S.19.4-10: Comprehensive Southern Electoral Act (Debating)

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

Comprehensive Southern Electoral Act

Section 1. Repeals

1. The Southern Election Act is hereby repealed.
2. The Regional Election Department Act is hereby repealed.
3. The Electoral System Clarification Act is hereby repealed.

Section 2. Qualifications to Vote
1. The ballot of any Southern citizen who has not been registered to vote in a Southern state for at least 168 hours shall be rendered invalid, unless they were not previously registered in another region.
2. Should a ballot have been deleted by an Atlas forum moderator or administrator, the affected citizen shall be allowed to cast a replacement ballot.
3. Should 2 ballots have been accidentally cast within 5 minutes of each other, the affected citizen shall be allowed to delete one of the two.

Section 3. Election Secretary
1. The Southern Election Secretary will be appointed by the Governor.
2. If a Delegate requests a confirmation hearing for the nominee, the Speaker will be required to open one immediately. Otherwise, a Gubernatorial appointment is all that is necessary to become Southern Election Secretary.
3. All valid citizens of the South can become Southern Election Secretary, including the Governor themselves.
4. With approval from the Governor, the Southern Election Secretary can appoint a Deputy Southern Election Secretary, and transfer any Southern Election Secretary duties to the Deputy Southern Election Secretary. The Deputy Southern Election Secretary will have the same eligibility requirements and nomination procedure as the Southern Election Secretary, as detailed above.
5. It is the job of the Southern Election Secretary to administer elections under the South's jurisdiction, according to all relevant law. This includes opening the voting booth and delivering a certified count of valid votes.
6. If fifteen minutes has passed beyond the time a regionally-ran Southern election is scheduled to commence and the voting booth is yet to be opened, any member of the Southern government is allowed to open the new voting booth in the Southern Election Secretary's absence.
7. Should a candidate for office wish to appear on the ballot under something other than their permanent Atlas Forum username, the Southern Election Secretary shall accommodate that request unless it would confuse them with another user.
8. Should the federal Registrar General not keep a roll of Southern voters including their federal and regional party affiliation, the Southern Election Secretary shall fulfill that duty.

Section 4. Electoral System Clarification
1. The Election Administrator or someone authorized to act in their place shall determine a fair form of instant runoff voting (STV).
2. They must include information on which system will be used in the ballot details in the voting booth.

Sponsor: Delegate PragmaticPopulist Author: MB

[West_Midlander]

My understanding is this is just a compilation of previously separate Acts, so I will support this bill.

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

My understanding is this is just a compilation of previously separate Acts, so I will support this bill.

If that is the case what benefit does this actually have?

[West_Midlander]

My understanding is this is just a compilation of previously separate Acts, so I will support this bill.

If that is the case what benefit does this actually have?

Probably in the event that amendment to election law is needed these three related bills are compiled into one law as opposed to three making changes easier.

[fhtagn]

I don't stand by the belief that someone should get a second chance to vote if their ballot is removed by a moderator. If someone wants to post something against ToS that is likely to get modded, they can do it on another post. Every case where a ballot has been deleted, it was a clear ToS violation that would have been moderated anywhere else on the forum.

Ballots are a serious thing, and someone who doesn't take their vote seriously and breaks rules doesn't deserve a second chance to vote.

[West_Midlander]

I don't stand by the belief that someone should get a second chance to vote if their ballot is removed by a moderator. If someone wants to post something against ToS that is likely to get modded, they can do it on another post. Every case where a ballot has been deleted, it was a clear ToS violation that would have been moderated anywhere else on the forum.

Ballots are a serious thing, and someone who doesn't take their vote seriously and breaks rules doesn't deserve a second chance to vote.

Unfortunately, not all have the same reverence you and I have for the voting booth. While I would hope all would take voting seriously and not violate the ToS while casting a ballot, I would not favor something that would disallow a few of our Southern citizens from voting--in order to keep turnout as possible. Regardless of the outcome, I feel efforts should be made to have turnout as high as possible so the people's elected officials most accurately reflect their interests.

