First C.E.S [draft] Recommendation: Banning of Write In Candidates

[Platypus]

Write-ins just don't work under a preferential system, because for a preferential system to work properly, it is necessary for EVERY candidate to be listed. Therefor, everyone needs to include the write-in, which means that they ay as well be on the ballot.

One of the reasons I wrote so many people in was to highlight the stupidity of allowing write ins in a preferential voting system!

[StevenNick]

Write-ins just don't work under a preferential system, because for a preferential system to work properly, it is necessary for EVERY candidate to be listed. Therefor, everyone needs to include the write-in, which means that they ay as well be on the ballot.

One of the reasons I wrote so many people in was to highlight the stupidity of allowing write ins in a preferential voting system!

I don't see that it is absolutely imperative that all candidates be declared in order for a preferential voting system to be effective.  Write-in candidates will be treated just like all other candidates--if they fail to meet a certain threshold, those votes will be realoctated based on second place votes.  What's the problem?

[Platypus]

If all prefernces aren't appointed, then the major benefit of preferential voting is lost-reaching the 50% +1 threshold from all voters. It fits with the way we use the system, but the way we use the system is a very poor version of the original.

[Fritz]

So then, Hughento, are you suggesting that we ban write-in votes and also require all candidates to be ranked?

[Platypus]

Yes, basically. That is the way the system works in both Australia and New Zealand, the only nations that use the system, and it is the most effictive use of the system.

[Niles Caulder]

It's hard to argue with an Aussie on a day when they won the gold in the 1500m Swim....

[Platypus]

Well, that, and gold (in world record time) in the womens' 500m time trial cycling; womens 4x100m Medley relay (in world record time) and a couple of silvers

We do go pretty well for a nation of 20 million, really. Per apita, I think we're second on the tally to Trinidad and Tobago We came second in Sydney, to the Bahamas, maybe we can beat them this time

[Fritz]

Write-ins just don't work under a preferential system, because for a preferential system to work properly, it is necessary for EVERY candidate to be listed. Therefor, everyone needs to include the write-in, which means that they ay as well be on the ballot.

One of the reasons I wrote so many people in was to highlight the stupidity of allowing write ins in a preferential voting system!

As the person counting votes, I agree.  Failing to rank all the candidates does sometimes create a problem.  The system would work much better if everyone ranked all the candidates.

This only works if write-ins are then banned.  Every voter needs to rank the exact same list of candidates.

I propose the following:

1. All candidates on the ballot must be ranked for the vote to be considered valid.

2. Writing in of candidates not on the ballot will also invalidate the vote.

3. Filing deadline be moved to three days prior to the election.  Candidates cannot be added to or removed from the ballot after the filing deadline.

This would need a constitutional amendment.  What does everyone think?

[Gabu]

I propose the following:

1. All candidates on the ballot must be ranked for the vote to be considered valid.

2. Writing in of candidates not on the ballot will also invalidate the vote.

3. Filing deadline be moved to three days prior to the election.  Candidates cannot be added to or removed from the ballot after the filing deadline.

This would need a constitutional amendment.  What does everyone think?

I would propose one thing in addition to that: to still enable protest votes, voters should be allowed to abstain from voting entirely if they honestly do not want any of the available candidates in office.  If they formally declare that they abstain on the ballot, then that abstention should not count towards the two missed elections required to knock somebody off of the registered voters list, since they technically voted: they voted for nobody.

If a voter does choose to vote, however, I do think that all candidates must be listed in order of preference and that no candidates should be allowed to be listed who are not registered.  I certainly do believe that it would make elections much more streamlined and would make the question of what actions are required much less subject to interpretation if a standardized procedure were enacted.  Enabling people to vote for whomever they want effectively invalidates the purpose of having declared candidates.

One other thing: once a filing deadline is set, it should be a hard, crisp deadline.  Rigorous enforcement of deadlines is not to be cruel; it's simply to have a firm limit in place.  If a system was in place that allowed people a 24-hour grace period after the deadline had passed, that effectively is simply moving the deadline forward 24 hours.  Then once the extended deadline was effectively written in stone, one could argue that the 24-hour grace should extend past the new deadline, and so on.

At any rate, I'm not a legislator, so this is purely one man's opinion.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Well, I had intended to have The Region propose this after the election, but here is a proposed Electoral Registration Act since we have a thread to discuss this stuff.

