Vote on Articles of Impeachment

[Emsworth]

Three articles of impeachment have been proposed against the President. The full text of the articles is available here. The charges they contain are as follows:

Article I:
(1) On 14 July 2006, Ebowed did declare that EarlAW was no longer a member of the Atlasian Senate.
(2) On 15 July 2006, Ebowed did declare that jerusalemcar5 was no longer a member of the Atlasian Senate.
(3) On 15 July 2006, Ebowed did declare that Captain Vlad was no longer a member of the Atlasian Senate.

Article II:
On 15 July 2006, Ebowed declared that Speed of Sound was barred from holding office in Atlasia for a period of one year.

Article III:
On 15 July 2006, Ebowed declared that the Atlasian Messanger newspaper, edited by Atlasian citizen Speed of Sound was banned, contrary to Article VI, Clause IV of the Atlasian Constitution.

Senators, please vote on each of the above articles of impeachment. You may cast a separate vote on each article.

[Emsworth]

Voting is now open. A simple majority is necessary to pass any article of impeachment. If the President is impeached, then a trial will be held before the people.

[Emsworth]

Might I request that all further discussion take place in a different thread? I would prefer if we reserved this thread for voting.

[Emsworth]

4-4, I guess WMS will decide what happens.

Is there a reason for which you are counting Captain Vlad's vote, even after the Senator resigned? (If there is some rule or precedent I am not aware of, I would like to be informed.)

[Emsworth]

Senate Rule 5.1.1 states that voting on legislation shall last for a maximum of seven days. Because the Senate rules do not have anything to say about impeachments, it was decided at the beginning of the proceedings to treat the articles of impeachment in the same manner as legislation. Accordingly, this vote will close tomorrow, once the seven-day time period has run out. If any Senator wishes to cast a vote, or wishes to change a vote already cast, he should do so before about 1:20 pm (Eastern) tomorrow.

Also, as presiding officer, I will hear any arguments on the validity of the votes of Senators Jake and Captain Vlad.

[Emsworth]

Voting is now closed.

The Senate rules do not indicate what effect a Senator's resignation has on his vote. Nor do they address the voting rights of people who become Senators while a vote is going on. There is no clear or unequivocal Senate precedent on this matter either.

The Constitution states that a "majority vote of the Senate" is necessary for impeachment, Art. I, Sec. 3, Cl. 2. It seems clear that the phrase "majority vote of the Senate" means a majority of the current Senate--not a majority of a past Senate. An individual who previously cast a vote in favor of impeachment, but then resigned, obviously cannot count towards a majority of the current Senator. Therefore, as Captain Vlad is no longer a Senator, his vote is no longer valid.

On the other hand, Jake is a member of the current Senate. Accordingly, he must be counted when determining whether a majority of the Senate has voted in favor of impeachment, or against impeachment.

Therefore, the result of the vote is as follows:

Article I
Aye: 3
No: 7

Article II
Aye: 3
No: 7

Article III
Aye: 4
No: 6

All articles of impeachment against the President are rejected.