[fhtagn]

I don't stand by the belief that someone should get a second chance to vote if their ballot is removed by a moderator. If someone wants to post something against ToS that is likely to get modded, they can do it on another post. Every case where a ballot has been deleted, it was a clear ToS violation that would have been moderated anywhere else on the forum.

Ballots are a serious thing, and someone who doesn't take their vote seriously and breaks rules doesn't deserve a second chance to vote.

Unfortunately, not all have the same reverence you and I have for the voting booth. While I would hope all would take voting seriously and not violate the ToS while casting a ballot, I would not favor something that would disallow a few of our Southern citizens from voting--in order to keep turnout as possible. Regardless of the outcome, I feel efforts should be made to have turnout as high as possible so the people's elected officials most accurately reflect their interests.

Turnout is a horrible excuse for allowing people who knowingly violate ToS to have a second chance. This is opening the door for people to intentionally cast bad ballots just so they can vote a second time.

Just like IRL, failure to follow the rules has consequences. We should be upholding those standards, not throw them out the window.

[West_Midlander]

Motioning for a final vote.

[reagente]

I object to this motion.

[Leinad]

I mean, if this really is "a compilation of previously separate Acts" for "the event that amendment to election law is needed these three related bills are compiled into one law as opposed to three making changes easier," why the hell are people objecting to it as if it's making changes in the law?

Honestly I could see rationale behind opposing it because it's "redundant" or whatever (Muaddib's point--I think I'd disagree but that's a fair concern), but trying to act like a housekeeping bill is "opening the door" for some period of lawlessness and chaos is really both disingenuous garbage and pointless "bad party bill me no like!" obstructionism.

[fhtagn]

I mean, if this really is "a compilation of previously separate Acts" for "the event that amendment to election law is needed these three related bills are compiled into one law as opposed to three making changes easier," why the hell are people objecting to it as if it's making changes in the law?

Honestly I could see rationale behind opposing it because it's "redundant" or whatever (Muaddib's point--I think I'd disagree but that's a fair concern), but trying to act like a housekeeping bill is "opening the door" for some period of lawlessness and chaos is really both disingenuous garbage and pointless "bad party bill me no like!" obstructionism.

It's not combining 3 laws into one, as there are changes being made to election laws snuck into this.

[Leinad]

If only a Delegate or Citizen could point out what those changes are!

[fhtagn]

If only a Delegate or Citizen could point out what those changes are!

Pay attention to the thread. I already addressed it.

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

Comprehensive Southern Electoral Act

Section 1. Repeals

1. The Southern Election Act is hereby repealed.
2. The Regional Election Department Act is hereby repealed.
3. The Electoral System Clarification Act is hereby repealed.

Section 2. Qualifications to Vote
1. The ballot of any Southern citizen who has not been registered to vote in a Southern state for at least 168 hours shall be rendered invalid, unless they were not previously registered in another region.
2. Should a ballot have been deleted by an Atlas forum moderator or administrator, the affected citizen shall be allowed to cast a replacement ballot.
3. Should 2 ballots have been accidentally cast within 5 minutes of each other, the affected citizen shall be allowed to delete one of the two.

Section 3. Election Secretary
1. The Southern Election Secretary will be appointed by the Governor.
2. If a Delegate requests a confirmation hearing for the nominee, the Speaker will be required to open one immediately. Otherwise, a Gubernatorial appointment is all that is necessary to become Southern Election Secretary.
3. All valid citizens of the South can become Southern Election Secretary, including the Governor themselves.
4. With approval from the Governor, the Southern Election Secretary can appoint a Deputy Southern Election Secretary, and transfer any Southern Election Secretary duties to the Deputy Southern Election Secretary. The Deputy Southern Election Secretary will have the same eligibility requirements and nomination procedure as the Southern Election Secretary, as detailed above.
5. It is the job of the Southern Election Secretary to administer elections under the South's jurisdiction, according to all relevant law. This includes opening the voting booth and delivering a certified count of valid votes.
6. If fifteen minutes has passed beyond the time a regionally-ran Southern election is scheduled to commence and the voting booth is yet to be opened, any member of the Southern government is allowed to open the new voting booth in the Southern Election Secretary's absence.
7. Should a candidate for office wish to appear on the ballot under something other than their permanent Atlas Forum username, the Southern Election Secretary shall accommodate that request unless it would confuse them with another user.
8. Should the federal Registrar General not keep a roll of Southern voters including their federal and regional party affiliation, the Southern Election Secretary shall fulfill that duty.

