MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Tabled)

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly

Section 1 of the third Article of the Mideast Constitution shall be amended to read as follows:

1. The legislative power of the Mideast shall be vested in the Mideast Assembly.
2. The Assembly shall be composed of three members, each of whom shall be registered voters residing in the Mideast Region.
3. The Assembly shall have the power to choose its own officers, including a Speaker, and judge the qualifications of its members.
4. Elections to the Assembly shall begin between 0001 Eastern Standard Time on the third Thursday of January, March, May, July, September and November and 0001 Eastern Standard Time on the first Friday thereafter, and shall conclude exactly 72 hours after beginning.
5. The method of election shall be PR-STV, as specified in Sections 4 to 17 of the Atlasian Proportional Representation Act (F.L. 21-2), unless the Assembly shall provide otherwise by Law.
6. Vacancies in the Assembly shall be filled in a manner specified by Law, and until such determination is made, by Gubernatorial appointment.

Sponsor: ZuWo

[ZuWo]

Fellow Assemblymen, there can be no doubt that it appears to have become increasingly difficult to find candidates for 5 Assembly seats. At this very moment, only 3 people have officially declared to run for an Assembly seat in the upcoming Mideast elections. Clearly, this is a situation which is truly unfortunate and damaging to our Assembly.

Reducing the number of Assemblymen to 3 is a drastic step. I have been sceptical of this measure at the beginning since an Assembly consisting of 3 members may encounter serious difficulties as soon as 1 or even 2 Assemblymen are absent for a certain period of time. Yet, I believe there is no other viable solution to the problem we're currently facing. If we were to create an Assembly with 4 Assemblymen there would always be the risk of a 2-2 tie when it comes to voting on proposed pieces of legislation, which would lead to unsatisfactory outcomes because many bills could simply not be passed.

Furthermore, a 3-seat Assembly would finally lead to competitive elections in our region. I am aware that this Amendment might cost any of the sitting Assemblymen their seat in the next elections, but I know that we have to change the current state of affairs for the sake of our Assembly.

[A-Bob]

I am for this bill

[MOPolitico]

Assemblyman ZuWo is right; the current size of the Assembly is impractical and must be reduced. I support this bill as a means to do that.

[ZuWo]

The entire procedure which is necessary for this amendment to be ratified is going to take a while. While we are still going to elect 5 Assemblymen in the upcoming elections, I am confident that we can reduce the seats of the Assembly to 3 for the elections in September if the amendment is going to be approved both by the Assembly and the Mideast people. Considering our struggle to even find enough candidates for 5 seats it would appear illogical to be against a reduction of the seats. However, I think we shouldn't rule out the possibility that, if people in our region become much more active in the future, we could return to an Assembly with 5 Assemblymen one day.

[A-Bob]

If after this bill becomes an amendment we have a trend of competitive and crowded elections, then I will support 5 seats again. When I was a newbie running we had on average of 7 active candidates running from across the board. Once that happens again, I will absolutely support adding seats to add debate, and activity to the Assembly.

[CathKhan]

Hmmmm.... There appear to be four active and enthusiastic members of the assembly, so in having three seats, we'd be forced to sacrifice one of them. Still, given the current state of things, I'd be willing to support this.

EDIT: Is afleitch not running for re-election? If that is true, then we'd have the right number of active and enthusiastic members.

[A-Bob]

Hmmmm.... There appear to be four active and enthusiastic members of the assembly, so in having three seats, we'd be forced to sacrifice one of them. Still, given the current state of things, I'd be willing to support this.

EDIT: Is afleitch not running for re-election? If that is true, then we'd have the right number of active and enthusiastic members.

Remind me the last time you introduced a bill

[ZuWo]

Hmmmm.... There appear to be four active and enthusiastic members of the assembly, so in having three seats, we'd be forced to sacrifice one of them. Still, given the current state of things, I'd be willing to support this.

EDIT: Is afleitch not running for re-election? If that is true, then we'd have the right number of active and enthusiastic members.

afleitch is running for Governor. He's the only official candidate at the moment.

The next Assembly will still consist of 5 Assemblymen. The amendment which is currently being discussed is only going to take effect after the September elections if it gets passed.

[Jayhawker]

We currently have 6 people running for the Assembly. Maybe now isn't the time.

