The Constitutional Convention (Completed)

[Purple State]

The Constitutional Convention doesn't officially begin until all the delegates have been selected, but this thread will serve as the official sign in thread until then.

Hopefully we can start soon.

Oh, and here is the resolution passed by the Senate:

Section 1: Consent
The Senate of Atlasia hereby gives its consent to the President of Atlasia's request for a Constitutional Convention.

Section 2: Delegates
a. Five delegates will be selected from the regions, with the legislative body of each region selecting a delegate from amongst the residents of that region.
b. One delegate shall be selected by the Senate from amongst its members.
c. The President of Atlasia shall serve as the chair of the Convention, but shall have no vote unless the delegates be equally divided.
d. All vacancies shall be filled in the manner in which they were originally filled.

Section 3: Orders of Business
a. The first order of business of the Convention shall be to establish rules of order and procedure.
b. The Convention shall not be dismissed until a majority of the delegates have voted in favor of sending a proposal to the regions for a vote of the people.

Section 4: Timing and Location
a. The Convention will begin immediately after the final certification of delegates from each region and by the Senate.
b. The Convention shall conduct all official business within a thread in the Atlas Fantasy Government board, to be created and directed by the chair of the Convention.

[Bacon King]

Southeastern delegate, signing in

[Fritz]

Shouldn't we use the child board from the last ConCon for this?  I assumed that's what we would do.

[Purple State]

Shouldn't we use the child board from the last ConCon for this?  I assumed that's what we would do.

My hope is that we can achieve everything in here given the narrow scope and smaller size of the Convention this time around. If it turns out that this is too constrained a setting, we can always move it over there.

[ilikeverin]

Midwestern delegate, signing in!

[Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Shouldn't we use the child board from the last ConCon for this?  I assumed that's what we would do.

My hope is that we can achieve everything in here given the narrow scope and smaller size of the Convention this time around. If it turns out that this is too constrained a setting, we can always move it over there.

Isn't there risk of this getting overwhelmed especially if a large numbers of non-delegates seek the chance to comment and opine. Would the creation of a discussion thread be a wise investment or unecessary in your opinion?

[Purple State]

Shouldn't we use the child board from the last ConCon for this?  I assumed that's what we would do.

My hope is that we can achieve everything in here given the narrow scope and smaller size of the Convention this time around. If it turns out that this is too constrained a setting, we can always move it over there.

Isn't there risk of this getting overwhelmed especially if a large numbers of non-delegates seek the chance to comment and opine. Would the creation of a discussion thread be a wise investment or unecessary in your opinion?

Let's play it by ear and see what happens.

[Dallasfan65]

Shouldn't we use the child board from the last ConCon for this?  I assumed that's what we would do.

My hope is that we can achieve everything in here given the narrow scope and smaller size of the Convention this time around. If it turns out that this is too constrained a setting, we can always move it over there.

Isn't there risk of this getting overwhelmed especially if a large numbers of non-delegates seek the chance to comment and opine. Would the creation of a discussion thread be a wise investment or unecessary in your opinion?

Let's play it by ear and see what happens.

Like playing a song on a piano?

I believe play it by ear means just "as we go" or "as things happen."

Anywho, signing in to proudly represent the Northeast.

[Senator Libertas]

Shouldn't we use the child board from the last ConCon for this?  I assumed that's what we would do.

My hope is that we can achieve everything in here given the narrow scope and smaller size of the Convention this time around. If it turns out that this is too constrained a setting, we can always move it over there.

Isn't there risk of this getting overwhelmed especially if a large numbers of non-delegates seek the chance to comment and opine. Would the creation of a discussion thread be a wise investment or unecessary in your opinion?

Let's play it by ear and see what happens.

Like playing a song on a piano?

I believe play it by ear means just "as we go" or "as things happen."

Anywho, signing in to proudly represent the Northeast.

This seems very disorganized.

