PASSED: Omnibus Bill on Citizenship and Elections

[Sandaoguo]

The following omnibus bill, having been duly debated and having received sponsorship from at least two people, is now brought to vote. Within this bill are two different amendments: one to the Charter of the Coalition of The South Pacific, which will change the process by which citizenship is earned and removed; the other to the Code of Laws, which will create a new conflict of interest disclosure requirement and create a new "re-open nominations" option on the ballot.

 

Because this omnibus bill contains provisions that require different approval thresholds, the overall threshold required for this vote to succeed is the highest threshold of any of the provisions. Since this omnibus bill contains a Charter amendment, the entire bill must meet the threshold for a Charter amendment. In accordance with Article 3, Section 1.10, the voting period for this amendment will be five days. It will start at 9:15pm EST on November 23rd, 2013 and end at 9:15 EST on November 28th, 2013.

 

Article 3, Section 1.5 stipulates that amendments must receive 75% of votes in favor in order to pass. Citizens may vote Aye or Nay. While abstentions may be expressed, they are not considered votes, and as such do not affect the threshold required under Article 3, Section 1.5.

 

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Preamble:

We the nations of the South Pacific enact the amendments enclosed in this document for the betterment of the region.

 
Article 1:  Charter Amendments
Section 1 - Article 1 of the Charter shall be amended to read as follows

Section 1 - Eligibility

1. All nations resident in the region The South Pacific may apply for Citizenship in the Coalition.
   
2. All Citizens, in order to ensure to all the rights and benefits resulting from such, shall fulfill in good faith the obligations assumed by them in accordance with the present charter and Code of Laws.
   
3. All nations wishing to obtain Citizenship must accept and abide by the terms and provisions of the Charter, declare their current nation residing in The South Pacific, current nation which holds membership in the World Assembly, and all regions and organizations in which the applicant is or has been
    involved with.
   

Section 2 - Acceptance and Removal

1. Citizenship applications will be reviewed by the Vice Delegate.
   
2. Upon review the applicant may be either conditionally approved or denied by the Vice Delegate.
   
3. Upon the applicant being conditionally approved the forum administration staff will conduct a security check to ensure the applicant is not using a proxy and is not trying to avoid a forum ban.  In the event that an applicant is found to be using a proxy or is attempting to avoid a forum ban their application will be denied and not subject to appeal.
   
4. In the event that an applicant is denied the reason for denial must be disclosed by the Vice Delegate.  The applicant may appeal their denial to the Assembly which may reverse the denial by a 75% majority vote in favor.
   
5. If a Citizen no longer has a resident nation their citizenship will be immediately removed by the Vice Delegate.
   
6. Citizenship may be removed by a majority vote of the Cabinet if a nation is found to be a security threat.  Citizens removed for being a security threat may appeal to the Assembly which may reverse the removal by a 75% majority vote in favor.
   
7. Citizenship will be removed if a nation has not logged into the South Pacific forums for more than 30 days and made two posts within that period.
   
8. Citizens may request a leave of absence from the Vice Delegate.
   

 
Section 2 - Article 3, Section 1 of the Charter shall be amended to read as follows

1. The Assembly is comprised of all Citizens of The Coalition.
   
2. The Assembly shall constitute the sole legislative body in The Coalition.
   
3. The Assembly is responsible for the drafting and discussion of General Laws, and Amendments to the Charter and Code of Laws.
   
4. The Assembly may pass and amend a Law with a vote resulting in 50% + 1 in favor.
   
5. The Assembly may amend the Charter with a vote resulting in a 75% majority in favor.
   
6. The Assembly has the sole power to declare a state of war exists with another region or organization.
   
7. The Assembly has the sole power to pass a treaty with another region or organization.
   
8. The Assembly may override the denial or Cabinet removal of citizenship upon the affected nation appealing and a vote resulting in a 75% majority in favor.
   
   
9. Declarations of War and Treaties require a 60% majority in favor to be enacted or repealed
   .
   
10. Proposed legislation may be moved to a vote by the CoA after a Motion and a Second to vote is lodged.
    
11. The voting period will last three days for all General Laws and five days for Amendments to the Charter.​
    

 

 
Section 3 - Article 5, Section 2 of the Charter shall be amended to read as follows

 

1. The Delegate will serve as the Head of State and be responsible for leading the Cabinet.
   
2. The Delegate may not surrender the sovereignty of the Coalition to any group or alliance without the express permission of the Assembly.
   
3. The Delegate may implement policies regarding regional message board adverts and spam and expel recruiters for violating said policies.
   
