Northeast Assembly Thread

[Governor Scott]

Debate time has expired.  Members will now cast their votes on passage of the legislation.  This will be a 24-hour vote.

Amendment to the SOAP Act - Protest and Analysis Thread Act

The Standing Order on Assembly Procedure Act is hereby amended.

5. Protest and Analysis Thread
A Northeast Assembly Protest and Analysis Thread shall be created in the Atlas Fantasy Elections board and made open to Northeast citizens for the discussion of legislative proposals, debates, votes, and all other matters that relate to the Northeast government.

[Governor Scott]

Aye.

[Free Palestine]

AYE

[crypto-fascist superhero]

Aye.

[Cincinnatus]

Aye

[Governor Scott]

All members have voted.  The bill passes unanimously.

The Assembly will now consider the legislation introduced by the gentleman from New York.  Debate will be for 48 hours.

Repeal of the Ballot Standardization Act

1.  The Ballot Standardization Act is hereby repealed.

[Governor Scott]

I looked this piece of legislation up on the Wiki, but nothing relevant to it came up.  Would the sponsor please explain what the legislation that should be repealed is?

[crypto-fascist superhero]

Yes, I'm also interested in the rationale for this bill.

[Cincinnatus]

It's a law signed by Governor Winfield.  One which contradicts the current constitution, and has generally been ignored since it passed.

Ballot Standardization Act

1. The Chief Judicial Officer of the Northeast is hereby authorized to open a voting booth for any and all Northeast Regional regular and special elections.

2. Any other official of the Northeast, including and limited to the Governor, Lt. Governor and members of the Assembly, are hereby authorized to open a voting booth for any and all Northeast Regional regular and special elections only if:
a. The Chief Judicial Officer declares a leave of absence encompassing the first day of the election, or otherwise states publicly his inability to open the polls on time; or
b. The Chief Judicial Officer does not open the polls one hour after an election's constitutionally or legally mandated start time.


3. The post with which the authorized opener of a voting booth begins the election must contain the following text before the listing of candidates running for office, with the bracketed items correctly filled in:

"As [name of authorized poll-opening officer], I hereby declare this polling place open.

This is the Northeast regional polling booth for the scheduled [name of election].  In this polling place, Northeast citizens are electing [names of offices up for election].

Votes for offices in this region are cast using PR-STV.  Voters who wish to preference more than one candidate should allocate a first preference for a candidate by marking a [1] in the space provided by that candidate's name, and proceeding to number as many preferences as they desire by marking a [2], [3], etc for as many candidates as they so desire.

A vote will be counted so long as the voter that casts it is eligible to vote in this election and casts  a formal ballot. A vote is formal so long as it contains numbered preferences with no duplicate numbers. A ballot containing Roman Numerals is not considered informal. A ballot in which candidates have been ranked a,b,c, etc is not considered informal so long as no letter has been repeated, and so long as a single candidate has been ranked a, for as long as the letters are consecutive with no duplicate letters. A ballot is formal if the CJO can determine the intent of the voter without interviewing that voter.

Per past practice, write-in votes are only counted for a candidate if he or she publicly declares a willingness to receive write-in votes for a particular office in the [name of election] before the polls close in the Candidate Declaration Thread or writes in his or her own name on the ballot for that particular office.

Votes for "NOTA" or "None of the Above" for any office are formal regardless of the preference assigned to it. Should a voter preference "NOTA" as well as other candidates, only his vote for "NOTA" will be counted.

This booth shall remain open until [time prescribed for the closing of the polls]."

4. Candidates shall have printed on the ballot certain basic information, limited to the following:
a. their full usernames and display names as of the time of the opening of the polls, should they differ from their usernames;
b. the name of the political party to which they belong, or the affiliation "Independent" in its place should a candidate not belong to a political party;
c. the name of the state in which they reside.

5. All information printed on a ballot must pertain immediately to the election at hand and may not contain solicitation, propaganda, or hyperlinks to other pages.

6. Absentee ballots need not contain all of the information mandated in sections 3 and 4, though it must be provided by the Chief Judicial Officer upon request to an absentee elector at any time beginning one week before the election.

7. An opening post that does not abide by the above clauses of this act inaugurates an election that shall not be recognized as the legitimate voice of the people of the Northeast and shall be rendered null and void.

[Cincinnatus]

Can I expect this to pass?  We all seem to agree, no? 

[Governor Scott]

I'm not sure how I'll vote on this, yet.  I may abstain.

[Cincinnatus]

I'm not sure how I'll vote on this, yet.  I may abstain.

This legislation is obsolete, and ignored.  I do hope we can eliminate unnecessary and/or ineffective bills.  Beyond that, this could pose legal trouble down the road if not quickly dealt with. 

[Governor Scott]

Debate time has expired.  Members will now cast their votes on passage of the legislation.  This will be a 24-hour vote.

Repeal of the Ballot Standardization Act

1.  The Ballot Standardization Act is hereby repealed.

[Governor Scott]

If the Northeast government doesn't intend to enforce this legislation, then it shouldn't do any harm to repeal it.  I vote aye on this bill.

[Senator Napoleon]

I plan to try this in a different way, if elected.

[Free Palestine]

Abstain

[Cincinnatus]

Aye

[Governor Scott]

Voting time has expired.  The ayes are two, nays are one, abstentions are one, and non-voting members are one.  The bill is passed.

The Assembly will now consider the legislation introduced by the gentleman from New York.  Debate will be for 48 hours.

Northeast Symbols Act

1.  The official motto of the Northeast Region shall hereby be recognized as, "   Fax mentis est incedium gloriae"

2.  The official flower of the Northeast Region shall hereby be recognized as the Mountain laurel

3.  The official bird of the Northeast Region shall hereby be recognized as the black capped chickadee.

[Governor Scott]

I have no objection.

[Cincinnatus]

Anyone have any interesting amendments they'd like to introduce? 

[crypto-fascist superhero]

I'll support this if it's amended to change the name of the region to "The Funky Northeast Love Pad."

[Governor Scott]

Ah, what the heck.

I propose the following amendment.

4.  The official nicknames of the Northeast Region shall hereby be recognized as "The Steel Region", "The Prosperity Region", and "The Independent Region".

5.  The official song of the Northeast Region shall hereby be recognized as Cherry Bomb by John Mellencamp.

6.  The official dish of the Northeast Region shall hereby be recognized as clam chowder.

[Free Palestine]

I support making clam chowder the national food.  I'm neutral towards all else.

[Cincinnatus]

I'll support this if it's amended to change the name of the region to "The Funky Northeast Love Pad."

Are you introducing that amendment?

Ah, what the heck.

I propose the following amendment.

4.  The official nicknames of the Northeast Region shall hereby be recognized as "The Steel Region", "The Prosperity Region", and "The Independent Region".

5.  The official song of the Northeast Region shall hereby be recognized as Cherry Bomb by John Mellencamp.

4.  The official dish of the Northeast Region shall hereby be recognized as clam chowder.

I'll accept that if you reintroduce it, and subsequently withdraw the current amendment.  A nickname doesn't need to be included in a bill, it just happens.  John Mellencamp is great, but he doesn't really represent the Northeast

[Governor Scott]

Very well.

4.  The official dish of the Northeast Region shall hereby be recognized as clam chowder.