Electoral Registration Act

Sec. 1. Registration of Parties
 (a) A party in order to be a "registered party" must file with the Secretary of Forum Affairs (hereinafter refered to as the Secretary) -
  (1) the official name of the party,
  (2) the by-laws of that party, and
  (3) the chairman of the party.
 (b) The by-laws of a registered party must specify how the by-laws may be amended and how the chairman is selected.
 (c) Parties must file with the Secretary any changes in the information required by subsection (a) of this section within 7 days of such change.
 (d) A party, to keep its registration, must nominate or endorse at least one candidate in each regularly scheduled set of senatorial elections, or file notice with the Secretary of their decision or inability to not nominate or endorse.  The nominations and endorsements or notice of faillure to nominate or endorse shall be made by the chairman of that party, in accordance with the by-laws of that party.  Failure to do so before one day before the opening of voting for a regularly scheduled Senatorial election shall result in the deregistration of the party.
 (e) A party may deregister by having its chairman file notice of that decision with the Secretary.  A party that deregisters may inform the Secretary at the time of dereistration that it wishes to become a regional party as defined in subsection (f) of section 3 of ths Act.
 (f) Existing parties shall be considered registered parties and shall have 30 days from the date this Act becomes law to comply with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section.  Failure to do so will result in the deregistration of the party.

Sec. 2. Registration of Voters
 (a) A voter when registering shall indicate in the Voter Register thread -
  (1) his name,
  (2) his state of residence, and
  (3) that he either -
   (A) belongs to no party,
   (B) is a member of a regional party as defined in subsection (f) of section 3 of this Act,
   (C) is a member of a registered party, but not of a caucus of that party, or
   (D) is a member of a registered party, and a caucus recognized by that party in its by-laws.
 (b) Voters belonging to a party that is deregistered because of subsection (d), (e), or (f) of section 1 of this Act shall be considered to have no party until they choose to reregister, save that a party which deregisters under the provisions of subsection (e) of section 1 of this Act and in doing so indicates that is wishes to become a regional party, shall be so indicated in the voter register, provided that it meets the requirements of subsection (f) of section 3 of ths Act.

Sec. 3. Major, minor, and regional parties; party caucases
 (a)  A "major party" shall be any registered party that has ten registered voters.
 (b) A major party shall be entitled to nominate -
  (1) one candidacy of a presidential candidate and a vice-presidential candidate in any presidential election, and
  (2) one candidate in each senatorial election.
 (c) A "minor party" shall be any registered party that is not a major party and is eligible to nominate senatorial candidates in accordance with subsection (d)(1) of this section.
 (d) A minor party shall be entitled -
  (1) to nominate one candidate in each senatorial election in which that party has three registered voters eligible to vote in that election, or
  (2) to endorse one petition or major party candidacy in any election in which that party is not eligible to nominate.  The candidacy must accept such endorsement in order for the endorsement to appear on the ballot.
 (e) A "party caucus" is a faction of a registered party recognized in the party's by-laws.  As a convienience for registered parties, the Secretary shall keep track of party caucus memberships in the Voter Register, but for all other purposes, members of a party caucus shall be considered under this Act only as members of the party their caucus belongs to.
 (f) A "regional party" is a party that has not registered with the Secretary, but which is capable of nominating candidates to regional offices, such as governor, under the laws of the regions its members belong to.  As a convienience for the administration of regional elections, the Secretary shall keep track of regional party memberships in the Voter Register, but for all other purposes, members of a regional party shall be considered under this Act as members of no party.

Sec. 4. Presidential and vice presidential candidates
 (a) In order for candidates for president and vice-president to appear on the ballot, they must be jointly nominated in a single candidacy by -
  (1) a major party, or
  (2) a petition submitted to the Secretary, signed by ten registered voters
 (b) It is permissible for a candidate to appear in multiple candidacies with different running mates upon the presidential ballot or to be a presidential candidate and a vice-presidential candiate in different candidacies.

Sec. 5. Senatorial candidates
In order for  a candidate for senator to have his name upon the ballot, he must nominated by -
 (a) a major party,
 (b) a minor party, or
 (c) a petition to the Secretary, signed by three registered voters capable of voting in that senatorial election.