[Marokai]

I really don't see how this seems so chaotically disorganized considering that this is a much more narrowly designed convention with a grand total of, what, 6 delegates? We probably need a discussion thread or something but since we're probably only going to be discussing a very limited number of proposals here, I can't imagine it being too difficult to keep track of unless someone has trouble reading more than a handful of posts at a time.

[Purple State]

Shouldn't we use the child board from the last ConCon for this?  I assumed that's what we would do.

My hope is that we can achieve everything in here given the narrow scope and smaller size of the Convention this time around. If it turns out that this is too constrained a setting, we can always move it over there.

Isn't there risk of this getting overwhelmed especially if a large numbers of non-delegates seek the chance to comment and opine. Would the creation of a discussion thread be a wise investment or unecessary in your opinion?

Let's play it by ear and see what happens.

Like playing a song on a piano?

I believe play it by ear means just "as we go" or "as things happen."

Anywho, signing in to proudly represent the Northeast.

This seems very disorganized.

It hasn't even started yet. We need everyone to sign in and the delegates need to pass rules of order before anything else happens. That should add some structure.

[Ebowed]

Pacific delegate signing in.

[Purple State]

So far half the delegates have signed in and all but one have been chosen. Hopefully we can start this up by the weekend.

[Senator Barnes]

So far half the delegates have signed in and all but one have been chosen. Hopefully we can start this up by the weekend.

Mr. President, I hope you know that the Mideast is dedicated to choosing a delegate quickly. It's just that starting a new session the day we were going to choose one muddled things up.

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

May I suggest using the child board from the last one?

[Marokai]

Section 4: Timing and Location
a. The Convention will begin immediately after the final certification of delegates from each region and by the Senate.
b. The Convention shall conduct all official business within a thread in the Atlas Fantasy Government board, to be created and directed by the chair of the Convention.

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

Well - I scanned the thread to see if anybody had mentioned that idea, but I didn't think to look there. 

[Purple State]

The Mideast Assembly has selected Afleitch to be its delegate, thus officially commencing this Constitutional Convention. Discussion of a rules of order and procedure for this Convention begin immediately.

I also have opened a comments thread in the Atlas Fantasy Elections board for citizens to get involved in the process. I encourage all delegates to regularly review those comments and consider the thoughtful remarks that your fellow Atlasians post.


Here is a rough draft of a potential ROOP:

1. A simple majority of all delegates voting shall be needed to pass or defeat motions, amendments, changes to these rules, and resolutions. All votes shall last for precisely 48 hours or until a majority of all delegates has been secured.
2. The presiding officer shall bring all motions, amendments and resolutions to a vote in a timely manner after they are introduced, unless the chair deems them frivolous or not germane. A ruling of the chair may be challenged at the request of two delegates, which shall require a simple majority to succeed.
3. The presiding officer may appoint a temporary substitute to fulfill their obligations in the event that he or she will not be available. The substitute must be approved by half of all delegates in a confidence vote and shall be able to sit for no longer than 72 hours. In the event that the presiding officer is inactive for a period of 72 hours or greater with no advance warning, the delegates may elect an acting officer to conduct official business until the return of the presiding officer. This election shall be treated as a normal motion of order and may be initiated by any delegate.
4. In the event that a delegate is considered inactive by his peers, a vote of confidence may be initiated. A vote of confidence shall last for 48 hours and shall require a vote in the affirmative by greater than twenty five percent of all delegates to succeed. If a vote of confidence fails, the delegate shall be considered to have vacated his or her seat and the Governor of that delegate's respective region shall replace the delegate.
5. This Convention shall only conclude upon passage of a Document of Principal which shall be sent to the regions for approval as a replacement to the current Constitution of Atlasia.

[ilikeverin]

We'd also want a general clause for vacancy, in case anyone decides they have to resign.

[afleitch]

We'd also want a general clause for vacancy, in case anyone decides they have to resign.

Agreed.

I also think we need a timescale as to how long this lasts at most. I'm thinking say 8 weeks for example and there can be a motion to extend it. But there has to be a target to work towards.

