Department of Forum Affairs

[big bad fab]

My motives are to be sure nobody will make excessive formalism in the current Senatorial elections process.

If, based on this mess on absentee ballots, on the fact that some citizens already voting and on the fact that some citizens posting in the voting thread (which, BTW, does not legally exist, since Hamilton wasn't designated to open it...), someone begins to question the whole process and the eventual results, I must say many other things could also be contested.

So, we must refrain from messing it all up.

Let's be a bit formalistic to prove this:

1) First, where are the formal notices ?


F.L. 14-2: Consolidated Electoral System Reform Act
...
Section 9: Administration of Voting Booths
...
4. The administrator of a voting booth shall give registered voters seven days advance public notice, in both the Fantasy Elections Forum and the Voting Booth, of the hours in which voting shall take place for all regular Senate elections

The frontpage of Atlasia Wiki has no official value and, anyways, there are just dates (21st-24th), not hours.

And even if they come now, these notices wouldn't be in time.

2) Furthermore, what about those combined points:

Section 6: Absentee Voting
1. As mandated by Article V, Section 2, Clause 8 of the Federal Constitution, all voters shall have the right to cast absentee votes after the candidacy declaration period has expired.
2. Upon the candidacy declaration deadline occurring the Secretary of Forum Affairs or Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs shall establish a thread for absentee voting which shall include a full ballot ...

Section 8: Candidacy Declarations
1. The candidacy declaration deadline for regular elections to the Senate shall be seven days before the earliest possible commencement of the election and for special elections to the Senate shall be two days before the commencement of the election.

Are we even sure the vote will open in time, on the 21st ?
As for me, I'm on holidays, with no Internet from the 23rd. So, I want to be sure to be able to vote the 21st or the 22nd.

If I'm not sure and if, at the same time, I can't cast an absentee ballot or my absentee ballot is discounted because there's no management of electoral affairs, well, I would say my citizen's rights were infringed. And that might have some legal consequences.

So please fix all this things quickly.

[big bad fab]

Like so many of the finer details of the Forum Affairs brief, the minutae are not always followed. In fact, I believe the formal 7 days notice has never been followed, despite the fact that I strongly questioned its wisdom at the time.

Section 6 of CESRA no longer applies - see the Absentee Voting Act.

Being SoFA is an extremely difficult job - there are a lot of legal requirements that regulate the job, and in my hayday I was hard pressed to follow them all despite the fact that I wrote most of them.

Thanks for Section 6.
But, well, if the absentee voting booth opens 1 or 2 days before the voting booth itself, where's the point

My global protest is just that I don't want to see many legal disputes AFTER the vote (and because results wouldn't please here or there ), artificially based on formal reasons (whereas Hamilton did what he thought fine to do, with the SoFA being unclear and absent), as almost the entire process might be questionned.

But let's wait for the official answer.

[big bad fab]

big bad fab, are you requesting an absentee ballot? I've made myself clear that requests be done here in my office.

You've made yourself clear in a topic which shouldn't have been created...

I just say that we still don't know when exactly the elections will take place (we just have to guess from the Constitution and the law).

I just say that there is still no absentee voting booth, whereas at least 2 voters seemed to be prepared to vote now. They may have left on holidays between their vote in a non-existent voting booth and now....
Even if nobody has requested an absentee ballot today, the absentee voting booth should be opened.

I just say all this because I've seen that some citizens are ready to take these management problems as an argument to contest the election.
As this election might result in some changes, I don't want those changes to be artifically challenged, based on formal weaknesses.

That's all but that's important. If, throughout its history, Atlasia has agreed on so much laws on electoral and procedure matters, that's not by chance.

I'm not quibbling, I'm not attacking personally.
I just want to anticipate some temptations of challenging the future results and I just want to erase reasons for future challengings.

[big bad fab]

Mr Secretary,

I haven't asked for an absentee ballot, so you didn't need to deny it to me.
I haven't answered your question as it's the citizens who ask for an absentee ballot, not the other way round. If they don't ask for an absentee ballot before the deadline, it's automatically over.

I'm deeply sorry, Mr Secretary, as it seems I've bothered you.
I'm looking forward to take my modest part in this great democratic moment of Atlasia, Senatorial elections.