Sec. 6. Primary elections
 (a) On the Friday through Sunday two weeks before a regularly scheduled election, official primary elections may be held.
 (b) Parties are not required to use official primary elections to determine the candidates they nominate.  If a party chooses to use official primaries, it may choose to use the votes only to advise the party leadership, or to selct the party's nominee directly.  If a party does use the offical primary to determine a nominee, it may weight the votes in a pre-determined fashion using any method it wishes, inclusing assigning a zero weight, provided that all votes cast by voters registered to no party are weighted equally and that all votes cast to by voters registered in the same party are weighted equally.
 (c) Voters may vote in at most one party's primary in each election.

Sec. 7. Party candidates
 (a) Parties shall determine -
  (1) the requirements, if any, that a candidacy must meet in order to be nominated by their party, and
  (2) the method used to determine which candidates shall be nominated by the party.
 (b) Nominations and endorsements must be submitted by the chairman of the party in accordance with the by-laws of that party to the Secretary -
  (1) no earlier than fourteen days before the election, and
  (2) no later than -
   (A) seven days before the election begins for regular elections, or
   (B) one day before the election begins for special elections.
 (c) In the event that a party's candidate, nominated in accordance with subsection (b) of this section should withdraw, then the chairman of the party may inform the Secretary of the party's replacement no later than one day before the election.

Sec. 8.  Petition candidates
 (a) Candidates may be nominated by petition.  Such petitions must be submitted to the Secretary -
  (1) no earlier than fourteen days before the election, and
  (2) no later than -
   (A) seven days before the election begins for regular elections, or
   (B) one day before the election begins for special elections.
 (b) Petition candiates for Senator must not have participated in an official party primary for that senate seat.
 (c) Signing a petition does not change the registration of the signee.
 (d) Voters may sign at most one petition for each office that is up for election.  Should a voter sign more than one petition for an office, only the first submitted petition that contains the voters signature shall be considered to have been signed by that voter, even if the voter signed a petition submitted later earlier than he signed the petition submitted earlier.

Sec. 9. Casting Votes
 (a) All elections for a federal office shall be run using an instant runoff system.
 (b) Each voter shall rank all candidates on the ballot with a different integer from one to the number of candidates, with one indicating the candidate the voter prefers most.
 (c) If not all candidates for an office are ranked the ballot for that office shall be invalid and not counted.
 (d) In an election with multiple offices, the invalidation of a ballot for one office shall not of itself cause the invalidation of the ballot for other offices.
 (e) The Preferential Voting Act of May 17, 2004 is hereby replaced with this section of this Act.

Sec. 10. Regional elections
Nothing in this act shall be construed to apply to elections conducted by the regions.  However, a region may make use of the federal party and voter registrations maintained by the Secretary howsoever it desires.

[Fritz]

Wow Ernest...you really should run for Senate.  

[Niles Caulder]

Wow Ernest...you really should run for Senate.  

LOL You're a gracious man, Sec. Fritz...he's dumped alot of work on you in there!  (I agree wholeheartedly the Senate would be astoundingly lucky to snag Ernest.)

[King]

He would have done a lot better than Josh22 and Reaganfan

[TheWildCard]

Your right to vote for whoever you wish is one of the things that makes this democracy great. I see no good reason what so ever to eliminate write-in candidates.

[Nation]

Well thank you Ernest, for doing our job for us

I'd like to collaborate with you a little bit on this bill, and I will proudly be a sponsor for it.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Well, I had intended to have The Region propose this after the election, but here is a proposed Electoral Registration Act since we have a thread to discuss this stuff.

Electoral Registration Act

Sec. 1. Registration of Parties
 (a) A party in order to be a "registered party" must file with the Secretary of Forum Affairs (hereinafter refered to as the Secretary) -
  (1) the official name of the party,
  (2) the by-laws of that party, and
  (3) the chairman of the party.
 (b) The by-laws of a registered party must specify how the by-laws may be amended and how the chairman is selected.
 (c) Parties must file with the Secretary any changes in the information required by subsection (a) of this section within 7 days of such change.
 (d) A party, to keep its registration, must nominate or endorse at least one candidate in each regularly scheduled set of senatorial elections, or file notice with the Secretary of their decision or inability to not nominate or endorse.  The nominations and endorsements or notice of faillure to nominate or endorse shall be made by the chairman of that party, in accordance with the by-laws of that party.  Failure to do so before one day before the opening of voting for a regularly scheduled Senatorial election shall result in the deregistration of the party.
 (e) A party may deregister by having its chairman file notice of that decision with the Secretary.  A party that deregisters may inform the Secretary at the time of dereistration that it wishes to become a regional party as defined in subsection (f) of section 3 of ths Act.
 (f) Existing parties shall be considered registered parties and shall have 30 days from the date this Act becomes law to comply with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section.  Failure to do so will result in the deregistration of the party.

