The Atlasian Sentinel

[tmthforu94]

I just want to publicize a constitutional amendment I have introduced in the Senate here. Because of the wide-scale changes this would create in our system of government, we really need to hear from all citizens before we pass anything on to a public referendum. Post in the thread and air your thoughts, suggestions, etc.

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=97801.msg2042922#msg2042922

Thank you, but what thread are you referring to? This one, or the thread where the amendment is being debated?

I believe he means the link he posted at the end of the message. This is a newspaper, not a debating thread.

[tmthforu94]

I just want to publicize a constitutional amendment I have introduced in the Senate here. Because of the wide-scale changes this would create in our system of government, we really need to hear from all citizens before we pass anything on to a public referendum. Post in the thread and air your thoughts, suggestions, etc.

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=97801.msg2042922#msg2042922

Thank you, but what thread are you referring to? This one, or the thread where the amendment is being debated?

I believe he means the link he posted at the end of the message. This is a newspaper, not a debating thread.

Though I am glad it is stimulating debate.

My personal thoughts...(I'll write something up later probably and post it in the official thread for it)
It could potentially confuse a lot of people. I think we should allow plenty of time for people to understand it. I would recommend it taking effect on Jan. 1, 2010, so people won't have an excuse for being confused.

[tmthforu94]

Vepres, first of all, this paper is excellent. Keep up the good work.

How do you think all of these controversial votes should be resolved, and who do you think should, and will become the next President?

[tmthforu94]

Vepres, first of all, this paper is excellent. Keep up the good work.

How do you think all of these controversial votes should be resolved, and who do you think should, and will become the next President?

Personally, I think some in the JCP are trying to win through a technicality, and that PiT won. However, what matters is the legal opinion of the justices, should it get that far. Whatever they decide, the Sentinel will support (however, I personally may not). In the end, I think PiT will win, but we'll have to see.

Electoral laws are not technicalities.

Nobody doubted their registration until the election turned out to be close.

Ditto
I also question if the same people would be fighting this hard for those votes not to count if the questionable votes had been for Leif, not PiT.

[tmthforu94]

Vepres, first of all, this paper is excellent. Keep up the good work.

How do you think all of these controversial votes should be resolved, and who do you think should, and will become the next President?

Personally, I think some in the JCP are trying to win through a technicality, and that PiT won. However, what matters is the legal opinion of the justices, should it get that far. Whatever they decide, the Sentinel will support (however, I personally may not). In the end, I think PiT will win, but we'll have to see.

Electoral laws are not technicalities.

Nobody doubted their registration until the election turned out to be close.

Ditto
I also question if the same people would be fighting this hard for those votes not to count if the questionable votes had been for Leif, not PiT.

I voted for PiT...and I am challenging the votes.

And you are just about the only one, too.

[tmthforu94]

Vepres, first of all, this paper is excellent. Keep up the good work.

How do you think all of these controversial votes should be resolved, and who do you think should, and will become the next President?

Personally, I think some in the JCP are trying to win through a technicality, and that PiT won. However, what matters is the legal opinion of the justices, should it get that far. Whatever they decide, the Sentinel will support (however, I personally may not). In the end, I think PiT will win, but we'll have to see.

Electoral laws are not technicalities.

Nobody doubted their registration until the election turned out to be close.

Ditto
I also question if the same people would be fighting this hard for those votes not to count if the questionable votes had been for Leif, not PiT.

I voted for PiT...and I am challenging the votes.

And you are just about the only one, too.

Wrong. I would also be willing to challenge these votes.

^See bold^
What I'm saying, is that the one of the main reasons most of these "challengers" are challenging these votes is because they don't want PiT to win. Would they have challenged the votes if the votes were for Leif? Who knows, but I'm sure the chances would be a lot lower.

[tmthforu94]

Vepres, first of all, this paper is excellent. Keep up the good work.

How do you think all of these controversial votes should be resolved, and who do you think should, and will become the next President?