[Purple State]

Changes in bold.

1. A simple majority of all delegates voting shall be needed to pass or defeat motions, amendments, changes to these rules, and resolutions. All votes shall last for precisely 48 hours or until a majority of all delegates has been secured.
2. The presiding officer shall bring all motions, amendments and resolutions to a vote in a timely manner after they are introduced, unless the chair deems them frivolous or not germane. A ruling of the chair may be challenged at the request of two delegates, which shall require a simple majority to succeed.
3. The presiding officer may appoint a temporary substitute to fulfill their obligations in the event that he or she will not be available. The substitute must be approved by half of all delegates in a confidence vote and shall be able to sit for no longer than 72 hours. In the event that the presiding officer is inactive for a period of 72 hours or greater with no advance warning, the delegates may elect an acting officer to conduct official business until the return of the presiding officer. This election shall be treated as a normal motion of order and may be initiated by any delegate.
4. In the event that a delegate is considered inactive by his peers, a vote of confidence may be initiated. A vote of confidence shall last for 48 hours and shall require a vote in the affirmative by greater than twenty five percent of all delegates to succeed. If a vote of confidence fails or if a delegate resigns from his or her position, the delegate shall be considered to have vacated his or her seat and the Governor of that delegate's respective region shall replace the delegate.
5. This Convention shall only conclude upon passage of a Document of Principal which shall be sent to the regions for approval as a replacement to the current Constitution of Atlasia. This document shall be approved and submitted no later than September 30, 2010 at 12:00pm EST, unless given statuary approval by the Senate. This clause may only be amended by a two-thirds vote of all delegates and approval by the chair.

[bgwah]

Looks fine to me.

[ilikeverin]

Sure.

[afleitch]

I'm happy with that.

[Purple State]

In that case let's put this up to a vote so we can get the real ball rolling.

There is now a vote on passage of the rules of order and procedure. This vote shall last 48 hours or until a majority has been secured.

1. A simple majority of all delegates voting shall be needed to pass or defeat motions, amendments, changes to these rules, and resolutions. All votes shall last for precisely 48 hours or until a majority of all delegates has been secured.
2. The presiding officer shall bring all motions, amendments and resolutions to a vote in a timely manner after they are introduced, unless the chair deems them frivolous or not germane. A ruling of the chair may be challenged at the request of two delegates, which shall require a simple majority to succeed.
3. The presiding officer may appoint a temporary substitute to fulfill their obligations in the event that he or she will not be available. The substitute must be approved by half of all delegates in a confidence vote and shall be able to sit for no longer than 72 hours. In the event that the presiding officer is inactive for a period of 72 hours or greater with no advance warning, the delegates may elect an acting officer to conduct official business until the return of the presiding officer. This election shall be treated as a normal motion of order and may be initiated by any delegate.
4. In the event that a delegate is considered inactive by his peers, a vote of confidence may be initiated. A vote of confidence shall last for 48 hours and shall require a vote in the affirmative by greater than twenty five percent of all delegates to succeed. If a vote of confidence fails or if a delegate resigns from his or her position, the delegate shall be considered to have vacated his or her seat and the Governor of that delegate's respective region shall replace the delegate.
5. This Convention shall only conclude upon passage of a Document of Principal which shall be sent to the regions for approval as a replacement to the current Constitution of Atlasia. This document shall be approved and submitted no later than September 30, 2010 at 12:00pm EST, unless given statuary approval by the Senate. This clause may only be amended by a two-thirds vote of all delegates and approval by the chair.

After this, the plan is to go article by article, consolidating amendments and nip/tucking as we go.

I will post Article I as it would appear if all amendments were consolidated, allow for 24-48 hours for delegates to review and make sure I didn't miss anything, then hold a preliminary vote on that. Then discussion will begin on any additional changes the delegates may want to see for that article. That will last until a motion is made (either on amending the article or for a final vote on the article). This process will be repeated until we go through the entire Constitution.