PBrunsel's Midwest Constituion Draft

[PBrunsel]

Preamble:

We the people of the Midwestern Region, in order to form a more perfect region, establish justice to ensure regional tranquility. Provide for the common good and promote the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity to ordain and establish this constitution of the Midwestern Region.

Section I: The Governorship

Article I: Election of the Governor

I: The Governor is elected every 4 months.

II: Elections will be held in the months of April, August, and December.

III: Gubernatorial elections will be held on the second to last Friday of the month, with the exception of December, and last until the following Sunday.  

IV: Polls will open Friday at noon, Central Time, and close at noon on Sunday, Central Time.

V: The governor-elect will be sworn in the following Thursday of their election by the current Senator representing District 3 will swear in the governor-elect. If the Senator from District 3 is not present or has been elected Governor, the Governor-elect is given the permission to swear themselves in.

VI: In case of an election tie there will be a run-off election held the next Friday by the same rules and regulations as stated in Clause IV.

VII: If there is a vacancy in the governor's position there will be a special election held.

Article II: The Powers of the Governor

I: The administrative authority of the Midwestern Region will hereby be administered by the Governor of the Midwestern Region.

II: The governor is allowed to appoint a Lieutenant Governor if it is wished by the governor to have that specific post.

III: The Governor may propose any proposition that does not contradict the Regional (unless it is an amendment) or Federal Constitution and shall be voted on by the people in the closest election following the proposal.

IV: The governor is given the power to veto any Proposition that does not have 60% of the vote from the people of the Midwestern Region.

Section II: Propositions

I: Propositions shall be law, regulations, and or state constitutional amendments voted on by the people of the Midwest Region during General and Mid-Term elections

II: Propositions may be submitted by the governor or by citizens of the Midwestern region via petition.

III: For a proposition to be passed and brought before the governor, it must receive more than 50% of the vote by those who show up to vote.

Section III: Petitions

I: A petition must be in the form of a thread to be recognized by the governor.

II: A petition must have 3 or more signatures to get on the ballot.

III: The 3 or more signatures must come within the first two weeks of a petition existence for it to be put on the ballot.

Section IV: The Passing of the Constitution

I: The citizens of the Midwestern Region shall follow the rules and regulations put forth by this Constitution once it is passed.

II: The Constitution must be signed by 5 citizens of the Midwest for it to be ratified.

[PBrunsel]

This is my Constitution for the Midwest. It is not written the best, I am no Demrepdan, but I think it will do.

[Fritz]

Good first draft.  A few comments:

1.  I think the Governor election should run concurrently with the Senate midterms.  The Constitution should specify the months of April, August, and December.  We elected ILV May 1-3, I think that is close enough to give him nearly a four-month term.  Also the forum constitution specifies the second to the last weekend of the month (not the second weekend of the month), except December which is the second weekend of the month.  Polls open on Friday and close on Sunday (not Monday) at noon (not midnight).  If you want our constitution to say central time rather than eastern, I don't care.

2.  As Senators are elected from districts, not regions anymore, there may be some confusion as to who exactly the "Midwest senator" is.  I was looking for the swearing-in procedure in the Atlas constitution, I know it was there at one time but I can't seem to find it.  I don't know if we really need a swearing-in procedure, but I think if we do the Governor-elect can just swear himself in.  How do other regions handle this?

3. There are several points where you require some percentage of the citizenry to agree.  In the last Governor election, 6 people cast votes.  Looking at the voter registration file that I created yesterday, there are a total of 11 registered voters in the region.  (Edit: make that 13.)  Some of them are inactive, I believe (though I haven't checked this).  I think requiring 5 signatures for a proposal to get on the ballot is a lot- how about 3.  Your point about 60% required to override a veto, 50% to pass a proposition, and 3/4 required to adopt the constitution- these should be of people who actually bother to show up and vote, not of the total citizenry.  I don't know if Texas realizes they are in this region, but nobody from that state voted in the Governor election.

4. There should be some provision for handling a tie.  If I had voted for you instead of ILV, we would have had one.

5.  What about impeachment, or recall?

[PBrunsel]

I have made changes to the Constituion, hopefully it will do and we can get it signed.

[Fritz]

I approve with the changes.

I guess ILV is gone until Sunday, hopefully some other residents of the Midwest will offer their approval or comments before then.

Ahem....states of Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, the Dakotas, Texas, and New Mexico.  Please look at this and offer an opinion.

(ALso Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado, which have no members.)

[PBrunsel]

Is everything in the blue a part of the Midwestern Region?

[PBrunsel]

If my Constitution is fine, I say we should put it to a vote. The quicker we get it passe, the quicker we can get the Midwest working.

