HB 18-6: Voter Eligibility Reform Act (Passed)

[Esteemed Jimmy]

VOTER ELIGIBILITY REFORM ACT

HOUSE BILL

Be it enacted in both Houses of Congress

Section 1; Title
1. This bill may be cited as the Voter Eligibility Reform Act.

Section 2; Substance
1. 2016-012, the Federal Electoral Act, is amended by amending section 14 to read as follows:

1. A person may become a registered voter if they have attained fifteen posts and have been registered at the forum for at least 7 days. In registration, the person must state their name and State of fantasy residence; In addition, they may optionally state a political affiliation.
2. All those persons who have registered to vote 7 days (168 hours) 4 days (96 hours) before the commencement of the election and posted at least 10 5 times in the 8 weeks (56 days) prior to the commencement of an election shall be defined as active for the purposes of that election. If a voter changes their state of registration within the 7 days 4 days, the state from which they were originally registered shall be the state from which their vote is cast.
3. Persons may only change their State of registration from one region to another region once every 180 90 days. Changes in State of registration may only occur within a single region every 72 hours.
4. Any registered voter who fails to vote in elections for six months eight months for which they are qualified to vote shall have their registration no longer considered valid. The said voter may only be deregistered after missing three four consecutive federal elections, not including runoffs and special elections. A vote in a special election or runoff will be counted towards activity the same as a vote in a regular federal election. This clause shall not be construed to deny a forum user the right to register anew.
5. Anyone who has cast an absentee ballot shall be regarded as an active voter, provided he or she fulfills the definition by the time the election commences for which the ballot was cast, of an "active voter"; However, the post containing the ballot shall not count towards the total number of required posts.
6. Any political party of three or more members is considered to be an organized political party.

People's House of Representatives
Passed in the House of Representatives 7-1-0-1

Sponsor: MB
House Designation: HB 18-6

[Esteemed Jimmy]

H-18.6 is now on the House floor. Debate on this legislation has begun and shall last for no less than 72 hours.

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Are we sure we want to protect zombie rights? I would be ok with some reform, but the specific wording of this bill seems a bit too far in my opinion.

[Terry the Fat Shark]

I actually introduced this on behalf of Citizen MB, leader of the Confederate Party, so I will let him argue on its behalf here.

[fhtagn]

Allowing people to register the day before an election and allowing them to vote is just asking for people to abuse it.

I'm also not particularly a fan of how far this goes to protect zombie voters. The current requirements really aren't that hard to meet as is.

[Dr. MB]

I introduced a similar bill during my time in the Senate, but that never was taken to a vote. Essentially, this bill is for convenience. There are many Atlasians who infrequently participate in the game, or take a break, and come back to find they have been deregistered. While it's only a minor hassle to reregister, the inconvenience still lies, especially if someone reregisters less than a week before an election and therefore is unable to vote in the election. This could also pose a challenge to newcomers who find they can't vote because they registered too late.

Without zombie voters, Atlasia would have some pretty different election results. Be thankful, my friends.

[Esteemed Jimmy]

The requirements for a voter to be valid set in this amendment are way too lax for me to be comfortable supporting this bill in its current state.

[Dr. MB]

The requirements for a voter to be valid set in this amendment are way too lax for me to be comfortable supporting this bill in its current state.

What requirements would you be okay with, then?

[Coastal Elitist]

I don't see any reason to protect zombie voters. The current requirements are perfectly reasonable and easy to meet.

[JGibson]

I cannot see myself supporting this bill as currently proposed.

[Dr. MB]

Just remember, zombie voters are the backbone of Atlasia.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Just remember, zombie voters are the backbone of Atlasia.

Which is a situation nobody likes and everybody wishes would change.

[Dr. MB]

Just remember, zombie voters are the backbone of Atlasia.

Which is a situation nobody likes and everybody wishes would change.

Uh, who do you mean by everybody? Truth is, zombies make up a big percent of the votes and you can't win without them. Nobody wants them to disappear. Plus they're much easier to convince than people actually interested in the game.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Just remember, zombie voters are the backbone of Atlasia.

Which is a situation nobody likes and everybody wishes would change.

Uh, who do you mean by everybody? Truth is, zombies make up a big percent of the votes and you can't win without them. Nobody wants them to disappear. Plus they're much easier to convince than people actually interested in the game.

If someone hasn't voted in 6 months they are clearly no longer remotely interested in the game. Another 6 months registered is not necessary.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

I don't see any reason to protect zombie voters. The current requirements are perfectly reasonable and easy to meet.

If anything, the current requirements are too lenient. Zombie Voters are a cancer on Atlasia.

[Dr. MB]

I think y'all are forgetting that removing zombies would destroy Atlasia, but hey, whatever you say.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

I think y'all are forgetting that removing zombies would destroy Atlasia, but hey, whatever you say.

