Talk Elections

Atlas Fantasy Elections => Regional Governments => Topic started by: Queen Mum Inks.LWC on July 15, 2011, 04:16:32 AM



Title: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Tabled)
Post by: Queen Mum Inks.LWC on July 15, 2011, 04:16:32 AM
Quote
An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly

Section 1 of the third Article of the Mideast Constitution shall be amended to read as follows:

1. The legislative power of the Mideast shall be vested in the Mideast Assembly.
2. The Assembly shall be composed of three members, each of whom shall be registered voters residing in the Mideast Region.
3. The Assembly shall have the power to choose its own officers, including a Speaker, and judge the qualifications of its members.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Vacancies in the Assembly shall be filled in a manner specified by Law, and until such determination is made, by Gubernatorial appointment.
Sponsor: ZuWo


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: ZuWo on July 15, 2011, 04:31:57 AM
Fellow Assemblymen, there can be no doubt that it appears to have become increasingly difficult to find candidates for 5 Assembly seats. At this very moment, only 3 people have officially declared to run for an Assembly seat in the upcoming Mideast elections. Clearly, this is a situation which is truly unfortunate and damaging to our Assembly.

Reducing the number of Assemblymen to 3 is a drastic step. I have been sceptical of this measure at the beginning since an Assembly consisting of 3 members may encounter serious difficulties as soon as 1 or even 2 Assemblymen are absent for a certain period of time. Yet, I believe there is no other viable solution to the problem we're currently facing. If we were to create an Assembly with 4 Assemblymen there would always be the risk of a 2-2 tie when it comes to voting on proposed pieces of legislation, which would lead to unsatisfactory outcomes because many bills could simply not be passed.

Furthermore, a 3-seat Assembly would finally lead to competitive elections in our region. I am aware that this Amendment might cost any of the sitting Assemblymen their seat in the next elections, but I know that we have to change the current state of affairs for the sake of our Assembly.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: California8429 on July 15, 2011, 01:49:25 PM
I am for this bill


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: Mopsus on July 17, 2011, 11:53:09 AM
Assemblyman ZuWo is right; the current size of the Assembly is impractical and must be reduced. I support this bill as a means to do that.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: ZuWo on July 17, 2011, 02:44:28 PM
The entire procedure which is necessary for this amendment to be ratified is going to take a while. While we are still going to elect 5 Assemblymen in the upcoming elections, I am confident that we can reduce the seats of the Assembly to 3 for the elections in September if the amendment is going to be approved both by the Assembly and the Mideast people. Considering our struggle to even find enough candidates for 5 seats it would appear illogical to be against a reduction of the seats. However, I think we shouldn't rule out the possibility that, if people in our region become much more active in the future, we could return to an Assembly with 5 Assemblymen one day.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: California8429 on July 17, 2011, 03:21:33 PM
If after this bill becomes an amendment we have a trend of competitive and crowded elections, then I will support 5 seats again. When I was a newbie running we had on average of 7 active candidates running from across the board. Once that happens again, I will absolutely support adding seats to add debate, and activity to the Assembly.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: FEMA Camp Administrator on July 18, 2011, 07:01:08 PM
Hmmmm.... There appear to be four active and enthusiastic members of the assembly, so in having three seats, we'd be forced to sacrifice one of them. Still, given the current state of things, I'd be willing to support this.

EDIT: Is afleitch not running for re-election? If that is true, then we'd have the right number of active and enthusiastic members.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: California8429 on July 18, 2011, 10:09:21 PM
Hmmmm.... There appear to be four active and enthusiastic members of the assembly, so in having three seats, we'd be forced to sacrifice one of them. Still, given the current state of things, I'd be willing to support this.

EDIT: Is afleitch not running for re-election? If that is true, then we'd have the right number of active and enthusiastic members.

Remind me the last time you introduced a bill ;)


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: ZuWo on July 19, 2011, 01:58:41 AM
Hmmmm.... There appear to be four active and enthusiastic members of the assembly, so in having three seats, we'd be forced to sacrifice one of them. Still, given the current state of things, I'd be willing to support this.

