Article III: The Executive Branch
1. The executive authority of The South shall be vested in the President of The South. The President must be a registered voter in The South.
2. The President must be elected democratically by the people of The South. Elections are to be held every April for President. The appropriate election administrator will open the voting booth at 12:00:00am EDT of the penultimate Friday of the month and will close said booth the following Sunday at 11:59:59pm EDT. The election administrator must accept any absentee ballot received no more than 168 hours prior to the opening of the polls.
3. Candidates for governor will be given until the Wednesday at 11:59:59 pm EDT preceding the first date of polling in the election they wish to contest to announce their candidacy and appear on the ballot. This is to be done by officially declaring their candidacy in the Candidate Declaration Thread.
4. When the polls close, the appropriate election administrator of The South shall be given twenty-four hours to count the votes and declare a winner. All Presidential elections shall be by single transferable vote, unless otherwise specified by law. The newly elected President is to be officially sworn in on the Friday following the election. In the case of a tie, the members of the outgoing House of Burgesses will vote between the tied candidates to elect the new President. The winner will be eligible to swear in immediately. There may only be one President at any point in time. Once a new President is sworn in, the old one forfeits their office.
5. Should the office of President fall vacant at any point during the term, the Vice President shall assume the role of President.
6. In the event that the President of The South, the Vice President of the South, or any other executive official, commits an action or an instance of negligence that is deemed injurious to the public welfare or morals or to the interests of the Region and that is legally prohibited, The House of Burgesses shall begin impeachment proceedings upon the sponsoring of one or more articles of impeachment by a member of the House of Burgesses and the seconding of such articles by another member. Should three-fourths of the House vote to convict on one or more articles, the executive officer in question shall immediately forfeit their office.
7. The President shall have the power to carry out all acts in association with the enforcement of the laws passed under this Constitution; to fill vacancies in the House; to command the regional militia in times of war; to appoint, with the consent of the House of Burgesses, the heads of any executive departments which may be established by law; to issue pardons and reprieves for crimes committed under the laws of this Region, which shall be permanent upon their issuance, though he shall have no power to pardon himself; to appoint, in accordance with Article V of the Constitution of the Republic of Atlasia, the Associate Justice for this Region; and to approve, or veto, all acts passed by the House of Burgesses.
8. The President has veto power over any piece of legislation passed by The House of Burgesses. The President may have the power to veto sections of legislation as opposed to the whole of any legislation, if provided for by law. The President must either sign or veto a piece of legislation or if applicable sections of legislation within one week of its passage, otherwise it will go into effect.
9. The President is obligated to present a yearly budget by July 1 of each year. The structure and procedure for the budget process are to be determined by law. The budget of all government activities is to be voted on by the House after a normal debate period. The budget shall remain in effect for 1 year from its date of passage, or until July 21st of the calendar year after that of its passage, whichever is earlier. The President is obligated to ensure that the budget does not provide for any deficits except in times of emergency or war, a condition the House must successfully endorse by a two-thirds majority. All budgets must include a plan for revenue and taxation.
10. Elections and referendums conducted under the authority and according to the provisions of this Constitution, shall be administered by the executive of the region; and the President of The South, in their capacity as chief of the executive branch, shall therefore bear title as administrator of elections for the region; but by their prerogative, the President may confer these duties upon a secondary office as may be established by law. In the event the President, or secondary officer so designated, should be unable to fulfill this obligation, then the chief officer of the House, or in their absence the most senior member thereof, shall assume the title and authority of the administrator.
11. The office of President is to be deemed vacant upon the resignation, recall, or impeachment of the sitting Governor. A President who takes no action over a fourteen (14) day period shall automatically forfeit their office unless an official leave of absence is acknowledged prior.
12. The President of the South shall have the authority to put non-binding ballot questions to a vote. The President of the South shall have complete discretion to schedule these non-binding ballot questions, except that the voting booth for such questions must open 12:00:00am EDT on a Friday and close the following Sunday at 11:59:59pm EDT. The ballot question must specify that it is non-binding.