Sec. 2. Registration of Voters
 (a) A voter when registering shall indicate in the Voter Register thread -
  (1) his name,
  (2) his state of residence, and
  (3) that he either -
   (A) belongs to no party,
   (B) is a member of a regional party as defined in subsection (f) of section 3 of this Act,
   (C) is a member of a registered party, but not of a caucus of that party, or
   (D) is a member of a registered party, and a caucus recognized by that party in its by-laws.
 (b) Voters belonging to a party that is deregistered because of subsection (d), (e), or (f) of section 1 of this Act shall be considered to have no party until they choose to reregister, save that a party which deregisters under the provisions of subsection (e) of section 1 of this Act and in doing so indicates that is wishes to become a regional party, shall be so indicated in the voter register, provided that it meets the requirements of subsection (f) of section 3 of ths Act.

Sec. 3. Major, minor, and regional parties; party caucases
 (a)  A "major party" shall be any registered party that has ten registered voters.
 (b) A major party shall be entitled to nominate -
  (1) one candidacy of a presidential candidate and a vice-presidential candidate in any presidential election, and
  (2) one candidate in each senatorial election.
 (c) A "minor party" shall be any registered party that is not a major party and is eligible to nominate senatorial candidates in accordance with subsection (d)(1) of this section.
 (d) A minor party shall be entitled -
  (1) to nominate one candidate in each senatorial election in which that party has three registered voters eligible to vote in that election, or
  (2) to endorse one petition or major party candidacy in any election in which that party is not eligible to nominate.  The candidacy must accept such endorsement in order for the endorsement to appear on the ballot.
 (e) A "party caucus" is a faction of a registered party recognized in the party's by-laws.  As a convienience for registered parties, the Secretary shall keep track of party caucus memberships in the Voter Register, but for all other purposes, members of a party caucus shall be considered under this Act only as members of the party their caucus belongs to.
 (f) A "regional party" is a party that has not registered with the Secretary, but which is capable of nominating candidates to regional offices, such as governor, under the laws of the regions its members belong to.  As a convienience for the administration of regional elections, the Secretary shall keep track of regional party memberships in the Voter Register, but for all other purposes, members of a regional party shall be considered under this Act as members of no party.

Sec. 4. Presidential and vice presidential candidates
 (a) In order for candidates for president and vice-president to appear on the ballot, they must be jointly nominated in a single candidacy by -
  (1) a major party, or
  (2) a petition submitted to the Secretary, signed by ten registered voters
 (b) It is permissible for a candidate to appear in multiple candidacies with different running mates upon the presidential ballot or to be a presidential candidate and a vice-presidential candiate in different candidacies.

Sec. 5. Senatorial candidates
In order for  a candidate for senator to have his name upon the ballot, he must nominated by -
 (a) a major party,
 (b) a minor party, or
 (c) a petition to the Secretary, signed by three registered voters capable of voting in that senatorial election.

Sec. 6. Primary elections
 (a) On the Friday through Sunday two weeks before a regularly scheduled election, official primary elections may be held.
 (b) Parties are not required to use official primary elections to determine the candidates they nominate.  If a party chooses to use official primaries, it may choose to use the votes only to advise the party leadership, or to selct the party's nominee directly.  If a party does use the offical primary to determine a nominee, it may weight the votes in a pre-determined fashion using any method it wishes, inclusing assigning a zero weight, provided that all votes cast by voters registered to no party are weighted equally and that all votes cast to by voters registered in the same party are weighted equally.
 (c) Voters may vote in at most one party's primary in each election.

Sec. 7. Party candidates
 (a) Parties shall determine -
  (1) the requirements, if any, that a candidacy must meet in order to be nominated by their party, and
  (2) the method used to determine which candidates shall be nominated by the party.
 (b) Nominations and endorsements must be submitted by the chairman of the party in accordance with the by-laws of that party to the Secretary -
  (1) no earlier than fourteen days before the election, and
  (2) no later than -
   (A) seven days before the election begins for regular elections, or
   (B) one day before the election begins for special elections.
 (c) In the event that a party's candidate, nominated in accordance with subsection (b) of this section should withdraw, then the chairman of the party may inform the Secretary of the party's replacement no later than one day before the election.

