Mideast Constitutional Convention

[afleitch]

Bump.  This should've opened today at noon.

Look, I know some of you have problems with me being Governor and chairing this process, but if nobody else is going to do it, I will.

I'm not saying that I want to do both - I'd love it if somebody else did, but it seems like I've been one of the only active peopl in here.

Activity has stalled of late....

However I put that down to Peter's 99% completed proposal for a constitution - people seem happy with that. And in all that's a good thing, For the reasons you outlined, I will stand if I still can as I am against the idea of the Governor acting as chair, even though I'm not keen on chairing.

Other than that we might have to wave a stick

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Bump.  This should've opened today at noon.

Look, I know some of you have problems with me being Governor and chairing this process, but if nobody else is going to do it, I will.

I'm not saying that I want to do both - I'd love it if somebody else did, but it seems like I've been one of the only active peopl in here.

Activity has stalled of late....

However I put that down to Peter's 99% completed proposal for a constitution - people seem happy with that. And in all that's a good thing, For the reasons you outlined, I will stand if I still can as I am against the idea of the Governor acting as chair, even though I'm not keen on chairing.

Other than that we might have to wave a stick

Well, Peter's proposal is mostly good.  But I'd like my 5 points at least discussed among the voters.

If you're running, I'm happy to step aside.  Either way, voting for the position of presiding officer needs to be opened as soon as possible.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

In addition to the 5 issues above, perhaps we should have an area for initiatives?

And we should make the Superior Court presiding over all regional election disputes, not just Gubernatorial.

[Purple State]

Where has Peter been of late?

[Peter]

I hereby open voting on the election of a chair.

[  ]  Inks.LWC
[  ]  afleitch
[  ]  Write-in:

I apologise for my absence of late, my job and soon-to-be-new house are occupying a lot of my time.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Wait, I thought Afleitch declared.

[Peter]

corrected

[Purple State]

[X] afleitch

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Election of presiding officer

[  ]  Inks.LWC
[ X ]  afleitch
[  ]  Write-in:

[SPC]

[X]  Inks.LWC
[  ]  afleitch
[  ]  Write-in:

[afleitch]

[X] afleitch

[Purple State]

48 hours has long passed and we have only gotten 4 votes. There must be at least one more vote for the election to end.

[Franzl]

[X] afleitch

[Hash]

X afleitch

[Peter]

Afleitch declared elected. Please assume the Chair.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

So, where are we?

[Purple State]

Afleitch should I guess go through what Peter put up and our proposed ideas, incorporate them and re-propose it.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Afleitch should I guess go through what Peter put up and our proposed ideas, incorporate them and re-propose it.

Well, why don't we discuss my amendments?  Are people for/against them?

[afleitch]

I am back. Give me a few hours to get my senses back and we can proceed!

[Purple State]

There were a number of proposals. If someone could summarize them into one post we can discuss them all. Most of them are grammatical or practicalities, etc.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Here's all the comments piled into one thread:

I'm happy with it, especially the section dealing with legislation

I think a slight amendment at Article 1.2.2 to determine the recall procedure (other than 'accumulating the necessary support') would be helpful.

So far so good. There is a slight blip in Art. 2 Sec. 2 Cl. 1, there is a mention of the Lt. Gov.

I also think Art. 3, Sec. 1, Cl. 3 should be clarified as to how the Assembly can "judge the qualifications of its members." Maybe explicitly state something like, "The Assembly shall have the power to accept or deny the seating of members by a majority vote."

Is there enough information on how Constitutional Amendments work? It just says how to present them. We also need to include how they pass, where they go, etc.

I also would like to propose a change to the layout for the Superior Court. It seems to be an office in which little is done. I don't believe there is the need for a permanent position. As such, perhaps we should place the power in the hands of the Assembly to appoint a justice when needed. In the event of a conflict of interest the Governor will take the place of one of the Assembly members for choosing the justice. Maybe something like that.

1. The phrases: No person shall be Governor who is not a registered voter resident in the Mideast Region. (Article I, Section 1, Clause 2) and

The Assembly shall be composed of three members, each of whom shall be resident in the Mideast Region. (III, 1, 2)

seem awkward- the word resident isn't being properly used.

2. Also, somewhere the number of Assembly members should be set down.  This should probably be laid out in the Constitution, in my opinion.

3. Why not make it so that III, 3, 1 reads "Propositions shall be proposed by the Governor after such legislation has failed in the Assembly.  Voting shall begin between midnight Eastern Standard Time on the first Thursday after the proposition failed in the Assembly and 0001 Eastern Standard Time on the first Friday thereafter, and shall conclude exactly 72 hours after beginning."  This way, we keep all elections consistent.

4. Since you said "he or she" in IV,2,1, I would say "he or she" instead of just "he" in IV,2,5.

5. I would apply #3 to VI,1,2, so that, again, we keep all elections consistent.

Other than those 5 things, it looks pretty good.