[ZuWo]

Tmth, you've got a point here. The recent candidate declarations came unexpectedly, but I am glad! I'm actually considering withdrawing this amendment. If this trend towards more activity continues in the next weeks, a reduction is unnecessary. Of course, if we experience similar recruitment problems before the next elections in September, we've got to have a look at this amendment again. It is not my wish to have an Assembly with 3 Assemblymen, but that seemed to be a necessity a few days ago. Now with 6 candidates, however, there might not be a need for such a change anymore.

[A-Bob]

I say we pass it, it won't effect this race at all. If the next Assembly proves extremely active and we have more than 6 candidates next election we can do a quickie repeal near the end of the session

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

ZuWo, do you want to keep debate going, or are you withdrawing this?

[ZuWo]

ZuWo, do you want to keep debate going, or are you withdrawing this?

Let's keep debate going. We can get this passed and see how the situation looks before the September elections.

[afleitch]

I say we pass it, it won't effect this race at all. If the next Assembly proves extremely active and we have more than 6 candidates next election we can do a quickie repeal near the end of the session

I agree. It should be easy to get it tabled and repealed in time for any future elections. I don't think we should be shy about varying the size of the Assembly from time to time to reflect activity.

I think that any Amendment made should reflect that; it should be to allow flexibility.

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

We could always base the Assembly off of the number of declared candidates.  If the number of declared candidates is X or lower, it's 3.  If it's greater than X, it's 5.  Any thoughts on that?

[A-Bob]

We could always base the Assembly off of the number of declared candidates.  If the number of declared candidates is X or lower, it's 3.  If it's greater than X, it's 5.  Any thoughts on that?

That may be an essay way to allow for flowing seats without needing a vote on a regional amendment.

[ZuWo]

We could always base the Assembly off of the number of declared candidates.  If the number of declared candidates is X or lower, it's 3.  If it's greater than X, it's 5.  Any thoughts on that?

I like that idea. A first suggestion could be that if the number of declared candidates is greater than 5, it's 5 seats. If only 5 or fewer people declare that they will run, the Assembly has 3 seats.

Could we simply amend the Constitution by adding such a clause to the section which currently says that the Assembly has 5 seats?

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

We could always base the Assembly off of the number of declared candidates.  If the number of declared candidates is X or lower, it's 3.  If it's greater than X, it's 5.  Any thoughts on that?

I like that idea. A first suggestion could be that if the number of declared candidates is greater than 5, it's 5 seats. If only 5 or fewer people declare that they will run, the Assembly has 3 seats.

Could we simply amend the Constitution by adding such a clause to the section which currently says that the Assembly has 5 seats?

Yeah, we can have quite an easy fix, I think.  I just don't want to introduce an amended amendment until we have a consensus of 1) if this is a good idea and 2) what the threshhold should be.

[MOPolitico]

We could always base the Assembly off of the number of declared candidates.  If the number of declared candidates is X or lower, it's 3.  If it's greater than X, it's 5.  Any thoughts on that?

I like that idea. A first suggestion could be that if the number of declared candidates is greater than 5, it's 5 seats. If only 5 or fewer people declare that they will run, the Assembly has 3 seats.

Could we simply amend the Constitution by adding such a clause to the section which currently says that the Assembly has 5 seats?

Yeah, we can have quite an easy fix, I think.  I just don't want to introduce an amended amendment until we have a consensus of 1) if this is a good idea and 2) what the threshhold should be.

1. I think it's a good idea; 2. I think if five or more candidates declare, there should be five seats in the next Assembly. If there are four or less candidates, there should be three seats in the next Assembly.

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

So, MOPolitico says the threshold to bump up to 5 seats should be 5 candidates.
ZuWo says the threshold should be 6.

Personally, I'm leaning toward ZuWo's opinion (that was the number I had in my head).  Does anybody else have an opinion?

[A-Bob]

I vote 6, including write-ins, that makes a competitive election.

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

I vote 6, including write-ins, that makes a competitive election.

I disagree with write-ins.  I think the number should be set in stone before voting starts.  Otherwise, if people only vote for 3 people, and more people get written in, voters who vote at the beginning get burned.

[ZuWo]

I vote 6, including write-ins, that makes a competitive election.

I disagree with write-ins.  I think the number should be set in stone before voting starts.  Otherwise, if people only vote for 3 people, and more people get written in, voters who vote at the beginning get burned.

That's what I think as well. If 6 candidates (or more) officially declare that they will run, the Assembly shall consist of 5 members. If fewer than 6 people declare, the Assembly gets 3 seats. Don't count the write-ins for the seat calculation.

[A-Bob]

Alright, I concede the write-ins