Sec. 8.  Petition candidates
 (a) Candidates may be nominated by petition.  Such petitions must be submitted to the Secretary -
  (1) no earlier than fourteen days before the election, and
  (2) no later than -
   (A) seven days before the election begins for regular elections, or
   (B) one day before the election begins for special elections.
 (b) Petition candiates for Senator must not have participated in an official party primary for that senate seat.
 (c) Signing a petition does not change the registration of the signee.
 (d) Voters may sign at most one petition for each office that is up for election.  Should a voter sign more than one petition for an office, only the first submitted petition that contains the voters signature shall be considered to have been signed by that voter, even if the voter signed a petition submitted later earlier than he signed the petition submitted earlier.

Sec. 9. Casting Votes
 (a) All elections for a federal office shall be run using an instant runoff system.
 (b) Each voter shall rank all candidates on the ballot with a different integer from one to the number of candidates, with one indicating the candidate the voter prefers most.
 (c) If not all candidates for an office are ranked the ballot for that office shall be invalid and not counted.
 (d) In an election with multiple offices, the invalidation of a ballot for one office shall not of itself cause the invalidation of the ballot for other offices.
 (e) The Preferential Voting Act of May 17, 2004 is hereby replaced with this section of this Act.

Sec. 10. Regional elections
Nothing in this act shall be construed to apply to elections conducted by the regions.  However, a region may make use of the federal party and voter registrations maintained by the Secretary howsoever it desires.

It should be made clear that it's 50% +1 to be elected though...
But overall I support this.
Great work
The C.E.S will now write a report on recalls and referendums.

[JohnFKennedy]

An excellent act Ernest.

[Fritz]

Ernest has done an outstanding job on writing this bill.  My feeling, however, is that it is un-necessarily complicated, and could be simplified quite a bit.

I think the Senate needs to get to work on election reform right away.  We have 2 months until the next elections.  Parties will probably want to start their nominating processes for President a month ahead of time, so really that gives us a month to get reform legislation passed by the Senate AND put to public poll, assuming its a Constitutional amendment.

[JohnFKennedy]

Ernest has done an outstanding job on writing this bill.  My feeling, however, is that it is un-necessarily complicated, and could be simplified quite a bit.

I think the Senate needs to get to work on election reform right away.  We have 2 months until the next elections.  Parties will probably want to start their nominating processes for President a month ahead of time, so really that gives us a month to get reform legislation passed by the Senate AND put to public poll, assuming its a Constitutional amendment.

Do you think it is a constitutional amendment then Fritz? When we passed the Preferential Voting Act that wasn't an amendment, this alters that or rather replaces it so surely if that was not a constitutional amendment then neither is this.

[Fritz]

The procedures proposed by Ernest I think do require an amendment.  The preferential votig act didnt conflict with anything in the constitution, so didnt need an amendment.  This, I think does.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The only things in my proposed act that might require a constitutional amendment are the special election deadlines and the provision of replacement candidates in senate elections.  The party caucus and regional party stuff could be eliminated, if people feels that they are overly complicated.  I included the caucus stuff to make stuff like the Southern Republicans that is currently kept track in the register, something that could still be kept track of.  The regional party stuff was included so that reigons could establish ther own requirements for parties (if any) and still have registration info for such handled in the main registration thread instead of in a regional thread.   The numbers needed for minor party status and petition candidates are certainly open to debate, but the constitution fixes the number needed to be a major party at ten, so that number can't be changed without a constitutional amendment.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I don't want to write a full report on what I think of Ernest's Act, but I must say that I do not support it in the least degree.  It would limit EVERYTHING for a candidate to run for office.  I didn't read anywhere where a minor party could run a Presidential Candidate, and only running a candidate if the Party has x amount of members in that region for the Senate.  Watch out minor parties, if this is passed you'll die.  

This is too restricting of Democracy, and if it is passed it will limit the democratic process to such a degree that just one more step would ensure the Government picking which candidate they want to have win.  Also, should this Act pass, I don't think I could take part in this Government anymore.

There are four major parties right now, Democratic, Republican, UAC, and United Left.  The Independence Party is clearly a minor party, and the Southern Republicans could exist as either a minor party or a caucus of the Republican Party under this bill.  The only serious existing minor party that gets shafted by this bill is the Libertarians because their strength isn't concentrated in any one region, but setting a alternative requirement such as 5 total members, or lowering it to 2 in a senatorial district would be acceptable to me.