Section 4. Electoral System Clarification
1. The Election Administrator or someone authorized to act in their place shall determine a fair form of instant runoff voting (STV).
2. They must include information on which system will be used in the ballot details in the voting booth.

Sponsor: Delegate PragmaticPopulist Author: MB

Any votes by people who have not been registered in the South for 168 hours at the start of the election will be invalid.

Regional Election Department Act

I. Office of Southern Election Secretary

   1. The Southern Election Secretary will be appointed by the Governor.
   2. If a Delegate requests a confirmation hearing for the nominee, the Speaker will be required to open one immediately. Otherwise, a Gubernatorial appointment is all that is necessary to become Southern Election Secretary.
   3. All valid citizens of the South can become Southern Election Secretary, including the Governor themselves.
   4. With approval from the Governor, the Southern Election Secretary can appoint a Deputy Southern Election Secretary, and transfer any Southern Election Secretary duties to the Deputy Southern Election Secretary. The Deputy Southern Election Secretary will have the same eligibility requirements and nomination procedure as the Southern Election Secretary, as detailed above.
II. Elections

   1. It is the job of the Southern Election Secretary to administer elections under the South's jurisdiction to administer, according to all relevant law. This includes opening the voting booth and delivering a certified count of valid votes.
   2. If fifteen minutes has passed beyond the time a regionally-ran Southern election is scheduled to commence and the voting booth is yet to be opened, any member of the Southern government is allowed to open the new voting booth in the Southern Election Secretary's absence.
III. Regional Parties

   1. Citizens of the Southeast may register in regional parties in addition to and separate from federal parties.
   2. On official ballots, all candidates shall be listed with their regional party first, followed by endorsements from any other regional parties, followed by the candidate's federal party, followed by endorsements from any other federal parties.
   3. All official endorsements must be transmitted by a party official to the Governor prior to the opening of voting in order to be listed on the ballot.
IV. Voter Roll

   1. The South shall establish a voter roll of Southern citizens allowed to vote in regional elections.
   2. In order to be listed on the roll, a voter must be registered voter in Atlasia, eligible to vote in federal elections, and a resident of the South.
   3. Only those who meet the requirements to be listed on this roll shall be eligible to vote.
   4. The voter roll shall be maintained by the Southern Election Secretary.
   5. The voter roll must contain their name and regional party affiliation, along with any other information the Southern Election Secretary decides to include.
   6. If the Southern voter roll and the Federal voter roll have differences, the Southern Election Secretary will examine the difference to determine who is at fault, and then fix the error if it is with the Southern voter roll, and notify the RG if it is not. If the error isn't able to be determined, the Federal voter roll will be considered correct, and the Southern voter roll will be corrected.

Electoral System Clarification Act

1. The Election Administrator or someone authorized to act in his or her place shall determine a fair form of instant runoff voting (STV).

2. He or she must include information on which system will be used in the ballot details in the voting booth

I mean, if this really is "a compilation of previously separate Acts" for "the event that amendment to election law is needed these three related bills are compiled into one law as opposed to three making changes easier," why the hell are people objecting to it as if it's making changes in the law?

Honestly I could see rationale behind opposing it because it's "redundant" or whatever (Muaddib's point--I think I'd disagree but that's a fair concern), but trying to act like a housekeeping bill is "opening the door" for some period of lawlessness and chaos is really both disingenuous garbage and pointless "bad party bill me no like!" obstructionism.

Not only is this not simply "housekeeping" or a "compilation" bill, it adds and removes from the existing legislation. If this was put to the chamber in good faith. Then these differences should have been highlighted at its introduction. Why was there no explanatory memorandum for it's introduction?  At the very least there should be an apology for misleading the chamber as to the full content contained in this bill.

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

I don't stand by the belief that someone should get a second chance to vote if their ballot is removed by a moderator. If someone wants to post something against ToS that is likely to get modded, they can do it on another post. Every case where a ballot has been deleted, it was a clear ToS violation that would have been moderated anywhere else on the forum.