Personally, I think some in the JCP are trying to win through a technicality, and that PiT won. However, what matters is the legal opinion of the justices, should it get that far. Whatever they decide, the Sentinel will support (however, I personally may not). In the end, I think PiT will win, but we'll have to see.

Electoral laws are not technicalities.

Nobody doubted their registration until the election turned out to be close.

Ditto
I also question if the same people would be fighting this hard for those votes not to count if the questionable votes had been for Leif, not PiT.

I voted for PiT...and I am challenging the votes.

And you are just about the only one, too.

Wrong. I would also be willing to challenge these votes.

^See bold^
What I'm saying, is that the one of the main reasons most of these "challengers" are challenging these votes is because they don't want PiT to win. Would they have challenged the votes if the votes were for Leif? Who knows, but I'm sure the chances would be a lot lower.

It doesn't matter why people want to challenge votes. If anyone has reason to believe that a vote was cast illegally...then I'd say it's their duty to challenge.

Agreed
But would they have challenged it if the votes were for PiT? Possibly, but I doubt it.

[tmthforu94]

The Atlasian Sentinel

Lief/Bacon King Elected
By Vepres

The SOFA certified the official election results, which elected Lief/Bacon King President and Vice President, respectively. It was a tie at 41 to 41 in the final round, however, because Lief/Bacon King had one more first preference vote, they were deemed the winners of the election.

This is, of course, after the Atlasian Sentinel reported that PiT had won. In Franzl's count, he did. However, the SOFA, who is more familiar with election laws and thus better qualified to determine which votes are valid and which aren't, and his results showed Lief winning. We apologize for the error.

It might not be in error.  PiT could still win, as this will go to court.

[tmthforu94]

Ben wasn't banned unless you mean banned from holding office/voting. Other then that, he wasn't "banned" in the way we would assume one would be when using that term(like KoTBP, Straha, Ogis etc).

That's what I was referring to.

[tmthforu94]

I'm not clear on the ambivalence towards Atlasia v. RowanBrandon. Unless those involved publicly state their permission for him to post their PMs, the case seems pretty cut-and-dry.

I'm just trying to be open-minded on it. The defense could present a great case. I don't want to go around saying I support Rowan being banned, when I'm not 100% sure.

[tmthforu94]

Thank you, Governor Vepres, for letting me work with you. This will continue to be the best newspaper in Atlasia.

[tmthforu94]

For anyone who would like to be interviewd by the Sentinel, you may either post your interest in this thread, or privately message either Governor Vepres or myself.
Thank you,
Isaac

[tmthforu94]

The Atlasian Sentinel

Interview with Mideast Assemblyman Swedish Cheese
By Tmthforu94

Good evening, Assemblyman Swedish Cheese, and thank you.

Glad to be here, Tmthforu94

Let's get started.

Tmthforu94: In a surprising and bold move by SoFA Franzl, you were chosen to be his Vice President. Was it a surprise to you that you were asked?

Swedish Cheese: It did come as somewhat of a shock at first, I admit. When Franzl first asked me to join the ticket I was sure it was some sort of joke or misunderstanding. However after Franzl had made it clear that he was sincere in his offer to me, I quickly settled in my new role as Franzl's main support in his campaign, and had a fun and exciting time running for the second highest office in this country

Tmthforu94: Even though you lost, what did you learn from running for Vice President? Has it changed your perception on the office?

Swedish Cheese: I gained a lot of self-confidence from running for Vice President. The fact that a lot of people saw me as a good candidate (even those who did not end up voting for me and Franzl) as well as me taking part in a broader national debate made me a stronger and more daring politician. I think that's the best quality I learnt from being Franzl's running mate.

My opinion of the Office of Vice President has changed very little. I still consider it an important office in Atlasia.

Tmthforu94: Regarding the future, many see you as a rising star in Atlasia, and you were nominated by several as "Newbie of the Year". Do you have plans to take a step up in public office, possibly running for the open Senate seat in February, or even President?

