Northeast Assembly Thread

[Antonio the Sixth]

The Northeast Wiki is in sorry shape. 

I've been making some minor edits to the officeholder section, but under the SOAP and Wiki Emergency Act, it's the Lt. Governor's job to update the Wiki, unless he names someone else.  I don't have the time to do much else, so if our newly appointed Lt. Governor doesn't have a wiki account or time to update the Wiki, I suggest he name a volunteer who does.  In particular, the Assembly and Assembly legislation pages haven't been updated since last August and June, respectively.  If we can't easily find our laws, they're pretty much useless.

Remember the good old times when I constantly updated everything ?

[homelycooking]

I'm not buying it, especially since it is only temporary.  All legislatures form special committees and things of such nature. This commission has no legislative, executive, or judicial political power.

Well, as long as it isn't considered an actual 'office' I have no objections to serving, and hope the Assembly will confirm me.

The SRC's report does not have the force of law. It is merely produced as expert recommendation of a course of action to be taken by the Assembly, which is at liberty to approve or reject specific recommendations of the SRC.

It may be necessary to make an appeal to the Senate to declare some sort of state of emergency in the Northeast, since it appears that democracy is in an exceptionally weak state if a quorum cannot be had to change the Constitution and if voters must be rounded up and urged to vote instead of doing so of their own will. Furthermore, the recent crisis has revealed that the rule of law in the Northeast is not to be trusted, as is the case with the Recall Amendment. I argue that nothing more can be done until we determine whether the statute of the Northeast is legitimate and valid.

[Napoleon]

I'll nominate myself as well. Anyone else?

[homelycooking]

The SRC's report does not have the force of law. It is merely produced as expert recommendation of a course of action to be taken by the Assembly, which is at liberty to approve or reject specific recommendations of the SRC.

It may be necessary to make an appeal to the Senate to declare some sort of state of emergency in the Northeast, since it appears that democracy is in an exceptionally weak state if a quorum cannot be had to change the Constitution and if voters must be rounded up and urged to vote instead of doing so of their own will. Furthermore, the recent crisis has revealed that the rule of law in the Northeast is not to be trusted, as is the case with the Recall Amendment. I argue that nothing more can be done until we determine whether the statute of the Northeast is legitimate and valid.

Never mind about that State of Emergency bit. cinyc has made me much less afraid about the laws' legitimacy. I still say though that the SRC has to get started as soon as possible. I'd be thrilled to be working with Napoleon and Dallasfan on such an important matter.

[Hatman 🍁]

I hadn't realized I won a seat, folks. Where do I sign in? Here?

[Napoleon]

I hadn't realized I won a seat, folks. Where do I sign in? Here?

Swearing in thread on the government board.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I'm also putting myself forward if there's any way I can be of use.

[cinyc]

I hadn't realized I won a seat, folks. Where do I sign in? Here?

The swearing-in thread is here:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=36934

[homelycooking]

I'm also putting myself forward if there's any way I can be of use.

I will nominate Polnut, then. The legislation limits the commission to four people, so the four could be myself, Dallasfan, Napoleon and Polnut: a fantastic group!

[Napoleon]

We will now vote on SRC nominees.

Polnut- Aye
Homelycooking- Aye
Dallasfan- Aye
Napoleon- Aye

[homelycooking]

Polnut- Aye
Homelycooking- Aye
Dallasfan- Aye
Napoleon- Aye

[Sbane]

Polnut- Aye
Homelycooking- Aye
Dallasfan- Aye
Napoleon- Aye

[tpfkaw]

Aye to all 4.

[Napoleon]

All four nominees are confirmed. Commissioners, please sign into the thread.

[Napoleon]

The Small Government Act of 2011

ARTICLE IV - EXECUTIVE BRANCH is amended to read as follows:

i) The executive authority of the Northeast Region shall be vested first and foremost in the Governor of the Northeast Region.

ii) The Governor must be elected democratically by the people of the Northeast Region.

iii)Elections are to be held every October, February and June for Governor.

iv) All citizens of the Northeast Region shall have one vote for Governor. A polling booth shall be created by the Chief Judicial Officer of the Northeast Region. He or she will open the booth on the third Friday at 12:00:00am Eastern Standard Time of every October, February and June and will close said both on the following Sunday at 11:59:59pm Eastern Standard Time. Every citizen will be given the opportunity to vote during this time. The Chief Judicial Officer of the Northeast Region must accept any absentee ballot conducted one week prior to the opening of the polls.

v) Candidates for Governor will be given until the second Friday of the month in which he or she wishes to run in an election thereof to announce his candidacy. This is to be done by officially notifying the Chief Judicial Officer of the Northeast Region.

vi) When the polls close, the Chief Judicial Officer of the Northeast Region shall be given twenty-four hours to count the votes and declare a winner. The candidate with the most votes for the office of Governor shall be made Governor. The newly elected Governor is to be officially sworn in on the Tuesday following the election and shall immediately assume office at that point. In the case of a tie, all tied candidates are to run in a run-off election the following week to determine a winner.

