Omnibus Election System, Procedure and Certification Bill

[Gabu]

As introduced by Sen. Colin Wixted:

Omnibus Election System, Procedure and Certification Bill (King is an Idiot Bill)


Section 1: The Ballot

   1. In their ballot in the Elections to the Senate and the Presidency, each voter shall list some, none or all of the candidates in the voter's order of preference for them.
   2. If no numbering of the preferences is stated then the candidate at the top of the list shall be presumed to be the first preference, the candidate on the second line of the list shall be presumed to be the second preference, and so on.
   3. All elections shall always have the option of write-in for voters, except in the case of run-off elections.
   4. In order to write-in a candidate, the voter shall not need to explicitly specify that their vote is for a write-in candidate.
   5. In order for write-in votes for a candidate for election to qualify as legal votes, the person written-in must formally accept the write-in candidacy before the end of voting in the given election.


Section 2: Determination of the Winner

   1. If any candidate shall gain a majority of the first preference votes, then that candidate shall be declared the winner of the election.
   2. If no such candidate shall exist then the candidate with the least preferences shall be eliminated and his votes redistributed according to lower preferences.
   3. If any candidate shall have a majority of the preference votes, then that candidate shall be declared the winner of the election. If no such candidate shall exist then Clause 2 of this Section shall be implemented again until such a candidate does exist or until all candidates have the same number of preference votes.
   4. If there shall be a situation where there shall be two or more candidates tied for the least number of preference votes, but none of these tied with the candidate with the most preference votes, then the following procedure shall be used to determine which candidate shall be eliminated and his preference votes redistributed:
         i. The candidate with the least total number of preferences expressed by voters shall be eliminated.
         ii. The Senate shall vote on which candidate to eliminate, with the Vice President being able to cast a tie-breaking vote if necessary.
   5. If the event that all candidates have the same number of preference votes shall occur then the following procedure shall be used to break the tie:
         i. A runoff shall be held beginning at midnight Eastern Standard Time on the first Friday after the election that shall last for 72 hours.
         ii. Those candidates who have tied shall be automatically entered onto the ballot and no other candidacies shall be allowed.
         iii. Voters shall only be able to cast a vote for one candidate and write-in candidates shall not be allowed.
         iv. If any candidate shall gain a majority of the vote, then he shall be declared winner.
   6. If Clause 5 of this Section does not yield a winner then the procedure outlined in Section 3, Clauses 3 through 8 of the Election Procedures, Certification and Challenges Act shall be used to determine a winner.
   7. Any instance of the word candidate in this Section shall be read as ticket in the case of Presidential elections.


Section 3: Administration of Voting Booths

   1. The administrator of a voting booth shall be free to design the ballot as they see fit as long as the content of the ballot is clear and unambiguous.
   2. The administrator of a voting booth shall post links to all relevant statute regarding electoral law on the ballot.
   3. Whenever possible, the administrator of the voting booth shall be the Secretary of Forum Affairs; If he shall be absent for whatever reason, the administration of the voting booth shall be conducted by an executive officer of the federal government nominated by the President.


Section 4: Certification of Election Results

   1. When the period of voting has expired, the administrator of the voting booth shall post a declaration of the result in the voting booth, including all those votes which he has discounted, and the reasons for these votes being discounted. In so doing, the voting booth administrator shall discount those votes he is required to by law and shall only count those remaining votes for which he is able to make a reasonable determination as to the intent of the voter.
   2. At the time of the end of the voting period, the administrator of the voting booth shall lock the thread containing the voting booth. The thread shall not be unlocked except to enter the certification of the election result onto the thread.
   3. Certification of the election result shall be conducted as soon as humanly possible after the voting booth shall have closed. If the Administrator of the voting booth shall not be available to conduct such certification, then he shall nominate another executive officer of the federal government to carry out such certification in his stead.
   4. Once certification of an election result has occurred it may not be amended or rescinded except on the basis of a Court order.


Section 5: Concession of Victory

   1. If a candidate shall concede their victory of a Senate election after the certification of the election result then whoever shall have been the runner-up (defined as the candidate with the most preference votes other than the certified victor) in that election shall then be declared victor.
   2. If both members of a Presidential ticket shall concede their victory in the Presidential election after the certification of the election result then whoever shall have been the runner-up (defined as the ticket with the most preference votes other than the certified victors) in that election shall then be declared victor.
   3. If a victor who has conceded shall wish to retract their concession then they shall only be able to do so with the permission of the newly declared victor.


Section 6: Repealed Legislation

The following Laws, and Sections thereof, are hereby repealed:
   1. The Preferential Voting Act is repealed in full.
   2. Section 1 and Section 3, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Election Procedures, Certification and Challenges Act are repealed.

I hereby open debate on this bill.

[Sam Spade]

Most of this looks great.  My one question has to do with this:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The situation I'm thinking of is often, in Presidential elections, we have a number of Write-in candidates who have one vote each, with equal number of preferences.