Ballots are a serious thing, and someone who doesn't take their vote seriously and breaks rules doesn't deserve a second chance to vote.

Unfortunately, not all have the same reverence you and I have for the voting booth. While I would hope all would take voting seriously and not violate the ToS while casting a ballot, I would not favor something that would disallow a few of our Southern citizens from voting--in order to keep turnout as possible. Regardless of the outcome, I feel efforts should be made to have turnout as high as possible so the people's elected officials most accurately reflect their interests.

The best way to value ones vote is to ensure that it is valid. If one decides to post something that is a violation of the TOS then by definition the individual doesn't value ones vote. Voting a second time after deletion or TOS breech is an injustice to those would would engage in such behavior yet refrain because they value their vote. If one decides that the best use of ones vote is to include abuse and TOS violations, then the value that person holds for the electoral process has already been shown. One learns their lesson and votes properly next time around. Surly one would soon learn to value the vote if you has to take care of it. If not they've shown their disdain for the the vote.

[Leinad]

Thanks for actually breaking it down, Muaddib, now we can actually look over the changes with full information! See how easy it is when you guys actually tell me things?

Okay I'll go through these in reverse order for obvious reasons:

-"His/her" changed to "their." I think that's a good change--I understand people have different personal conventions and that's fine but to me "his or her" sounds so clunky. (Go easy everyone it's a "language pedant" thing not a "social justice" thing )

-The Regional Election Department act is partially slaughtered at the back end. This maybe eliminates regional parties? I also really dislike the elimination of the "Southern voter roll." I know we don't use that but that's because the SES is also the RG and has been for a while--that is not permanent at all, and I'm not sure if it should be assumed that the RG will always keep track of regional parties. That being said I noticed that whoever wrote this said "Southeast" in one case so obviously that should change. The "administer" bit looks like redundancy and I'm down with striking that.

Now, the meat of it...

-Double-posting. Obviously this is a good rule, I hope no one is disputing this part...

-Replacement ballots for deleted posts seem like a good compromise that allows us to follow the ToS and also let everyone vote without any BS controversies about "oh no the moderator is CENSORING FREE SPEECH" or "TRYING TO MEDDLE WITH ELECTION RESULTS." I get that people may think that it's somehow violating the ToS itself (or the spirit thereof) to allow people to post again--but, the post still got deleted. They aren't getting by without punishment--the punishment was never supposed to be "you lose your vote in Atlasia," it was supposed to be "you lose your post," and whether or not that post is part of a forum game is unimportant to the moderators. Honestly I don't get the "reverence for the voting booth" argument from anyone--it's still a forum game we're talking about, right? I've probably made similar arguments in the past ftr, so whatever, I get it, but at this point I'm not sure if treating Atlasia like electing a Pope is the best path forward.

-Is this saying that people can join the game at any time and vote if they're in the South? But the 168 hours thing still works if you're moving regions? And is that, like any time until the election ends? Honestly I'm not sure how bad an idea it is to put the deadline to the start of the election for regional elections--we've always been pretty open with voting requirements and while I wouldn't support that nationwide I think it's a nice touch (especially considering the "voting is a privilege, not a right" crowd IRL).

[West_Midlander]

Thanks for actually breaking it down, Muaddib, now we can actually look over the changes with full information! See how easy it is when you guys actually tell me things?

Okay I'll go through these in reverse order for obvious reasons:

-"His/her" changed to "their." I think that's a good change--I understand people have different personal conventions and that's fine but to me "his or her" sounds so clunky. (Go easy everyone it's a "language pedant" thing not a "social justice" thing )

-The Regional Election Department act is partially slaughtered at the back end. This maybe eliminates regional parties? I also really dislike the elimination of the "Southern voter roll." I know we don't use that but that's because the SES is also the RG and has been for a while--that is not permanent at all, and I'm not sure if it should be assumed that the RG will always keep track of regional parties. That being said I noticed that whoever wrote this said "Southeast" in one case so obviously that should change. The "administer" bit looks like redundancy and I'm down with striking that.

Now, the meat of it...