[ilikeverin]

Preamble:

We the people of the Midwestern Region, in order to form a more perfect region, establish justice to ensure regional tranquility. Provide for the common good and promote the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity to ordain and establish this constitution of the Midwestern Region.

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What happens in December?

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We need a tie procedure.  Maybe the District 3 Senator can pick between the tied candidates...?

Also, I'd like our election to use preferential voting.  But if you guys don't like that, I'm fine with the voting we have now

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OK.

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That works

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What region are we again?

II: Propositions may be submitted by the governor or by citizens of the Midwestern region via petition.
[/quote]

*nods*

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All right.

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Sure.

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Very good.  Make changes (and debate the policy for ties & my proposed preferential voting thingy), and I'm ready to sign it

[TheWildCard]

I: Propositions shall be law, regulations, and or state constitutional amendments voted on by the people of the Pacific Region during General and Mid-Term elections

This clause looks oddly familer

[JohnFKennedy]

I: Propositions shall be law, regulations, and or state constitutional amendments voted on by the people of the Pacific Region during General and Mid-Term elections

This clause looks oddly familer

LMFAO. Yay, more power for my people!

[PBrunsel]

I: Propositions shall be law, regulations, and or state constitutional amendments voted on by the people of the Pacific Region during General and Mid-Term elections

This clause looks oddly familer

I copied it off of your Constitution. It was so well written I wanted to use it as a copy.

[JohnFKennedy]

I: Propositions shall be law, regulations, and or state constitutional amendments voted on by the people of the Pacific Region during General and Mid-Term elections

This clause looks oddly familer

I copied it off of your Constitution. It was so well written I wanted to use it as a copy.

It still says "people of the Pacific Region" though, you might want to change that .

[Fritz]

ILV, I thought you were gone until Sunday??

In case of a tie we have a tun-off, like the northeast region is doing now.

I don't like preferential voting.

PBrunsel, you do need to edit the reference to "Pacific region" members you copied.  

[PBrunsel]

ILV, I thought you were gone until Sunday??

In case of a tie we have a tun-off, like the northeast region is doing now.

I don't like preferential voting.

PBrunsel, you do need to edit the reference to "Pacific region" members you copied.  

I didn't pupously copy it, but I did use it as a stepping stone. I had intention of writing it word-for-word, it just came out that way!

[JohnFKennedy]

ILV, I thought you were gone until Sunday??

In case of a tie we have a tun-off, like the northeast region is doing now.

I don't like preferential voting.

PBrunsel, you do need to edit the reference to "Pacific region" members you copied.  

I didn't pupously copy it, but I did use it as a stepping stone. I had intention of writing it word-for-word, it just came out that way!

PBrunsel, re-read it, your Mid-West Constitution actually says that "constitutional amendments voted on by the people of the Pacific Region during General and Mid-Term Elections". I think you need to change that to "people of the Mid-West Region"

[PBrunsel]

Oops!

[TheWildCard]

I: Propositions shall be law, regulations, and or state constitutional amendments voted on by the people of the Pacific Region during General and Mid-Term elections

This clause looks oddly familer

I copied it off of your Constitution. It was so well written I wanted to use it as a copy.

Believe me PB it is an honor to know that the constitution that I wrote might of inspired the writers of other regions consititutions.

That and I was pointing out the minor error of it saying the Pacific Region instead of the midwest.

[PBrunsel]

All is changed.

I hope I didn't cause too much of a riot over that "Pacific Region" reference.

I have made the changes the Governor wanted.

[JohnFKennedy]

All is changed.

I hope I didn't cause too much of a riot over that "Pacific Region" reference.

I have made the changes the Governor wanted.

DARN! I wanted to have power over your region! .

[PBrunsel]

All is changed.

I hope I didn't cause too much of a riot over that "Pacific Region" reference.

I have made the changes the Governor wanted.

DARN! I wanted to have power over your region! .

Sorry to foil you plan!

[JohnFKennedy]

All is changed.

I hope I didn't cause too much of a riot over that "Pacific Region" reference.

I have made the changes the Governor wanted.

DARN! I wanted to have power over your region! .

Sorry to foil you plan!

That is ok, I will wait till another gullible Governor comes along . Oh Andrew! Oh Siege!

[PBrunsel]

JFK once again tries to take over the forum!

Just kidding.

[JohnFKennedy]

JFK once again tries to take over the forum!

Just kidding.

Add it to the tally......

That makes 3 unsuccessful....1 successful...muahahahahahaha.

[PBrunsel]

Let's get this Constitution out and signed. It seems like there are no more problems with it.

[JohnFKennedy]

Let's get this Constitution out and signed. It seems like there are no more problems with it.

Not going to ask about the successful attempt?

Sorry for cluttering your Constitution thread up.