Swedish Cheese: I know that many would like to see me make a run for the Senate, and although the opportunity to seek the Mideast Regional Seat is tempting, I don't believe it likely for me to run in February. Senator is probably the most time consuming position one can hold in Atlasia, and I need to focus a lot of energy on getting good grades my last semester of High School so that I'm able to get into a Law-School of my choice this fall. Therefore I'm not sure I have the time to do the job of a Senator properly at the moment.

A Presidential run someday in the future is of course always a possibility, but I can almost say for sure it won't happen these next two elections.

Tmthforu94: Not too long ago, Assemblyman, you became the Speaker of the Assembly, following Peter. Those were pretty big shoes to feel. What do you feel that you have accomplished as Speaker, and how have you made the Mideast region a better region for all?

Swedish Cheese: Peter's shoes were indeed pretty big to fill, as he's truly the greatest of Speakers. But even though I don't want to flatter myself too much I still believe I've done a very good job as Speaker. During my first term as Speaker I lead the most productive Assembly in history, partly due to my own efforts to keep the Assembly active and effective. Much of it was of course thanks to my excellent fellow Assemblymen Badger and Big Bad Fab as well. I believe we together have improved our region by bringing forward Moderate bipartisan legislation that will improve many aspects of life for Mideast citizens. My biggest personal contribution was of course the bill to save our economy, which according to the Game Moderator was successful in lowering our Region's high unemployment with several points.

This term has been rather stormy and ineffective due to court cases, resignations, and other problems. But I've still managed to keep the Assembly running through all these trails, and I believe that after we once again starts working after Christmas recess, I will once again lead a very productive Assembly.

Tmthforu94: Recently, HAEV was passed, and three Atlasians were selected to serve on HAEV. What is your opinion of HAEV, and do you think it will actually work?

I have long been a strong supporter of Zombie Control, and during the Presidential race me and Franzl discussed the subject several times. I'm not sure that the HAEV is the best or the fairest way to deal with the problem, but I'm more than willing to give it a chance. The system ultimatley depends on the individual HAEV’s, and whether they allow their personal biases to get in the way of whom they label a zombie, and whom they don't. It might be a great success, and it might be a failure. I believe Leif has made good nominations however, and I'm awaiting to see the actual results of this before I make a final judgment on the subject.

Thank you for your time, Mr. Assemblyman.

(My apologies for the formatting. I am having a major scrolling problem on this site that makes it nearly impossible to make lengthy posts, so I have to do this on Word)

[tmthforu94]

Boom shika laka.

The Atlasian Sentinel is back. Since Vepres is gone, I will be assuming full powers. For now we're staying in the old thread - tbd whether a new one will be created.

[tmthforu94]

The Atlasian Sentinel

Analysis of the Ongoing Elections
By Tmthforu94

Presidential Election

When this race started out, some thought Teddy/Mechaman actually stood a chance. If they could get high turnout from the RPP and POP, as well as win over some moderates and loonies, they posed a serious threat to the "invincible" Polnut/Bacon King ticket. However, as the race progressed, the chances of this happening diminished. Teddy ran one of the poorest campaigns in recent memory, due to unfortunate problems in RL. A confusing platform, poor debate performance, and low activity in general kept the ticket from ever lifting off the ground.

The results this weekend look just how I expected them to - Polnut is winning almost unanimous support from the left and moderate wings of Atlasia, and is also getting a high percentage of votes from the RPP, the party of Presidential candidate Teddy.

The Atlasian Sentinel projects that the Polnut/Bacon King ticket will comfortable be elected, winning between 65-75% of the vote.


Mideast Senate Race

The last few Senate races in the Mideast have produced photo-finish races. This race, however, looks to be tightly locked in, well, my column.

The Atlasian Sentinel projects that Tmthforu94 will be elected to the Senate with over 70% of the vote.


Northeast Senate Race

This is probably the only race in this election that's interesting to me, and it's shaping up to be pretty exciting. Our count shows Napoleon with a very slight lead, but that could easily be changed.