-Double-posting. Obviously this is a good rule, I hope no one is disputing this part...

-Replacement ballots for deleted posts seem like a good compromise that allows us to follow the ToS and also let everyone vote without any BS controversies about "oh no the moderator is CENSORING FREE SPEECH" or "TRYING TO MEDDLE WITH ELECTION RESULTS." I get that people may think that it's somehow violating the ToS itself (or the spirit thereof) to allow people to post again--but, the post still got deleted. They aren't getting by without punishment--the punishment was never supposed to be "you lose your vote in Atlasia," it was supposed to be "you lose your post," and whether or not that post is part of a forum game is unimportant to the moderators. Honestly I don't get the "reverence for the voting booth" argument from anyone--it's still a forum game we're talking about, right? I've probably made similar arguments in the past ftr, so whatever, I get it, but at this point I'm not sure if treating Atlasia like electing a Pope is the best path forward.

-Is this saying that people can join the game at any time and vote if they're in the South? But the 168 hours thing still works if you're moving regions? And is that, like any time until the election ends? Honestly I'm not sure how bad an idea it is to put the deadline to the start of the election for regional elections--we've always been pretty open with voting requirements and while I wouldn't support that nationwide I think it's a nice touch (especially considering the "voting is a privilege, not a right" crowd IRL).

8. Should the federal Registrar General not keep a roll of Southern voters including their federal and regional party affiliation, the Southern Election Secretary shall fulfill that duty.

This part of the bill suggests regional parties & the voter roll is preserved.

[West_Midlander]

Comprehensive Southern Electoral Act

Section 1. Repeals

1. The Southern Election Act is hereby repealed.
2. The Regional Election Department Act is hereby repealed.
3. The Electoral System Clarification Act is hereby repealed.

Section 2. Qualifications to Vote
1. The ballot of any Southern citizen who has not been registered to vote in a Southern state for at least 168 hours shall be rendered invalid, unless they were not previously registered in another region.
2. Should a ballot have been deleted by an Atlas forum moderator or administrator, the affected citizen shall be allowed to cast a replacement ballot.
3. Should 2 ballots have been accidentally cast within 5 minutes of each other, the affected citizen shall be allowed to delete one of the two.

Section 3. Election Secretary
1. The Southern Election Secretary will be appointed by the Governor.
2. If a Delegate requests a confirmation hearing for the nominee, the Speaker will be required to open one immediately. Otherwise, a Gubernatorial appointment is all that is necessary to become Southern Election Secretary.
3. All valid citizens of the South can become Southern Election Secretary, including the Governor themselves.
4. With approval from the Governor, the Southern Election Secretary can appoint a Deputy Southern Election Secretary, and transfer any Southern Election Secretary duties to the Deputy Southern Election Secretary. The Deputy Southern Election Secretary will have the same eligibility requirements and nomination procedure as the Southern Election Secretary, as detailed above.
5. It is the job of the Southern Election Secretary to administer elections under the South's jurisdiction, according to all relevant law. This includes opening the voting booth and delivering a certified count of valid votes.
6. If fifteen minutes has passed beyond the time a regionally-ran Southern election is scheduled to commence and the voting booth is yet to be opened, any member of the Southern government is allowed to open the new voting booth in the Southern Election Secretary's absence.
7. Should a candidate for office wish to appear on the ballot under something other than their permanent Atlas Forum username, the Southern Election Secretary shall accommodate that request unless it would confuse them with another user.
8. Should the federal Registrar General not keep a roll of Southern voters including their federal and regional party affiliation, the Southern Election Secretary shall fulfill that duty.

Section 4. Electoral System Clarification
1. The Election Administrator or someone authorized to act in their place shall determine a fair form of instant runoff voting (STV).
2. They must include information on which system will be used in the ballot details in the voting booth.

Sponsor: Delegate PragmaticPopulist Author: MB

Amendment. I support striking this part because otherwise, it looks like the door is left open to Fremonters and Lincolnites to jump into our elections at the last minute.

[Leinad]

8. Should the federal Registrar General not keep a roll of Southern voters including their federal and regional party affiliation, the Southern Election Secretary shall fulfill that duty.