vii) There may only be one Governorat any point in time. Once a new Governor is sworn in, the former one forfeits his or her office.

viii) If the office of Governor is to become vacant at some point while he or she is in office, than the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is to be immediately sworn in as Acting Governor of the Northeast Region, while maintaining his or her role as presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly.

ix) A Governor may be impeached at any time while they are in office by the will of two thirds of the Legislative Assembly of the Northeast Region.

x) The Governor has the power to make political appointments and to be the official representative of the Region to the rest of Atlas Forum with the recommendation of the General Assembly of the Northeast Region. The Primary responsibility of the Governor shall be to work with the regional Senators and the Forum President to ensure that the rights, liberties, and interests of the people of the Northeast Region are protected.

xi) The Governor has veto power over any piece of legislation that the Northeast Assembly shall successfully vote in favour. The Governor may not have the power to veto parts as opposed to the whole of any legislation. The Governor is required to sign all pieces of legislation he supports into law after it passes a successful vote in the Legislative Assembly within one week of its passing. Once he or she has signed the legislation, it immediately becomes law unless otherwise stated in the legislation itself. If the Governor does not sign the successful legislation after one week, than it becomes law immediately.

xii) The Governor is obligated to present the Legislative Assembly a budget every January, if he or she is in office at that time. The budget of all government activities is to be voted on by the Assembly in the same January. The Governor is obligated that the budget does not provide for any deficits excepting times of emergency or war, a condition the Legislative Assembly must successfully endorse.

xiii) In the temporary absence of the Governor, then the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly may be allowed to temporarily conduct the duties of the Governor.

xiv) The chain of command for the Governorship of the Northeast Region shall be as follows: Governor, , Chief Judicial Officer, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Longest continuously serving Representative of the Northeast Region, followed by the next longest and the next and so on. The chain of command shall be used to fill sudden vacancies in the office of Governor.

Article V is amended to read as follows:

xiv) The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Northeast acts as the President of the Northeast Legislative Assembly. He officially opens and closes the sessions, organizes votes on legislation and notifies the Reps of the results of any official vote. If a vote results in a perfect tie. In this case, the Governor shall be allowed to vote to break said tie.

xv) The Assembly shall have the power to override the Governor’s veto. If the Assembly passes legislation previously vetoed by the Governor by more than a two-thirds majority vote, it becomes law without the Governor’s signature. An override vote resulting in an exactly two-thirds majority shall be considered failed.

Article VI is amended to read as follows:

iv) No persons shall hold the positions of Governor and Chief Judicial Officer at the same time.

Now we'll begin debate on this proposed amendment. 48 hours, everyone.

[homelycooking]

The idea of eliminating the Lieutenant Governor position is one I have always supported, and I think this amendment does a good job of it. I do think, however, that language should be inserted that specifies for a special election to be held if the Governor's absence or inactivity is longer than, say, one week. The amount of time during which the Speaker would be wearing both legislative and executive "hats" ought to be severely constrained.

Under your amendment, can a Governor in absence reclaim his office from an Acting Governor if he returns? Also, you write that "there can only be one Governor at one time". Is the Governor removed from office if he announces a period of leave? Does the Acting Governor count as Governor during that time?

[Napoleon]

Good idea, I'll get to work on a re-draft. We could include the recall amendment here too but I think it'd be better to have the people vote on them separately.

[cinyc]

Two things:

1) Note that if this proposed amendment is passed and signed by the Governor before May 13, it will be put for a vote in a May special election, which usually has lower turnout than a regular June election.

2) If you're amending the relevant provisions anyway, it might make sense to formalize procedures where someone else can open a voting booth if the CJO fails to do so or that position is vacant.

[Napoleon]

I'm going to extend this another 24, I've beena bit busy. Sorry guys.

[Napoleon]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Representatives, you have 24 hours to vote on the amendments I made.

This is not a final vote!!!!!!

[tpfkaw]

Sorry for being a bit dense, but could you perhaps bold or highlight the areas in which you made changes?

[Napoleon]

Sorry for being a bit dense, but could you perhaps bold or highlight the areas in which you made changes?

Sections 8 and 13, next time ill do that to begin with.

[tpfkaw]

I'm a bit wary of having the assembly speaker be next in line after the governor - you're making it into a partisan position in that case, which I'm not very big on.  I think it would be better to have the CJO be next in line.

[Napoleon]

I'm a bit wary of having the assembly speaker be next in line after the governor - you're making it into a partisan position in that case, which I'm not very big on.  I think it would be better to have the CJO be next in line.

I'd rather the CJO stay away from partisan politics than the Speaker, an elected Representative then chosen by his or her peers.

[tpfkaw]

Whatever the case, I don't think a partisan speaker is a good idea.  I'd rather that the assembly choose a (consenting) replacement from among its members, or that the office be left vacant prior to a special election being held.