13. The Vice President must be elected democratically by the people of The South separately from the President of The South. Elections are to be held every April for Vice President. The appropriate election administrator will open the voting booth at 12:00:00am EDT of the penultimate Friday of the month and will close said booth the following Sunday at 11:59:59pm EDT. The election administrator must accept any absentee ballot received no more than 168 hours prior to the opening of the polls.
14. Candidates for Vice President will be given until the Thursday at 11:49:59 pm EDT preceding the first date of polling in the election they wish to contest to announce their candidacy and appear on the ballot. This is to be done by officially declaring their candidacy in the Candidate Declaration Thread.
15. When the polls close, the appropriate election administrator of The South shall be given twenty-four hours to count the votes and declare a winner. All vice-presidential elections shall be by single transferable vote, unless otherwise specified by law. The newly elected Vice President is to be officially sworn in on the Friday following the election. In the case of a tie, the outgoing President will select one of the tied candidates to be the new Vice President. There may only be one Vice President at any point in time. Once a new Vice President is sworn in, the old one forfeits their office.
16. The office of Vice President is to be deemed vacant upon the resignation or impeachment of the sitting Vice President. A Vice President who takes no action over a fourteen (14) day period shall automatically forfeit their office unless an official leave of absence is acknowledged prior.
17. Should the office of Vice President fall vacant at any point during the term, the President shall appoint, with the consent of the House of Burgesses, a new Vice President.
18. The House of Burgesses may pass a law providing an order of succession in the event that both the office of President and Vice President are vacant.
Article IV: The Legislative Branch
1. The legislative power of The South shall be vested to the Southern Legislature, which shall be composed of four (4) representatives. The House of Burgesses shall be divided into two classes, Class I and Class II. Each class will consist of one (1) representative elected by each of the two sub-regions.
2. Representatives elected from a given subregion are to be elected by all citizens registered to vote in the respective subregion. Representatives must be registered to vote in The South to qualify.
3. Elections to Class I seats of the House of Burgesses shall occur every April. Elections to Class II seats of the House of Burgesses shall occur in April of 2023, then every subsequent October. Each Class of seat to the House of Burgesses shall always be voted on separately, as their own ballot line. The election administrator must accept any absentee ballot received no more than one week prior to the opening of the polls.
4. Candidates for the House of Burgesses will be given until the Wednesday at 11:59:59 pm EDT preceding the first date of polling in the election they wish to contest to announce their candidacy and appear on the ballot. This is to be done by officially declaring their candidacy in the Candidate Declaration Thread. Candidates should specify which subregional seat and seat class they are running for.
5. When the polls close, the appropriate election administrator shall be given twenty-four (24) hours to count the votes and declare elected representatives. All legislative elections shall be by single transferable vote, unless otherwise specified by law. The newly elected representatives shall officially assume office on the Friday following the election, marking the beginning of a new legislative session. In the case of a tie, all tied candidates are to participate in a runoff election the following week to determine a winner, organized by the appropriate election administrators. If a tie remains, the President shall appoint a new Delegate until a new one is elected, in which case the appointed legislator shall forfeit their office.
6. Vacancies in the House of Burgesses shall be filled in a manner specified by law, and until such determination is made, by Presidential appointment. Vacancies occur upon resignation, recall, impeachment, failure to swear in within one week of the legislative session opening or failure to vote on final passage of four consecutive pieces of legislation without publicly declaring absence.
7. All legislation shall first be considered in the House of Burgesses. Legislation shall be considered by the House of Burgesses upon petition of the President, Vice President, any representative, or two Southerners.