Zombies contribute nothing whatsoever to Atlasia. Without zombies all we would have is a smaller electorate. We would have just as many active people, just as many people interested in holding office, just as much activity. All we would have is less total voters in our election. Which would not have any effect whatsoever on the game.

[Dr. MB]

I think y'all are forgetting that removing zombies would destroy Atlasia, but hey, whatever you say.

Zombies contribute nothing whatsoever to Atlasia. Without zombies all we would have is a smaller electorate. We would have just as many active people, just as many people interested in holding office, just as much activity. All we would have is less total voters in our election. Which would not have any effect whatsoever on the game.

Zombie recruitment is easily the most effective political tool there is.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Don't know how I feel about scrapping the six months requirement, but it's good to see the elitists out in full force to condemn the overwhelming majority of Atlasians as a "cancer" who "contribute nothing to the game" (except electing them to office, of course). I stand with former Senator Siren of Frémont in defending those who have actual lives and don't feel the need to post twenty times a day in a fake internet country. I see many more "cancerous" influences in this thread than on the list of so-called "zombie" voters.

[Terry the Fat Shark]

Right on Siren! We've both pulled off some big upsets via pming the Zombie Voters, great people!

[fhtagn]

I wouldn't go as far as some folks in this that are saying that zombies are a cancer or that they contribute nothing to the game, I just don't see any issues with the current requirements, as they aren't that hard to meet.

I also have concerns with some of the proposed changes that come with this bill. I might be willing to take another look and propose an amendment when I get a chance later today.

[Former President tack50]

I would remind everyone that the more zombie voters we have, the less reliable census numbers are to judge the amount of active players and the evolution of Atlasia.

However, more importantly, more zombie voters mean that party machines are more important and actual policies and campaigns don't matter.

The best example would probably be perennial candidate Poirot, who doesn't send campaign PMs as a matter of principle. He is also an independent which of course doesn't help, and has an "unclassifiable" (albeit not radical at all) ideology. But even then he has rarely been elected, arguably because of his no PM stategy.

Campaigns already matter little as of now and I wouldn't be in favour of weakening them further. I recognize that not everyone has the time to stay active in Atlasia, but I think the activity requirements are fine as is.

I will say though that I actively support lowering the number of posts required in Atlas from 10 to 5. I also support lowering the region change cooldown to 90 days (though personally I would have it at 123 days instead, coinciding with 4 months or an entire presidential cycle). The minimum registration to vote might be too high at 7 days, but too low at 1 day. I think 4-5 days should be enough (the Monday before the election)

Really the only change I oppose is the automatic deregistration for not voting. 3 elections are plenty of chances to vote. Maybe a change to 4 elections (or 2 presidential cycles) would be fine, but not any more.

[Dr. MB]

I would remind everyone that the more zombie voters we have, the less reliable census numbers are to judge the amount of active players and the evolution of Atlasia.

However, more importantly, more zombie voters mean that party machines are more important and actual policies and campaigns don't matter.

The best example would probably be perennial candidate Poirot, who doesn't send campaign PMs as a matter of principle. He is also an independent which of course doesn't help, and has an "unclassifiable" (albeit not radical at all) ideology.

Campaigns already matter little as of now and I wouldn't be in favour of weakening them further. I recognize that not everyone has the time to stay active in Atlasia, but I think the activity requirements are fine as is.

I will say though that I actively support lowering the number of posts required in Atlas from 10 to 5. I also support lowering the region change cooldown to 90 days (though personally I would have it at 123 days instead, coinciding with 4 months or an entire presidential cycle). The minimum registration to vote might be too high at 7 days, but too low at 1 day. I think 4-5 days should be enough (the Monday before the election)

Really the only change I oppose is the automatic deregistration for not voting. 3 elections are plenty of chances to vote. Maybe a change to 4 elections (or 2 presidential cycles) would be fine, but not any more.

Honestly, I could get behind all of that.

[Terry the Fat Shark]

Gotta say not sending campaign pm's on principle is extremely stupid, most of my campaign pm's involve sending people a link to my campaign thread. If you don't do that you won't get exposure, you can win as an indy if you actually reach out to people. It'd be like people in the USA not gotving "on principle"

[Poirot]

I've sent campaign pm. In my first camapigns I did not and then was told I had to if I wanted more votes. I felt like I was spamming inboxes when sending pms to people I didn'r even know of if they even wanted to vote in Atlasia. I probably have the romantic ideal that you can convince voters by giving opinions, proposing ideas and running an active public campaign. In some races I have not send pm like maybe when some wanted a no pm list, but I remember for a national race sending over 50 individual pm going down the census list.