cinyc vs. Northern Region (Lincoln)

[Poirot]

Members of the Court, I submit an amicus brief in support of the petitioner's side. I see different reasons for the court to declare the northern region Voter integrity amendment illegal.


A. Word account

The federal constitution uses 7 days old account as criteria to gain the right to vote.

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It doesn't specifically mention account on what or where a person needs this many hours. Atlasia is its own country. What is most relevant is what happens in the country and the space of the game. Account could refer to creating an account in Atlasia, entering the country by way of registering in the game. In that case a voter can't be deny a vote if he is an account holder in Atlasia for 7 days and the regional amendment goes against this by requiring 10 days in the region, which is impossible to meet in 7 days.



B. Activity is not residency

The federal constitution mentions activity as a possible requirement to refuse a voting right.

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Acitivity is not equal to residency. Activity has historically been about the number of posts made in a period of time. Residency is being in a place. A citizen can reside in the same state (by registration) for four months and make zero posts. I wouldn't qualify that person as active.

By combining a residency requirement and an activity requirement we usually establish voter eligibility. The federal constitution cited above only refers to activity. The northern region residency requirement does not respect the federal constitution.     


C. Regional constitution change procedure

The voter integrity amendment was passed in the regional legislature on January 29.
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=256603.0

The public vote started February 17. According to article 5, section 10 of the regional constitution, a referendum on an amendment starts the Friday following its passage.
https://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/Northern_Constitution#Article_V._Elections

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The vote should have happened February 3rd according to the constitution. The referendum did not follow the procedure described in the regional constitution to be valid and legal.


D. Reciproocity

Article VII section 1.1 of the fourth federal constitution is about reciprocity. It states:

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https://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/Article_VII_of_the_Fourth_Constitution

Regions should reciprocate the voting eligibility awarded to citizens moving between regions so they have the same privileges. Imagine the situation of two citizens living in two different regions. If one region establishes a residency requirement for voting (if such a thing is legal) of 10 days and in the other region it's 7 days. Both citizens change region at the same time 8 day before the election. One citizen will get the privilege of voting in his/her new region while the other will not.

This is unfair, unequal and goes against reciprocity between regions. What is being asked to be eligible by moving from region A to B should be the same as someone moving from B to A. Regions should have the same courtesy in awarding voting rigths to their moving citizens. If not some citizen could be losing a right to vote in regional election because of differences between residency requirements. The voter integrity amendment sets a different residency requirement and thus goes against reciprocity.


E. Federal jurisdiction on voter registration

Congress was given the power to regulate voter registration in the constitution. A region can't impose conflicting registration regulations than the federal registration. Requiring a different waiting period of residency for regional elections requires a separate regional registry to differentiate between those who have lived in the region for 10 instead of 7 days.  That it is not allowed.

In the case Republic of Atlasia vs Imperial Dominion of the South, the court made it clear voter registration is handled federally. I quote the ruling:

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https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=171139.msg3691620#msg3691620

If the region starts to determine different standards to be a registered voter, it would trespass on the federal power to regulate voter registration.