The start of this race looked to be smooth sailing for Napoleon, but his campaign has had several missteps, and Marokai has been able to keep his mouth shut enough to actually have a chance at pulling this off. The Atlasian Sentinel would have endorsed Marokai Blue or Wormy for this Senate race, due to it's concerns about Napoleon's game reform ideas, specifically him advocating the repeal of the Game Reform Act of 2011. While I recognize amendments may need to be made to the bill, an all out repeal would sweep much of the progress we've made, specifically the relevancy we gave to the SoEA and SoIA positions.

The Atlasian Sentinel rates this race as too close to call.

Midwest Senate Race

I was very disappointed to learn that Kalwejt wouldn't be running for a second term. Though we've had our rough spots, I can't help but acknowledge Kalwejt's commitment and dedication to Atlasia. His presence will be missed. 

Many believed going into this election that it would be Fuzzybigfoot's for the taking, but he currently leads BelgianSocialist by just 1 vote.

The Atlasian Sentinel rates this race as too close to call.


Pacific Senate Race

The Atlasian Sentinel gives massive props to Junkie for actually running a fairly active campaign in the Pacific, something that is rarely ever seen due to the boring, one-party state of the region. In a slightly better enviornment, Junkie could pull off an upset, but due to the massive amount of influence bgwah has on the region, he's in very good shape to take this.

The Atlasian Sentinel projects that Bgwah will be elected to the Senate.


Southeast Senate Race

North Carolina Yankee will easily be reelected to his 406346th term. Hopefully he will be reelected as PPT, too!

The Atlasian Sentinel projects that North Carolina Yankee will be elected to the Senate.

[tmthforu94]

The Atlasian Sentinel

Sam Spade Resigns as Chief Justice
By Tmthforu94

Yesterday evening, many were shocked to learn that esteemed Chief Justice Sam Spade resigned from his position. Sam Spade has been a Justice since July 2008, months before I even registered for that Atlas Forum. Same Spade has been a dedicated and committed worker on the Supreme Court, and I have no doubt that his presence will be missed.

Spade's resignation gives me, as President, a unique opportunity to do something that is considered to be one of the most powerful decisions of a President - appoint a Justice. Not only will I have ability to appoint a Justice, but also the Chief Justice. The person whom I appoint must be in good standing in the Atlasian community, have integrity and character, and also have extensive knowledge of the law.

Sources close to the President say he will likely make a decision within the next 48 hours.

[tmthforu94]

The Atlasian Sentinel

Jake Matthews Resigns as Northeast Governor!
By Tmthforu94

This morning, many were surprised to learn that newly elected Northeast Governor Jake Matthews had resigned from his position.

Fellow Northeasterners,

I've made a very difficult decision today. After lots of consideration and pondering, I've made the decision to resign as Governor of the Northeast. I'm very sorry to everyone who expected to see positive change come at my hands, but I just can't commit to the game anymore. I've had it to the moon and back with cut-throat politics in the game. The fact that some of my issues in Atlasia are effecting my personal life is frightening and I'm going to take a break. I'd like to assure everyone that this doesn't not mean the end. I would also like to make a genuine apology to Napoleon for my invalidation of my vote that would have been counted in his favor. I apologize to everyone. My resignation is effictive immediately. I wish only the best for the Northeast Region and it's people. I hope you all can find a Governor that will impose positive change and I'm sorry that wasn't me.

-Jake Matthews

This is certainly disappointing. The Atlasian Sentinel was looking forward to what JM had in store for the Northeast. This is a huge blow to the Northeast region as well, who were looking forward to finally having an active and competent Governor.

[tmthforu94]

I'm sure you were.

I was. It is my wish that the Northeast turns itself around, as it will benefit the entire game as a result. Jake Matthews resigning is certainly blow in this turnaround process, but I still believe the region can be fixed.

[tmthforu94]

I'm sure you were.