EDIT: Is afleitch not running for re-election? If that is true, then we'd have the right number of active and enthusiastic members.

afleitch is running for Governor. He's the only official candidate at the moment.

The next Assembly will still consist of 5 Assemblymen. The amendment which is currently being discussed is only going to take effect after the September elections if it gets passed.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: tmthforu94 on July 19, 2011, 10:59:08 AM
We currently have 6 people running for the Assembly. Maybe now isn't the time.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: ZuWo on July 19, 2011, 11:12:29 AM
Tmth, you've got a point here. The recent candidate declarations came unexpectedly, but I am glad! :) I'm actually considering withdrawing this amendment. If this trend towards more activity continues in the next weeks, a reduction is unnecessary. Of course, if we experience similar recruitment problems before the next elections in September, we've got to have a look at this amendment again. It is not my wish to have an Assembly with 3 Assemblymen, but that seemed to be a necessity a few days ago. Now with 6 candidates, however, there might not be a need for such a change anymore.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: California8429 on July 19, 2011, 01:14:38 PM
I say we pass it, it won't effect this race at all. If the next Assembly proves extremely active and we have more than 6 candidates next election we can do a quickie repeal near the end of the session


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: Queen Mum Inks.LWC on July 19, 2011, 11:29:54 PM
ZuWo, do you want to keep debate going, or are you withdrawing this?


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: ZuWo on July 20, 2011, 02:39:04 AM
ZuWo, do you want to keep debate going, or are you withdrawing this?

Let's keep debate going. We can get this passed and see how the situation looks before the September elections.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: afleitch on July 20, 2011, 04:45:41 AM
I say we pass it, it won't effect this race at all. If the next Assembly proves extremely active and we have more than 6 candidates next election we can do a quickie repeal near the end of the session

I agree. It should be easy to get it tabled and repealed in time for any future elections. I don't think we should be shy about varying the size of the Assembly from time to time to reflect activity.

I think that any Amendment made should reflect that; it should be to allow flexibility.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: Queen Mum Inks.LWC on July 20, 2011, 04:01:21 PM
We could always base the Assembly off of the number of declared candidates.  If the number of declared candidates is X or lower, it's 3.  If it's greater than X, it's 5.  Any thoughts on that?


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: California8429 on July 20, 2011, 04:09:33 PM
We could always base the Assembly off of the number of declared candidates.  If the number of declared candidates is X or lower, it's 3.  If it's greater than X, it's 5.  Any thoughts on that?

That may be an essay way to allow for flowing seats without needing a vote on a regional amendment.



Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: ZuWo on July 20, 2011, 04:13:10 PM
We could always base the Assembly off of the number of declared candidates.  If the number of declared candidates is X or lower, it's 3.  If it's greater than X, it's 5.  Any thoughts on that?

I like that idea. A first suggestion could be that if the number of declared candidates is greater than 5, it's 5 seats. If only 5 or fewer people declare that they will run, the Assembly has 3 seats.

Could we simply amend the Constitution by adding such a clause to the section which currently says that the Assembly has 5 seats?


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: Queen Mum Inks.LWC on July 20, 2011, 05:44:39 PM
We could always base the Assembly off of the number of declared candidates.  If the number of declared candidates is X or lower, it's 3.  If it's greater than X, it's 5.  Any thoughts on that?

I like that idea. A first suggestion could be that if the number of declared candidates is greater than 5, it's 5 seats. If only 5 or fewer people declare that they will run, the Assembly has 3 seats.

Could we simply amend the Constitution by adding such a clause to the section which currently says that the Assembly has 5 seats?

Yeah, we can have quite an easy fix, I think.  I just don't want to introduce an amended amendment until we have a consensus of 1) if this is a good idea and 2) what the threshhold should be.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: Mopsus on July 20, 2011, 05:53:06 PM
We could always base the Assembly off of the number of declared candidates.  If the number of declared candidates is X or lower, it's 3.  If it's greater than X, it's 5.  Any thoughts on that?