This part of the bill suggests regional parties & the voter roll is preserved.

Yeah but the part in the old bill:

III. Regional Parties

   1. Citizens of the Southeast [sic] may register in regional parties in addition to and separate from federal parties.
   2. On official ballots, all candidates shall be listed with their regional party first, followed by endorsements from any other regional parties, followed by the candidate's federal party, followed by endorsements from any other federal parties.
   3. All official endorsements must be transmitted by a party official to the Governor prior to the opening of voting in order to be listed on the ballot.

was what created the post-reset concept, right?

[West_Midlander]

8. Should the federal Registrar General not keep a roll of Southern voters including their federal and regional party affiliation, the Southern Election Secretary shall fulfill that duty.

This part of the bill suggests regional parties & the voter roll is preserved.

Yeah but the part in the old bill:

III. Regional Parties

   1. Citizens of the Southeast [sic] may register in regional parties in addition to and separate from federal parties.
   2. On official ballots, all candidates shall be listed with their regional party first, followed by endorsements from any other regional parties, followed by the candidate's federal party, followed by endorsements from any other federal parties.
   3. All official endorsements must be transmitted by a party official to the Governor prior to the opening of voting in order to be listed on the ballot.

was what created the post-reset concept, right?

Good point. The whole section should probably be included in the new Act, then. (Bolding so it's more visible between two large quoted sections).

Comprehensive Southern Electoral Act

Section 1. Repeals

1. The Southern Election Act is hereby repealed.
2. The Regional Election Department Act is hereby repealed.
3. The Electoral System Clarification Act is hereby repealed.

Section 2. Qualifications to Vote
1. The ballot of any Southern citizen who has not been registered to vote in a Southern state for at least 168 hours shall be rendered invalid, unless they were not previously registered in another region.
2. Should a ballot have been deleted by an Atlas forum moderator or administrator, the affected citizen shall be allowed to cast a replacement ballot.
3. Should 2 ballots have been accidentally cast within 5 minutes of each other, the affected citizen shall be allowed to delete one of the two.

Section 3. Election Secretary
1. The Southern Election Secretary will be appointed by the Governor.
2. If a Delegate requests a confirmation hearing for the nominee, the Speaker will be required to open one immediately. Otherwise, a Gubernatorial appointment is all that is necessary to become Southern Election Secretary.
3. All valid citizens of the South can become Southern Election Secretary, including the Governor themselves.
4. With approval from the Governor, the Southern Election Secretary can appoint a Deputy Southern Election Secretary, and transfer any Southern Election Secretary duties to the Deputy Southern Election Secretary. The Deputy Southern Election Secretary will have the same eligibility requirements and nomination procedure as the Southern Election Secretary, as detailed above.
5. It is the job of the Southern Election Secretary to administer elections under the South's jurisdiction, according to all relevant law. This includes opening the voting booth and delivering a certified count of valid votes.
6. If fifteen minutes has passed beyond the time a regionally-ran Southern election is scheduled to commence and the voting booth is yet to be opened, any member of the Southern government is allowed to open the new voting booth in the Southern Election Secretary's absence.
7. Should a candidate for office wish to appear on the ballot under something other than their permanent Atlas Forum username, the Southern Election Secretary shall accommodate that request unless it would confuse them with another user.
8. Should the federal Registrar General not keep a roll of Southern voters including their federal and regional party affiliation, the Southern Election Secretary shall fulfill that duty. Regional party affiliation is laid out in the following section.

Section 4. Regional Parties
1. Citizens of the South may register in regional parties in addition to and separate from federal parties.
2. On official ballots, all candidates shall be listed with their regional party first, followed by endorsements from any other regional parties, followed by the candidate's federal party, followed by endorsements from any other federal parties.
3. All official endorsements must be transmitted by a party official to the Governor prior to the opening of voting in order to be listed on the ballot.

Section 45. Electoral System Clarification
1. The Election Administrator or someone authorized to act in their place shall determine a fair form of instant runoff voting (STV).
2. They must include information on which system will be used in the ballot details in the voting booth.