4. The Delegate is responsible for making sure all nations abide by the endorsement cap as established by the Cabinet.
   
5. The Delegate may eject nations when permitted by the Charter and Code of Laws.
   
   
6. With the majority approval of the Committee for State Security, the Delegate may declare a State of Emergency.
   
7. The Vice Delegate will hold the second highest amount of endorsements in the region at any given time.
   
8. The Vice Delegate will be responsible for reviewing citizenship applications.
   
   
9. In the event that the Delegate resigns, is recalled, or otherwise unable to carry out their duties the Vice Delegate will immediately assume the Office of the Delegate.
   

 

 
Article 2:  Amendments to the Code of Laws
Section 1 - Article 1 of the Code of Laws shall be amended to read as follows

 

1. Elections for all Cabinet positions and the Chief Justice shall commence on the first of every April, August, and December.
   
2. All normal and special elections will be comprised of a nomination period lasting five days and a voting period lasting three days.
   
3. Runoff elections will begin within twenty-four hours of the initial vote closing and consist of a voting period lasting three days.
   
4. Candidates for elections may self-declare or be nominated by another Citizen.  Candidates must file a Conflict of Interest Disclosure at the time of their acceptance of a nomination or self-declaration.
   
5. Conflict of Interest Disclosures must include current World Assembly Nation, all past and present aliases used, all past and present involvement in other regions and organizations, and all current positions held across NationStates.
   
6. The Delegate and Vice Delegate will run on a joint ticket and be elected by a majority vote.  If no ticket receives a majority vote a runoff election with the two tickets receiving the most votes will occur.
   
7. All other elected offices will be voted on separately and be elected by a plurality vote.
   
8. In all elections an option to re-open nominations will be included.  If this option receives the most votes the nomination period for that office will be restarted.
   
9. In the event that no candidate runs for an available office the newly elected Cabinet will appoint a Citizen to fill the vacancy.
   
10. Vacancies in office occur when the office holder resigns, is recalled, or no longer holds citizenship.  In the event of a vacancy in office a special election will begin within 72 hours of the office becoming vacant, unless the vacancy occurs in the month prior to the start of an election cycle; in this case the Cabinet will appoint a Citizen to fill the vacated position for the remainder of the term.
    
11. Elections will be run by a member of the forum administration staff or their designee.  A designated Election Commissioner may be appointed if all members of the administration staff will be candidates in the given election.
    

 

[Sandaoguo]

Aye.

[Hileville]

Aye

[Kris Kringle]

Aye

[QuietDad]

Aye

[Libetarian Republics]

aye

[The Republic of Griffin]

aye

[Escade]

Aye

[tsunamy]

Aye

[DICTATORSHIP OF SURVIVORS]

aye

[Sierra Lobo]

Citizenship may be removed by a majority vote of the Cabinet if a nation is found to be a security threat.  Citizens removed for being a security threat may appeal to the Assembly which may reverse the removal by a 75%
majority vote in favor.

 

Declarations of War and Treaties require a 60%
majority in favor to be enacted or repealed
.

 

 

I am sorry I did not participate in the discussion; but I find these thresholds absurd. It is easier to declare a war than to defend a possible political move to strip citizen rights. I am voting: NAY

[Caligula]

aye

[Awesomiasa]

Aye

[Escade]

 

<blockquote class="ipsBlockquote">
Citizenship may be removed by a majority vote of the Cabinet if a nation is found to be a security threat.  Citizens removed for being a security threat may appeal to the Assembly which may reverse the removal by a 75%
majority vote in favor.

 

Declarations of War and Treaties require a 60%
majority in favor to be enacted or repealed
.

 

 

I am sorry I did not participate in the discussion; but I find these thresholds absurd. It is easier to declare a war than to defend a possible political move to strip citizen rights. I am voting: NAY

 


</blockquote>
 

Sierra, the logic is that declaring war is not something that would be done lightly while when stripping a citizenship multiple viewpoints might exist and we want to make sure that the system is not abused for people taking out personal grievances. 

 

For a war, I am more sure that the cabinet and citizenry would be far less inclined to jump on a bandwagon.  The difference between pressing the nuke button and mob lynchings - one is more likely to have happened in the past and therefore needs more barriers.

 

The war is also harder to mobilize whereas a citizen can be revoked of their rights by the admins.

[Sandaoguo]

I appreciate people who feel passionate about Assembly bills, but please keep the debate to the drafting threads. Counting votes gets more difficult the more people start debating in a voting thread.

[Vibrant Coconuts]

Aye

[Drugged Monkeys]

Aye

[Rebel-topia]

Aye

[Sandaoguo]

The ayes are 14. The nays are 1. Having received the necessary 75% approval from the Assembly, this omnibus bill passes.