In addition to the 5 issues above, perhaps we should have an area for initiatives?

And we should make the Superior Court presiding over all regional election disputes, not just Gubernatorial.

[afleitch]

Thank you Inks.

I will put aside 'order of business' and cut to the chase.

What he have (and what probably resulted in a decline in activity here) is Peter's draft constitution which I am satisfied with barring a few amendments. While I am eager for approval, I think it is important that some issues are addressed. Regarding the recall procedure, this may have been me being a tad pedantic so I am happy to withdraw this suggestion. On the others highlighted there should be a brief period of discussion and debate before we get to any vote on amending the draft constitution.

The issue of the Superior Court is very much up for debate and I open up the floor for discussion. On a personal note, I believe that the office should be wound down with authority rested in the federal courts (who when making a judgment do so under the Mideast Constitution) This is a delegation of authority and as such should not be 'automatic'. I agree with PS's suggestion of the Assembly making that delegation of authority on a case by case basis. Other devolved bodies internationally have made use of the precedent of delegation.

However the floor is open on this issue.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Thank you Inks.

I will put aside 'order of business' and cut to the chase.

What he have (and what probably resulted in a decline in activity here) is Peter's draft constitution which I am satisfied with barring a few amendments. While I am eager for approval, I think it is important that some issues are addressed. Regarding the recall procedure, this may have been me being a tad pedantic so I am happy to withdraw this suggestion. On the others highlighted there should be a brief period of discussion and debate before we get to any vote on amending the draft constitution.

The issue of the Superior Court is very much up for debate and I open up the floor for discussion. On a personal note, I believe that the office should be wound down with authority rested in the federal courts (who when making a judgment do so under the Mideast Constitution) This is a delegation of authority and as such should not be 'automatic'. I agree with PS's suggestion of the Assembly making that delegation of authority on a case by case basis. Other devolved bodies internationally have made use of the precedent of delegation.

However the floor is open on this issue.

PS's idea seems like it could be abused by the Assembly.  What if the whole Assembly has a conflict of interest?  Is it solely up to the Governor then?

[Purple State]

Thank you Inks.

I will put aside 'order of business' and cut to the chase.

What he have (and what probably resulted in a decline in activity here) is Peter's draft constitution which I am satisfied with barring a few amendments. While I am eager for approval, I think it is important that some issues are addressed. Regarding the recall procedure, this may have been me being a tad pedantic so I am happy to withdraw this suggestion. On the others highlighted there should be a brief period of discussion and debate before we get to any vote on amending the draft constitution.

The issue of the Superior Court is very much up for debate and I open up the floor for discussion. On a personal note, I believe that the office should be wound down with authority rested in the federal courts (who when making a judgment do so under the Mideast Constitution) This is a delegation of authority and as such should not be 'automatic'. I agree with PS's suggestion of the Assembly making that delegation of authority on a case by case basis. Other devolved bodies internationally have made use of the precedent of delegation.

However the floor is open on this issue.

PS's idea seems like it could be abused by the Assembly.  What if the whole Assembly has a conflict of interest?  Is it solely up to the Governor then?

Maybe we should have a function in which if more than one member has a conflict of interest the choice should go to the people through public vote in a booth. Or we could just skip the Assembly altogether and send it to the people no matter what, but I think for time's sake having a way for the Assembly to dispatch of the matter quickly is important.

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Thank you Inks.

I will put aside 'order of business' and cut to the chase.

What he have (and what probably resulted in a decline in activity here) is Peter's draft constitution which I am satisfied with barring a few amendments. While I am eager for approval, I think it is important that some issues are addressed. Regarding the recall procedure, this may have been me being a tad pedantic so I am happy to withdraw this suggestion. On the others highlighted there should be a brief period of discussion and debate before we get to any vote on amending the draft constitution.

The issue of the Superior Court is very much up for debate and I open up the floor for discussion. On a personal note, I believe that the office should be wound down with authority rested in the federal courts (who when making a judgment do so under the Mideast Constitution) This is a delegation of authority and as such should not be 'automatic'. I agree with PS's suggestion of the Assembly making that delegation of authority on a case by case basis. Other devolved bodies internationally have made use of the precedent of delegation.

However the floor is open on this issue.

PS's idea seems like it could be abused by the Assembly.  What if the whole Assembly has a conflict of interest?  Is it solely up to the Governor then?

Maybe we should have a function in which if more than one member has a conflict of interest the choice should go to the people through public vote in a booth. Or we could just skip the Assembly altogether and send it to the people no matter what, but I think for time's sake having a way for the Assembly to dispatch of the matter quickly is important.

Or we could just keep a Justice so that we can alleviate this whole process.  That's just my opinion.