8. Any piece of legislation attaining a majority of votes cast in the legislature shall be considered passed by the House of Burgesses. No legislation shall become law without obtaining such a majority. In the event of a tie, the Vice President is empowered to break the tie, giving the piece of legislation a requisite majority
9. The House of Burgesses shall determine its own methods of proceedings, and shall have the power to select its own officers and to judge the qualifications of its members.
10. The House of Burgesses shall have the power to override the President’s veto by a three-fourths majority vote.
11. Initiatives may be proposed for public referendum with the support of at least 25% of the number of registered voters in The South. Alternatively, initiatives may be proposed for public referendum with the support of the Governor and a member of the House of Burgesses. The Secretary of Elections, or should that office be vacant the Dean of the House of Burgesses, shall have complete discretion to schedule these initiatives, except that the voting booth for such initiatives must open 12:00:00am EDT on a Friday and close the following Sunday at 11:59:59pm EDT.
12. The laws of the House of Burgesses shall be the supreme law of the South, and no State, local, territorial, tribal, or other subordinate government in the South shall be entitled to nullify, countermand, or contradict Southern law. The House of Burgesses shall have the power to determine the eligibility and methods of organizing and electing any subordinate NPC State or local government office or title in the South.
13. The Vice President of the South shall be the president of the House of Burgesses.
Article V: Judicial Branch
1. The judicial power of The South shall be vested in the Southern Circuit Court, whose membership is the Associate Justice from The South.
2. The jurisdiction of the Southern Circuit Court shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution and all official acts made under its authority and to controversies between two or more citizens of the South. No State, local, territorial, or tribal government shall be entitled to invoke sovereign immunity in the Southern Circuit Court unless expressly authorized by a duly passed statute from the legislature.
3. Treason against The South, shall consist only in levying War or Rebellion against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
4. The Southern Legislature shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
Article VI: Senators
1. As mandated by the federal constitution, The South shall elect one (1) senator to represent the entire region in the federal senate and one (1) senator to represent each subregion in the federal senate. Senators must be a registered voter in the South.
2. The regional senator shall be elected in the months of February, June and October. The subregional senators shall be elected in the months of April, August and December.
3. The appropriate election administrator will open the voting booth at 12:00:00am EDT of the penultimate Friday of the month, and will close said booth the following Sunday at 11:59:59pm EDT. The election administrator must accept any absentee ballot received no more than one week prior to the opening of the polls.
4. Candidates for senator will be given until the Wednesday at 11:59:59 pm EDT preceding the first date of polling in the election they wish to contest to announce their candidacy and appear on the ballot. This is to be done by officially declaring their candidacy in the Candidate Declaration Thread.
5. When the polls close, the appropriate election administrator of the South shall be given twenty-four hours to count the votes and declare a winner. All senatorial elections shall be by single transferable vote, unless otherwise specified by law. The newly elected senator is to be officially sworn in on the Friday following the election. In the case of a tie, all tied candidates are to run in a run-off election the following week to determine a winner, organized by the appropriate election administrator. If a tie remains, the previous senator shall remain in office until a senator is elected. Once a new senator is sworn in, the old one forfeits their office.
6. If the office of senator is to become vacant at some point while they are in office, the President may appoint a Southern citizen to fill out the remainder of the term if the next scheduled election for the seat is less than 2 weeks away. If the vacancy occurs 2 weeks to 8 weeks before the next scheduled election for the seat, the President may appoint a Southern citizen with the advice and consent of the Southern Legislature to fill out the remainder of the term. If the vacancy occurs more than 8 weeks before the next scheduled election for the seat, the election administrator shall conduct a special election to fill the seat for the remainder of the term. Said election must occur within 14 days of the vacancy.
Article VII: Recall Procedure
1. The people of The South shall have the power to call a referendum on any law signed by the President during the legislative session in which it was passed by the process of petition. Petitions that collect twelve or more signatures shall be considered valid. When a valid petition is presented, the appropriate election administrator shall open the voting booth on the next Friday at 12:00:00am EDT and shall close said booth the following Sunday at 11:59:59pm EDT. The referendum question is: “Shall [name of law, followed by text] be upheld as law?” Every citizen will be given the opportunity to vote YES to uphold and NO to repeal during this time. Abstentions will not affect the results. Any bill that fails to receive a majority approval will become null and void. Only votes and signatures from registered Southern voters shall be considered valid for these questions.