Withdrawing my previous amendment in favor of this one. Section 4 is added and the old Section 4 is renumbered to 5. One portion is struck through in Section 2.1 and one portion is added (explaining that regional parties (referenced in Section 3.8 ) will be laid out in the following Section, Section 4) in Section 3.8.

[Deep Dixieland Senator, Muad'dib (OSR MSR)]

Comprehensive Southern Electoral Act

Section 1. Repeals

1. The Southern Election Act is hereby repealed.
2. The Regional Election Department Act is hereby repealed.
3. The Electoral System Clarification Act is hereby repealed.

Section 2. Qualifications to Vote
1. The ballot of any Southern citizen who has not been registered to vote in a Southern state for at least 168 hours shall be rendered invalid, unless they were not previously registered in another region.
2. Should a ballot have been deleted by an Atlas forum moderator or administrator, the affected citizen shall be allowed to cast a replacement ballot.
3. Should 2 ballots have been accidentally cast within 5 minutes of each other, the affected citizen shall be allowed to delete one of the two.

Section 3. Election Secretary
1. The Southern Election Secretary (SES) will be appointed by the Governor.
2. If a Delegate requests a confirmation hearing for the nominee, the Speaker will be required to open one immediately. Otherwise, a Gubernatorial appointment is all that is necessary to become Southern Election Secretary.
3. All valid citizens of the South can become Southern Election Secretary, including the Governor themselves.
4. With approval from the Governor, the Southern Election Secretary can appoint a Deputy Southern Election Secretary, and transfer any Southern Election Secretary duties to the Deputy Southern Election Secretary. The Deputy Southern Election Secretary will have the same eligibility requirements and nomination procedure as the Southern Election Secretary, as detailed above.
5. It is the job of the Southern Election Secretary to administer elections under the South's jurisdiction, according to all relevant law. This includes opening the voting booth and delivering a certified count of valid votes.
6. If fifteen minutes has passed beyond the time a regionally-ran Southern election is scheduled to commence and the voting booth is yet to be opened, any member of the Southern government is allowed to open the new voting booth in the Southern Election Secretary's absence.
7. Should a candidate for office wish to appear on the ballot under something other than their permanent Atlas Forum username, the Southern Election Secretary shall accommodate that request if it is a long standing alternative username. Unless it would confuse them with another user. The Atlas Forum username shall appear in brackets in equal formatting after the alternative username.
8. Should the federal Registrar General not keep a roll of Southern voters including their federal and regional party affiliation, the Southern Election Secretary shall fulfill that duty.

Section 4. Regional Parties
1. Citizens of the South may register in regional parties in addition to and separate from federal parties.
2. On official ballots, all candidates shall be listed with their regional party first, followed by endorsements from any other regional parties, followed by the candidate's federal party, followed by endorsements from any other federal parties.
3. All official endorsements must be transmitted by a party official to the Governor Southern Electoral Secretary prior to the opening of voting in order to be listed on the ballot.

Section 45. Electoral System Clarification
1. The Election Administrator (EA) or someone authorized to act in their place of the EA, shall determine a fair form of instant runoff voting (STV).
2. They must Election Administrator must include information on which system will be used in the ballot details in the voting booth.

Amendment Key
Additions | Removals | Additions to Additions

I don't think we should be fiddling around with election laws willy nilly. If anything if reform is seen as necessary and urgent, then perhaps a bipartisan Southern electoral reform committee should be considered before any major changes happen. Especially when one takes the current activity levels of the chamber. I don't see that there is an urgent need to change the existing laws. However considering this was marketed to the Chamber as a house keeping bill I have proposed the above amendments in the spirit of housekeeping.

Regarding Election Secretary Section 3.6, due to the nature of how this is worded what happens if / when multiple booth have been opened? This is quite obviously a possible outcome. If anything while we are reviewing things this should be discussed. Has this actually occurred? If so what happened?

[West_Midlander]

Comprehensive Southern Electoral Act

Section 1. Repeals

1. The Southern Election Act is hereby repealed.
2. The Regional Election Department Act is hereby repealed.
3. The Electoral System Clarification Act is hereby repealed.

