MA: Amendment to Article I of the Mideast Constitution (Failed)

[HappyWarrior]

Article I - The Executive
 
Section 1: The Governor
1.The Executive power of the Mideast shall be vested in the Governor.
2.No person shall be Governor who is not a registered voter residing in the Mideast Region.
3.In order to qualify for elective office, a candidate must be registered to vote in the Mideast.
 
Section 2: Gubernatorial Elections
1.Elections to the post of Governor shall be held in the months of January, May, and September. Elections shall begin between midnight Eastern Standard Time on the third Thursday of the month and 0001 Eastern Standard Time on the first Friday thereafter, and shall conclude exactly 72 hours after beginning.
 2.Recall votes shall begin within ten days of their accumulating the necessary support and shall begin between midnight Eastern Standard Time on a Thursday and 0001 Eastern Standard Time on the first Friday thereafter, and shall conclude exactly 72 hours after beginning.
 3.The voting system used for Gubernatorial elections shall be determined by Law, however, until such a determination is made, Preferential Voting shall be used.
 
Section 3: Vacancy of the Governorship
1.If the Governorship shall fall vacant, the Lieutenant Governor shall become Governor.
2.If both the Governorship and Lieutenant Governor shall fall vacant then the vacancy shall be filled in a manner specified by Law.
3.In the event that the Governor does not log-in to the Atlas Forum for 36 hours, then the Lieutenant Governor may become acting Speaker.
 
[edit] Section 4: The Wiki
 1.The Governor shall hold the responsibility of updating the Mideast regional Wiki for all legislation and occurrences during his or her tenure.
 2.2. If appropriate action is not taken within 60 days of the passage of said legislation or occurrence, the Lieutenant Governor shall become acting Governor and assume all responsibilities of the Governor until such time as the Governor has fulfilled the first clause of this section.

Article III - Legislation and Recall
 
Section 1: The Assembly
1.The legislative power of the Mideast shall be vested in the Mideast Assembly.
2.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.
3.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.
4.Vacancies in the Assembly shall be filled in a manner specified by Law, and until such determination is made, by Gubernatorial appointment.
5. The candidate for Assembly who finishes in the most recent election first shall become Lieutenant Governor. Said person may accept or decline the position. Should they decline, the position shall be passed on to the next highest candidate.
6. The Lieutenant Governor shall become Speaker of the Assembly. Said person may accept or decline the position. Should they decline, the Assembly shall vote on a Speaker.

Article IV - Election Regulations
 
[edit] Section 1: Election Procedure
5.The Governor shall administer all elections, propositions, Constitutional Amendments and recalls, unless it be his recall or he shall be unavailable, in which case the Lieutenant Governor shall administer the elections. If he or she is also unavailable, then the Judge shall administer the elections.

[Jayhawker]

Simply put, this amendment re-establishes the position of Lt. Governor.

However, I believe it also combats many of the arguments we here on why we SHOULDN'T bring the position back.

1. The argument is often made that we don't need to create another useless office to run for - no one will run for Lt. Govenror and it'll just be an uncompetitive election.

FACT: This amendment does not create a new position - it simply modifies the way we elect our Assembly.

In essence, what this bill does is give the person who finishes first (not first preferences, but overall first), the opportunity to become Lt. Governor/Speaker. If they decline, it will go down to the next person.

This is similar to what is done in the Northeast - as a brief summary, it re-establishes the position of Lt. Governor, however, doesn't create a useless position.

I'd be happy to answer any questions and try to work out any problems you may have.

[HappyWarrior]

I am against this because to put it simply there is no need for a Lt. Governor, in the traditional sense it serves no purpose and in this sense you are just changing the name of the Speaker and taking away the right of the Assembly to choose its own leadership.

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

I am against this because to put it simply there is no need for a Lt. Governor, in the traditional sense it serves no purpose and in this sense you are just changing the name of the Speaker and taking away the right of the Assembly to choose its own leadership.

I couldn't word my thoughts better.

[A-Bob]

I am against this because to put it simply there is no need for a Lt. Governor, in the traditional sense it serves no purpose and in this sense you are just changing the name of the Speaker and taking away the right of the Assembly to choose its own leadership.

I couldn't word my thoughts better.

^^^

The first part I could be persuaded on, but the Assembly must choose its leadership- I won't compromise on that.

[Jayhawker]

If reforming it to change that could persuade you guys to at least let the people decide, I'm OK.

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

I feel like we've gone back and forth on the LG issue too many times.  Let's just leave it gone.

[Jayhawker]

Could someone propose this amendment? It strikes clause 6. Trying to find some sort of compromise so we could at least bring something for the people to decide on.

Article III - Legislation and Recall
 
Section 1: The Assembly
1.The legislative power of the Mideast shall be vested in the Mideast Assembly.
2.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.
3.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.
4.Vacancies in the Assembly shall be filled in a manner specified by Law, and until such determination is made, by Gubernatorial appointment.
5. The candidate for Assembly who finishes in the most recent election first shall become Lieutenant Governor. Said person may accept or decline the position. Should they decline, the position shall be passed on to the next highest candidate.
6. The Lieutenant Governor shall become Speaker of the Assembly. Said person may accept or decline the position. Should they decline, the Assembly shall vote on a Speaker.

[Jayhawker]

Would my amendment be more acceptable?

[ZuWo]

If we present an amendment which re-establishes the office of Lt. Governor to the people we have to make sure that the Lt. Governor gets more competencies. The Lt. Governor could, for example, be in charge of the wiki or have a say in appointments. If the Lt. Governor is a mere replacement of the Governor without any special competencies, the position is quite useless - the Speaker can do the same.

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

Would my amendment be more acceptable?

Sadly, not to me.  I see no reason to change.

[ZuWo]

There hasn't been any debate on this bill for several days. Since this session of the Assembly is slowly coming to an end, I suggest you hold a final vote on the bill. There are still two bills waiting in the queue (Mideast Assembly Thread) that need to be debated.

[HappyWarrior]

I am bringing this to a final vote:

AYE

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

NAY

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

So, it's been close to a week... can we close this and the other vote?

[HappyWarrior]

So, it's been close to a week... can we close this and the other vote?

What're we supposed to do when only two of us have voted on them however?

[Inks.LWC Supports Chuck Hagel]

So, it's been close to a week... can we close this and the other vote?

What're we supposed to do when only two of us have voted on them however?

Close it with one not voting.  I've already PMed him and he hasn't voted, and that was days ago.

[HappyWarrior]

So, it's been close to a week... can we close this and the other vote?

What're we supposed to do when only two of us have voted on them however?

Close it with one not voting.  I've already PMed him and he hasn't voted, and that was days ago.

As did I, I guess I'll just have to close it out and that technically it will have failed since only one vote was in the affirmative.

This voting is closed and with the result being 1-1-1 the measure fails.

[A-Bob]

For the public record, I am not sitting in the Assembly, I know there was some confusion, but I resigned 3 weeks ago.

Thank you

[Is JCL in mushy sappy love]

Consider this reintroduced upon my taking the oath of office.