I was. It is my wish that the Northeast turns itself around, as it will benefit the entire game as a result. Jake Matthews resigning is certainly blow in this turnaround process, but I still believe the region can be fixed.

If you were looking forward to it so much, why threaten to destroy his career?

You are an embarrassment to your office.

I would never threaten to destroy his career. When he was down yesterday, I sent him several encouraging pm's, telling him that if he could successfully turn around the Northeast, he could even be President one day.

[tmthforu94]

The Atlasian Sentinel

I'm going to go ahead and bring this out into the open, since I'm sure many people are now curious as to what's going on.

I am being accused of forcing Jake Matthews to invalidate his vote.

I will admit here and now, I sent Jake Matthews a personal message asking him to change his vote to Marokai Blue, and I explained to him why I felt he should do this. However, I sent that message to him just minutes after he voted, with the hopes he'd read it before the 20 minutes had elapsed. Unfortunately, he logged out just moments after he voted. The practice of trying to get someone to edit their vote before 20 minutes had expired has been long practiced in Atlasia, and I believe that I did nothing illegal.

Later in the evening, or maybe it was the next day (I honestly don't know), I talked with Jake Matthews about this, and let him know I was extremely upset that he voted for Napoleon, considering he wants to abolish the biggest piece of legislation in my administration - The Game Reform Act of 2011. At one point, he sent me a message telling me he would change his vote, knowing it would be invalidated. I immediately sent him a response telling him to wait, but he had already posted it.

I'm sorry in any way if my anger towards Jake Matthews changes the outcome of an election or if it was the reason for him leaving - that was honestly not my intent. I've also been told impeachment charges are being planned against me for campaigning for votes as elective administrator. I honestly did not know I wasn't supposed to be doing this, but if it's true, I have no problem admitting that I did it. Though I think impeachment trials are almost unnecessary considering my term ends in less than a week.

What I did was wrong, I shouldn't have acted how I did to Jake Matthews. It absolutely was not professional or nice of me, and I apologize for that. I have already sent an apology to Jake Matthews for being angry towards him, and I hope he accepts this apology. He has always been a good and loyal friend to me.

[tmthforu94]

Impeachment may not be necessary, but hopefully the four month office holding ban can be put into effect. Ignorance of the law is no defense.

Whoever said it was defense?

[tmthforu94]

I find it interesting, Napoleon, that you seem so dead set on destroying all the parts of Atlasia that make it function.  Repealing the Game Reform, trying to prevent one of the few active Atlasians from holding office, etc.

Regardless of whether or not I'm an active Atlasian, we can't completely ignore the law. If there is legal evidence that election administrators are not supposed to do any campaigning, I must accept that and deal with the consequences.

[tmthforu94]

Finally something interesting going on in Atlasia!

My whole intent.

[tmthforu94]

If tmth is condemned, does that mean I automatically become a Senator?

No. Even if a case has been brought against me, I don't know of any law that says you can't be certified the winner of an election if you have a lawsuit against you. If I never take office, A-Bob would appoint someone to the seat. If I take office, then have to vacate it, A-Bob would still appoint someone to the seat.

[tmthforu94]

The Atlasian Sentinel

Poll: Which Would You Prefer?
By Tmthforu94

For the past three days, the Atlasian Sentinel has been running a poll, asking citizens if they preferred a hotly contested election or one where their candidate easily won. The results are in!

65% of those polled said they prefer competitive elections, while just 29% preferred where their candidate easily won. 6% said they didn't like either. This is just about what I expected, though I'm sure the numbers would be much different if this was about a race you were actually in, not just someone you supported.

An interesting observation - those who would rather their candidate win easily must not feel comfortable sharing this, as no one who made a reply said they preferred this race. Everyone who responded were either not sure or preferred competitive elections.

While cakewalks may be relieving to the candidate (I speak from experience), contested elections are certainly much better for the game - turnout is higher and more are interested in the game. I can't imagine how inactive this last election would have been if I didn't have my scandal!

You can visit the poll by clicking here.