Section 2. Qualifications to Vote
1. The ballot of any Southern citizen who has not been registered to vote in a Southern state for at least 168 hours shall be rendered invalid, unless they were not previously registered in another region.
2. Should a ballot have been deleted by an Atlas forum moderator or administrator, the affected citizen shall be allowed to cast a replacement ballot.
3. Should 2 ballots have been accidentally cast within 5 minutes of each other, the affected citizen shall be allowed to delete one of the two.

Section 3. Election Secretary
1. The Southern Election Secretary (SES) will be appointed by the Governor.
2. If a Delegate requests a confirmation hearing for the nominee, the Speaker will be required to open one immediately. Otherwise, a Gubernatorial appointment is all that is necessary to become Southern Election Secretary.
3. All valid citizens of the South can become Southern Election Secretary, including the Governor themselves.
4. With approval from the Governor, the Southern Election Secretary can appoint a Deputy Southern Election Secretary, and transfer any Southern Election Secretary duties to the Deputy Southern Election Secretary. The Deputy Southern Election Secretary will have the same eligibility requirements and nomination procedure as the Southern Election Secretary, as detailed above.
5. It is the job of the Southern Election Secretary to administer elections under the South's jurisdiction, according to all relevant law. This includes opening the voting booth and delivering a certified count of valid votes.
6. If fifteen minutes has passed beyond the time a regionally-ran Southern election is scheduled to commence and the voting booth is yet to be opened, any member of the Southern government is allowed to open the new voting booth in the Southern Election Secretary's absence.
7. Should a candidate for office wish to appear on the ballot under something other than their permanent Atlas Forum username, the Southern Election Secretary shall accommodate that request if it is a long-standing alternative username. U, unless it the alternative username would confuse them candidate with another user. The Atlas Forum username shall appear in brackets in equal formatting after the alternative username.
8. Should the federal Registrar General not keep a roll of Southern voters including their federal and regional party affiliation, the Southern Election Secretary shall fulfill that duty.

Section 4. Regional Parties
1. Citizens of the South may register in regional parties in addition to and separate from federal parties.
2. On official ballots, all candidates shall be listed with their regional party first, followed by endorsements from any other regional parties, followed by the candidate's federal party, followed by endorsements from any other federal parties.
3. All official endorsements must be transmitted by a party official to the Governor Southern Electoral Secretary prior to the opening of voting in order to be listed on the ballot.

Section 45. Electoral System Clarification
1. The Election Administrator (EA) or someone authorized to act in their place of the EA, shall determine a fair form of instant runoff voting (STV).
2. They must Election Administrator must include information on which system will be used in the ballot details in the voting booth.

Amendment Key
Additions | Removals | Additions to Additions

Amendment to the Amendment:

I made some changes to Section 3.7 to fix an instance in which a sentence fragment existed. I made some pronouns more specific so that clarity would be maintained as the sentence is quite long.

I think Sections 2.2 and 2.3 should be left in. If the amendment as written passes, so be it, if it fails, we could try for the Amendment as written (above) but with Sections 2.2 and 2.3 left in. I understand the Deputy Speaker's concern in not wanting to delve into election law with the Chamber's activity less than preferable. However, the Chamber always will have a broad scope of issues to debate and vote on and I view forming an electoral reform committee as simply kicking the can down the road. This is my view because that committee, of course, will have debate similar to such that we have had here in the Chamber and could just as easily or more easily deadlock, preventing reform.

I am not aware of this having happened/how it was handled if it occurred but the wording of the section referenced in the honorable Deputy's query seems to suggest if an SES fails in his or her duty of opening the voting booth, then another official may do so. If one booth is already opened, I believe one should not be opened afterword, so I doubt the situation has occurred or occurs often if the SES is on top of the duties of the office, which is typical, insofar as I have seen.

[West_Midlander]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Deputy Speaker: Can one of you open a vote on the amendment as written in the post above when you are able (as the honorable Deputy Speaker did not object the one alteration I made to the amendment in the previous 47 hours)? Many thanks.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

a vote on the amendment is now before the floor.

AYE

[West_Midlander]

My thanks to the Speaker for opening a vote so quickly.

Despite the improvements made by the amendment otherwise, I will be voting Nay because Sections 2.2 and 2.3 are struck, as previously discussed.