I set the requirements for petition candidates to be no tougher than to be a party and since party members can sign petitions without leaving their party, I don't think that credible independent or minor party candidates are being eliminated in any race.  You are right that minor parties don't get to automatically nominate in every race, but they can sponsor a petition drive to get a non-major party candidate on the ballot and then have that candidate be marked by the party's symbol on the ballot.  I think we should  eliminate having one person parties that sponsor themselves as a candidate.  Given the level of activity on these boards, I don't think that the petition requirements are onerous for candidates that have a chance of winning.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Slightly revised so as to define special election procedures, deal with one minor constitutional issue, and address some concerns over the difficulty of forming a minor party.  I don't believe that there are any remaining constitutional problems with this Act.

Electoral Registration Act

Sec. 1. Registration of Parties
 (a) A party in order to be a "registered party" must file with the Secretary of Forum Affairs (hereinafter referred to as the Secretary) -
  (1) the official name of the party,
  (2) the by-laws of that party, and
  (3) the chairman of the party.
 (b) The by-laws of a registered party must specify how the by-laws may be amended and how the chairman is selected.
 (c) Parties must file with the Secretary any changes in the information required by subsection (a) of this section within 7 days of such change.
 (d) A party, to keep its registration, must either support at least one candidate in each general election, or refile with the Secretary the information required by subsection (a) of this section no earlier than 14 days  before the general election, and no later than 1 day before the general election  Failure to do so shall result in the deregistration of the party.
 (e) A party may deregister by having its chairman file notice of that decision with the Secretary.  A party that deregisters may inform the Secretary at the time of deregistration that it wishes to become a regional party as defined in subsection (f) of section 3 of this Act.
 (f) Existing parties shall be considered registered parties and shall have 30 days from the date this Act becomes law to comply with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section.  Failure to do so will result in the deregistration of the party.

Sec. 2. Registration of Voters
 (a) A voter when registering shall indicate in the Voter Register thread -
  (1) his name,
  (2) his state of residence, and
  (3) that he either -
   (A) belongs to no party,
   (B) is a member of a regional party as defined in subsection (f) of section 3 of this Act,
   (C) is a member of a registered party, but not of a caucus of that party, or
   (D) is a member of a registered party, and a caucus recognized by that party in its by-laws.
 (b) Voters belonging to a party that is deregistered because of subsection (d), (e), or (f) of section 1 of this Act shall be considered to have no party until they choose to reregister, save that a party which deregisters under the provisions of subsection (e) of section 1 of this Act and in doing so indicates that is wishes to become a regional party, shall be so indicated in the voter register, provided that it meets the requirements of subsection (f) of section 3 of this Act.

Sec. 3. Major, minor, and regional parties; party caucuses
 (a)  A "major party" shall be any registered party that has ten registered voters.
 (b) A major party shall be entitled to nominate -
  (1) one candidacy of a presidential candidate and a vice-presidential candidate in any presidential election, and
  (2) one candidate in each senatorial election.
 (c) A "minor party" shall be any registered party that is -
  (1) not a major party, and
  (2)(A) eligible to nominate senatorial candidates in accordance with subsection (d)(1) of this section, or
   (B) has five registered voters.
 (d) A minor party shall be entitled -
  (1) to nominate one candidate in each senatorial election in which that party has three registered voters eligible to vote in that election, and
  (2) to endorse one petition or major party candidacy in any election in which that party is not eligible to nominate.
 (e) A "party caucus" is a faction of a registered party recognized in the party's by-laws.  As a convenience for registered parties, the Secretary shall keep track of party caucus memberships in the Voter Register, but for all other purposes, members of a party caucus shall be considered under this Act only as members of the party their caucus belongs to.
 (f) A "regional party" is a party that has not registered with the Secretary, but which is capable of nominating candidates to regional offices, such as governor, under the laws of the regions its members belong to.  As a convenience for the administration of regional elections, the Secretary shall keep track of regional party memberships in the Voter Register, but for all other purposes, members of a regional party shall be considered under this Act as members of no party.

Sec. 4. Presidential and vice presidential candidates
 (a) In order for candidates for president and vice-president to appear on the ballot, they must be jointly nominated in a single candidacy by -
  (1) a major party, or
  (2) a petition submitted to the Secretary, signed by ten registered voters
 (b) It is permissible for a candidate to appear in multiple candidacies with different running mates upon the presidential ballot or to be a presidential candidate and a vice-presidential candidate in different candidacies.