This bill translates into being that the Senate has to vote on each of these ties.  I was wondering if there's any way the process could be simplified for such a situation.

Otherwise, I'd like to look at the Preferential Voting Act, etc., when the Atlas Wiki gets back up (or if there's another link here, I'll take that too), but otherwise I support this.

We can also open up another bill slot now that the Budget Amendment has passed. 

[Peter]

Most of this looks great.  My one question has to do with this:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The situation I'm thinking of is often, in Presidential elections, we have a number of Write-in candidates who have one vote each, with equal number of preferences.

This bill translates into being that the Senate has to vote on each of these ties.  I was wondering if there's any way the process could be simplified for such a situation.

Hopefully the vast majority of these tickets would decline to accept their votes as prescribed under Section 1 Clause 5 and then that particular preference would be invalid.

[Sam Spade]

Most of this looks great.  My one question has to do with this:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

The situation I'm thinking of is often, in Presidential elections, we have a number of Write-in candidates who have one vote each, with equal number of preferences.

This bill translates into being that the Senate has to vote on each of these ties.  I was wondering if there's any way the process could be simplified for such a situation.

Hopefully the vast majority of these tickets would decline to accept their votes as prescribed under Section 1 Clause 5 and then that particular preference would be invalid.

I agree.  Ok, with that fixed I'm fine with the rest of the bill.

[Sam Spade]

I would like to bring a motion to get this thing to a vote, if no one has any other objections or things to say.

(I'm not in a rush at all, just curious, that's all, since I think this is a fairly superior piece of legislation, unlike some of the stuff we've seen lately.)

[Gabu]

Okay, I hereby open voting on this bill, as there appears to be no debate.

All senators in favor, vote "aye"; all against, vote "nay".

[Sam Spade]

Aye.

[Gabu]

Aye.  This is a very good piece of legislation.

[Peter]

Otherwise, I'd like to look at the Preferential Voting Act, etc., when the Atlas Wiki gets back up (or if there's another link here, I'll take that too), but otherwise I support this.

All of the statute up to and including the Fourth session can be found here. It was not well maintained in the fifth session and as a result the only accurate transcription of that sessions statute is on the Wiki.

This is the sum total of the Preferential Voting Act:

All presidential and senatorial elections will be conducted using a preferential voting system.
Basically it was a sort of "everybody knows what I'm getting at" legislation. Effectively what preferential voting is/was, has been at the total discretion of the SoFA.

[Sam Spade]

Otherwise, I'd like to look at the Preferential Voting Act, etc., when the Atlas Wiki gets back up (or if there's another link here, I'll take that too), but otherwise I support this.

All of the statute up to and including the Fourth session can be found here. It was not well maintained in the fifth session and as a result the only accurate transcription of that sessions statute is on the Wiki.

This is the sum total of the Preferential Voting Act:

All presidential and senatorial elections will be conducted using a preferential voting system.
Basically it was a sort of "everybody knows what I'm getting at" legislation. Effectively what preferential voting is/was, has been at the total discretion of the SoFA.

Thanks.  I actually went back earlier and found that thread and read what the Preferential Voting Act actually did. 

It's part of the reason why I didn't bring up any other questions. 

[Peter]

Section 2
...
   7. Any instance of the word in this Section candidate shall be read as ticket in the case of Presidential elections.

Typo. I apologise. Please fix.

[Colin]

Aye

[Gabu]

Section 2
...
   7. Any instance of the word in this Section candidate shall be read as ticket in the case of Presidential elections.

Typo. I apologise. Please fix.

Fixed, although it was obvious what you meant.

[Reaganfan]

Aye

[MAS117]

Aye

[Jake]

All of the statute up to and including the Fourth session can be found here. It was not well maintained in the fifth session and as a result the only accurate transcription of that sessions statute is on the Wiki.

I love how you take the chance to rip Harry every chance you get

[Peter]

All of the statute up to and including the Fourth session can be found here. It was not well maintained in the fifth session and as a result the only accurate transcription of that sessions statute is on the Wiki.

I love how you take the chance to rip Harry every chance you get

Whilst I won't hide the fact that I don't like him, I won't unnecessarily go after him. Its a statement of fact that that thread is not complete for the fifth session, and I feel it has to be noted when I linked the thread for these purposes - the fact that its Harry is immaterial to whether I included the note, though obviously an added bonus.

[Gabu]

Thanks for your quick response.

With six votes in favor to none against, this bill has passed.

I hereby present it to the president for his signature.

[WMS]

Aye.

[12th Doctor]

Aye

[Sam Spade]

Thanks for your quick response.

With six votes in favor to none against, this bill has passed.

I hereby present it to the president for his signature.

This thing has officially passed.

[King]

Thanks for your quick response.

With six votes in favor to none against, this bill has passed.

I hereby present it to the president for his signature.

This thing has officially passed.

Good job, Sam.  You can read!

[Nym90]

Aye

[Platypus]

aye

[True Democrat]

True Democrat[/b][/i]