Chair of a Viable Party fails to commence such primary election for such Viable Party within 24 hours of the Registration Close Date, then within 24 hours thereafter, the Secretary of Forum Affairs shall conduct such primary election in the manner described above.

     4. No person may appear on the ballot for office in a General Election unless such person with respect to such General Election  is either (i) an Eligible Viable Party Candidate, or (ii) as of the Registration Close Date for such General Election, not a registered member of either a Viable Party or Non Viable Party.


Sponsor: Torie

[Хahar 🤔]

I applaud Torie for taking the time to consider his constituents and craft this solid bill.

[minionofmidas]

I applaud Torie for taking the time to consider his constituents and craft this solid bill.

Introduced on behalf of PiT, actually.

[Хahar 🤔]

I applaud Torie for taking the time to consider his constituents and craft this solid bill.

Introduced on behalf of PiT, actually.

I played a big role in the process, too.

[DownWithTheLeft]

I really, really like the idea.  I'm just a little weary of not having independents at all

[Хahar 🤔]

Independent registration is still allowed. However, this gives advantages to party membership.

[Brandon H]

This should not be added as a Constitutional Amendment.

[Colin]

I agree with Brandon. I think a more general amendment concerning parties should be passed, something along the lines of my amendment currently being debated, while something more detailed, like this, should be passed as a bill after the broader amendment is passed.

Also not allowing members of non-viable parties to vote is pretty drastic. I could see counting them as independents but not taking away their right to vote. Unless, of course, I'm reading this wrong.

[DownWithTheLeft]

Independent registration is still allowed. However, this gives advantages to party membership.

The bill says you can't vote if you aren't registered to a viable party.  What everyone just registers as Independent?

[Хahar 🤔]

Independent registration is still allowed. However, this gives advantages to party membership.

The bill says you can't vote if you aren't registered to a viable party.  What everyone just registers as Independent?

You just can't vote if you belong to a non-viable party.

[dead0man]

What's the purpose of taking away voting privileges of members of "non-viable" parties?

[minionofmidas]

Independent registration is still allowed. However, this gives advantages to party membership.

The bill says you can't vote if you aren't registered to a viable party.  What everyone just registers as Independent?

You just can't vote if you belong to a non-viable party.

I could understand letting them not stand, but not vote?

Certain not to get any support from me.

[Хahar 🤔]

Independent registration is still allowed. However, this gives advantages to party membership.

The bill says you can't vote if you aren't registered to a viable party.  What everyone just registers as Independent?

You just can't vote if you belong to a non-viable party.

I could understand letting them not stand, but not vote?

Certain not to get any support from me.

Not letting them stand seems reasonable. Perhaps propose an amendment to that effect?

[Torie]

I think  voters should be able to vote for anybody, even non citizens. This proposal is designed to smash small parties.  You either join a major party or become an independent. The idea I think is to force parties to negotiate with each other to get large enough to become effective.  Effectiveness is facilitated by limiting only one candidate from each party (or five for the at large seats) being on the ballot.

[DownWithTheLeft]

Yea, I completely get needing to be a from a major party to gain ballot access, but I don't think you can tell someone they can't vote.

[Torie]

Ask Mr. PiT. I helped him draft the bill. I will help anyone fortunate enough to live in the Pacific to draft any bill that they desire, and make it as good as it can be. I am here to serve.

I don't have strong views on this one way or the other. I am an independent, and unaffected by this.

[Хahar 🤔]

Ask Mr. PiT. I helped him draft the bill. I will help anyone fortunate enough to live in the Pacific to draft any bill that they desire, and make it as good as it can be. I am here to serve.

How about the bill I created in the Debate/Protest thread?

[Јas]

Quite unacceptable.

I am open to restricting the number of people who can officially run under a party's banner in an election, but the remainder of this is unhelpful, unnecessary and simply unsuitable for the Constitution.

[minionofmidas]

Hey! Jas is back!

Btw, you just prevented me from opening a final vote on this thingy. I was just about to do that, and could have done it sooner.

[CultureKing]

I oppose this bill. If Atlasia had more participants this could be possible but the fact of the matter is that we dont and we need to accept that.

[Хahar 🤔]

I oppose this bill. If Atlasia had more participants this could be possible but the fact of the matter is that we dont and we need to accept that.

Explain?

[CultureKing]

I oppose this bill. If Atlasia had more participants this could be possible but the fact of the matter is that we dont and we need to accept that.

Explain?

For a complex party structure to work there would need to be a larger base in Atlasia. Also we have a large number of independents and people who are parts of small parties, if possible we should keep things as open as possible for the voters.

[Хahar 🤔]

I oppose this bill. If Atlasia had more participants this could be possible but the fact of the matter is that we dont and we need to accept that.

Explain?

For a complex party structure to work there would need to be a larger base in Atlasia. Also we have a large number of independents and people who are parts of small parties, if possible we should keep things as open as possible for the voters.

I don't really get what you're saying. Since we're small, we should have lots of small parties?

[minionofmidas]

I oppose this bill. If Atlasia had more participants this could be possible but the fact of the matter is that we dont and we need to accept that.

Explain?

For a complex party structure to work there would need to be a larger base in Atlasia. Also we have a large number of independents and people who are parts of small parties, if possible we should keep things as open as possible for the voters.

I don't really get what you're saying. Since we're small, we should have lots of small parties?

Since we're small, we don't need parties.

[Хahar 🤔]

I oppose this bill. If Atlasia had more participants this could be possible but the fact of the matter is that we dont and we need to accept that.

Explain?

For a complex party structure to work there would need to be a larger base in Atlasia. Also we have a large number of independents and people who are parts of small parties, if possible we should keep things as open as possible for the voters.

I don't really get what you're saying. Since we're small, we should have lots of small parties?

Since we're small, we don't need parties.

But it's no fun without them.