Sec. 5. Senatorial candidates
In order for a candidate for senator to have his name upon the ballot, he must nominated by -
 (a) a major party,
 (b) a minor party, or
 (c) a petition to the Secretary, signed by three registered voters capable of voting in that senatorial election.

Sec. 6. Primary elections
 (a) On the Friday through Sunday two weeks before a regularly scheduled election, official primary elections may be held.
 (b) Parties are not required to use official primary elections.  If a party chooses to use official primaries, it may choose to use the votes only to advise the party leadership, or to select the party's nominee based upon only the results of that ballot.
 (c) Voters may vote in at most one party's primary in each election.

Sec. 7. Party candidates
 (a) Parties shall determine -
  (1) the requirements, if any, that a candidacy must meet in order to be selected by their party, and
  (2) the method used to determine which candidates shall be selected by the party.
 (b) Nominations must be submitted by the chairman of the party in accordance with the by-laws of that party to the Secretary -
  (1) no earlier than fourteen days before the election, and
  (2) no later than -
   (A) seven days before the election begins for general elections, or
   (B) one day before the election begins for special elections.
 (c) In the event that a party's candidate, nominated in accordance with subsection (b) of this section should withdraw, then the chairman of the party may inform the Secretary of the party's replacement no later than one day before the election in the case of special elections or presidential elections, or seven days before the election in the case of regular senatorial elections.
 (d) Minor and major parties that do not have a nominated candidacy in an election may endorse a single nominated candidacy no later than one day before the election.  Said endorsement shall be listed upon the offical ballot beside that candidate's name provided that the candidate shall indicate to the Secretary, his acceptance of the endorsement no later than one day before the election.

Sec. 8.  Petition candidates
 (a) Candidates may be nominated by petition.  Such petitions must be submitted to the Secretary -
  (1) no earlier than fourteen days before the election, and
  (2) no later than -
   (A) seven days before the election begins for regular elections, or
   (B) one day before the election begins for special elections.
 (b) Petition candidates for Senator must not have participated in an official party primary for that senate seat.
 (c) Signing a petition does not change the registration of the signer.
 (d) Voters may sign at most one petition for each office that is up for election.  Should a voter sign more than one petition for an office, only the first submitted petition that contains the voter's signature shall be considered to have been signed by that voter, even if the voter signed a petition submitted later earlier than he signed the petition submitted earlier.

Sec. 9. Casting Votes
 (a) All elections for a federal office shall be run using an instant runoff system.
 (b) Each voter shall rank all candidates on the ballot with a different integer from one to the number of candidates, with one indicating the candidate the voter prefers most.
 (c) If not all candidates for an office are ranked the ballot for that office shall be invalid and not counted.
 (d) In an election with multiple offices on the ballot, the invalidation of a ballot for one office shall not of itself cause the invalidation of the ballot for other offices.
 (e) The Preferential Voting Act of May 17, 2004 is hereby replaced with this section of this Act.

Sec. 10. Special elections
Special elections held to fill a vacated Senate seat shall begin on the day that is seven days after the vacancy occurs and shall end on the Sunday directly following the Saturday directly following the beginning of the election.

Sec. 11. Regional elections
Nothing in this act shall be construed to apply to elections conducted by the regions.  However, a region may make use of the federal party and voter registrations maintained by the Secretary howsoever it desires.

[ilikeverin]

I have a problem with:

• Section 1, Part a, Numeral 3  

The AFIP has no official chairman... while I may be considered the de facto chairman, we have never voted on one.  I, for one, think it is better that there is no chairman or no council-type doohickey, so it's recognised that everyone in the party is the same.

• Section 1, Part d

What if the party does not think anyone is good for the job?

• Section 3, Part d

Urgh.  Why are larger parties granted more rights?  It makes no sense!

I mean, the Reform Party... the Green Party... the Constitution Party... the Libertarian Party... all of those people can have Presidential Candidates in RL.  Why not minor parties?

It seems the only way we can do this is by petition, which would not be politically viable, or by joining another party, which is out of the question.

Also, what happens when a party has less than 5 registered voters/less than 3 registered voters in a district?

• Section 6

Wayyyyy too binding. Why do we have to have them that weekend?

Personally, I think this is way too binding... there are so many things you HAVE TO DO that there's no room for 'creativity', so to speak.

[YRABNNRM]

I also agree.