I like that idea. A first suggestion could be that if the number of declared candidates is greater than 5, it's 5 seats. If only 5 or fewer people declare that they will run, the Assembly has 3 seats.

Could we simply amend the Constitution by adding such a clause to the section which currently says that the Assembly has 5 seats?

Yeah, we can have quite an easy fix, I think.  I just don't want to introduce an amended amendment until we have a consensus of 1) if this is a good idea and 2) what the threshhold should be.
1. I think it's a good idea; 2. I think if five or more candidates declare, there should be five seats in the next Assembly. If there are four or less candidates, there should be three seats in the next Assembly.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: Queen Mum Inks.LWC on July 21, 2011, 03:03:38 PM
So, MOPolitico says the threshold to bump up to 5 seats should be 5 candidates.
ZuWo says the threshold should be 6.

Personally, I'm leaning toward ZuWo's opinion (that was the number I had in my head).  Does anybody else have an opinion?


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: California8429 on July 21, 2011, 03:10:51 PM
I vote 6, including write-ins, that makes a competitive election.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: Queen Mum Inks.LWC on July 21, 2011, 04:00:41 PM
I vote 6, including write-ins, that makes a competitive election.

I disagree with write-ins.  I think the number should be set in stone before voting starts.  Otherwise, if people only vote for 3 people, and more people get written in, voters who vote at the beginning get burned.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: ZuWo on July 21, 2011, 04:04:54 PM
I vote 6, including write-ins, that makes a competitive election.

I disagree with write-ins.  I think the number should be set in stone before voting starts.  Otherwise, if people only vote for 3 people, and more people get written in, voters who vote at the beginning get burned.

That's what I think as well. If 6 candidates (or more) officially declare that they will run, the Assembly shall consist of 5 members. If fewer than 6 people declare, the Assembly gets 3 seats. Don't count the write-ins for the seat calculation.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: California8429 on July 21, 2011, 04:48:43 PM
Alright, I concede the write-ins


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: Queen Mum Inks.LWC on July 22, 2011, 03:14:21 AM
OK.  This complicates things a bit more, and I'm going to need some time to come up with an amendment to the Constitution as well as put in some fixes for the statutes (we should probably just write a new election law - even if it stays basically the same, we've amended it so many times, it'd be nice to keep track of everything in one law).

I ask unanimous consent to table this amendment.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: ZuWo on July 22, 2011, 08:12:38 AM
Aye to table this amendment


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Tabled)
Post by: Queen Mum Inks.LWC on July 23, 2011, 12:21:18 AM
Hearing no objection, the amendment is tabled.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Debating)
Post by: FEMA Camp Administrator on July 23, 2011, 09:59:51 PM
Hmmmm.... There appear to be four active and enthusiastic members of the assembly, so in having three seats, we'd be forced to sacrifice one of them. Still, given the current state of things, I'd be willing to support this.

EDIT: Is afleitch not running for re-election? If that is true, then we'd have the right number of active and enthusiastic members.

Remind me the last time you introduced a bill ;)

Resurfacing this, there's a reason I said that we have four active and enthusiastic members. ;) With afleitch not running for re-election, you get the perfect amount for the assembly.


Also, aye.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Tabled)
Post by: big bad fab on July 24, 2011, 08:52:17 AM
I recommend that you scan all the other bills (and all the other articles of the Constitution) to check all the other changes you have to make with this reduction.


Title: Re: MA: An Amendment to reduce the size of the Mideast Assembly (Tabled)
Post by: Queen Mum Inks.LWC on July 24, 2011, 11:05:41 PM
I recommend that you scan all the other bills (and all the other articles of the Constitution) to check all the other changes you have to make with this reduction.

That's exactly what I'll be doing.  And is precisely why I want to hold off on this.  We've amended our elections laws enough... it's time to just merge it into a brand new one and repeal the old one, so we don't have amendments overwriting amendments.