Article VIII: Amendments
1. Amendments to this Constitution shall be proposed by the House of Burgesses. A proposed amendment in the House shall be forwarded to the citizens of the Southern Region for ratification by popular vote by the citizens of the Southern Region upon an affirmative vote of three-fourths of the total members of the House of Burgesses. Alternatively, should an amendment be approved unanimously by the House of Burgesses, the House of Burgesses can amend the constitution with the signature of the President.
2. For amendments forwarded to the citizens of the Southern Region, the appropriate election administrator shall open the polling booth at 12:00:00am EDT on the Friday after the Amendment is referred out of the House of Burgesses. The appropriate election administrator shall close the polling booth at 11:59:59pm EDT on the following Sunday. If the date for opening the polling booth coincides with another Southern election, the appropriate election administrator shall include the vote on any proposed Amendments in the polling booth for that election.
3. Any Amendment proposed by the House of Burgesses shall only become effective upon an affirmative vote of a majority of those citizens of the Southern Regio who vote for or against the proposed Amendmentor by unanimous approval by the House of Burgesses and Presidential signature.
4. Whenever three-fourths of the House of Burgesses or one-fourth of the registered voters of the Southern Region considers it desirable to comprehensively improve this constitution, the President shall call for a Constitutional Convention to propose revisions to this document, or replace it entirely. The Constitutional Convention shall consist of a minimum of three members chosen at the discretion of the President.
5. Amendments to the federal constitution shall be voted upon by the people of The South in the same manner as amendments to the Southern Constitution.
6. To be approved, all federal amendments will require the affirmative vote of a majority of those citizens of The South who vote for or against the proposed Amendment.
7. The South shall become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Atlasia for a new economic and political partnership.
Article IX: Continuity
1. Any law passed by the Southern Region prior to the adoption of this constitution shall remain in force unless modified by this Constitution or by subsequent legislation.
2. The provisions of this Constitution, and the provisions of any laws enacted pursuant thereto or prior thereto shall, to the maximum extent permissible be severable from one another if ever struck down by any court.
3. The House of Burgesses may make contingent laws that only go into effect upon the occurrence of future or speculative events, however unlikely, to ensure continuity of government, sound planning, and the faithful execution of this Constitution.
4. Every Article and Section of this Constitution is severable from the other. If a section of this Constitution is found invalid, the text of that section shall be replaced by its previous version, should a previous version exist.
5. Article VIII, Section 2 shall apply to Amendments referred to the Southern public prior to the ratification of this article that have not yet received a vote as of the time of the ratification of this article.
Article X: Unilateral Sovereignty from the Republic of Atlasia
1. Given a public affirmative vote in support of the Southern becoming sovereign, should the Southern have failed to secure sovereignty after the following avenues have been attempted:
1a. Formal dialogue between the President of Atlasia and the President of the South.
1b. Any legislation considered by the full Senate on further devolved powers for the regions.
1c. Commissions, Committees, or Delegations authorized by executives from both parties having discussed separation formally.
2. The Southern Region may formally withdraw itself from the Republic of Atlasia, as the threshold for secession under the Federal Constitution has been satisfied.
3. The House of Burgesses may introduce legislation formalizing the South's exit from the Republic of Atlasia or delegate said authority in a manner of its own choosing. This legislation may include contingency clauses.
4. Should any legislation or action with regards to secession be enacted, the South will be a fully independent nation and exclusively subject to this constitution. All mentions of the Federal Government, the Republic of Atlasia, and Atlasia shall hereby be stricken, and the South will be a separate entity.