Election Reform

[Hileville]

This thread is for all proposals pertaining to Election Reform.

[Haxstree]

I would like to bring this back. Before I bring up a Charter amendment that would make this possible according to Uni, I want everyone to just look at it again and give input. Recall the new registration procedure, which I think safeguards us while allowing voting to remain anonymous. This was the clause that would require a Charter amendment to be legal according to Unibot's interpretation.



So, to consider:



Amendment to Election Law:

Amendment Passed on:  10/27/11

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' ><strong class='bbc'>Section 1. The Election Commission</strong>[*:2vdb5f8y]The Election Commission Forum will be a permanent feature of the South Pacific Forums. During inter-election periods it will contain information on election laws and regulations, the members and terms of the Election Commissioners, and the projected schedule for upcoming Election.







[*:2vdb5f8y]The Election Commission will oversee the Election as maintained in this law, and will provide guidance to any inquires concerning the election.







[*:2vdb5f8y]The Election Commission will have three members, one chair and two deputies. All three are appointed by the delegate one month after the conclusion of the delegate elections. The delegate will can alter his appointments within one week of the initially scheduled appointments. After that they can not be waived by the delegate, but must be impeached.







[*:2vdb5f8y] Commissioners serve six month terms and may not occupy any other office at any other time during their term.







[*:2vdb5f8y] The Chair of the Election Commission is given moderation powers over the Election Forums, with other commissioners capable of receiving such power at the order of the delegate. The Minister of Security is obligated to help the Election Commission perform its tasks in ensuring no voter fraud or any such deception occurs, as obligated by the Voting Law.







[*:2vdb5f8y]All time references in this law are in South Pacific standard time, which is indicated by the clock above the forum and equal to GMT.





<strong class='bbc'>Section 2. Candidate Review Period</strong>[*:2vdb5f8y]The Election Commission will create a public thread to review all prospective candidates, beginning on the last Saturday of every February, May, August, and November, prior to the start of campaigning and ending on Friday at midnight, the day before the campaigning officially begins. Anyone wishing to be a candidate must submit themselves for review in this thread.







[*:2vdb5f8y]Prospective candidates must satisfy the following conditions to be accepted.



a. Prospective candidates must be citizens.



b. Prospective candidates must fulfill all specific requirements for the office they are running for as spelled out in the Charter.



c. Prospective candidates must declare any conflicts of interest, in accordance with the Conflict of Interests law of the South Pacific.



d. Prospective candidates may not run for more than one position.



e. No candidate will be denied if these requirements are met.







[*:2vdb5f8y] Accepted Candidates will be provided a Campaign Thread immediately after their acceptance. Candidates can begin utilizing said thread immediately, regardless of whether or not the official campaign period has begun. Although campaigning is not limited to this specific thread, disruption of the forum or the regional message board with promotional material will be considered as spamming under the 3 warnings law and dealt with accordingly.





<strong class='bbc'>Section 3. The Campaign Period</strong>[*:2vdb5f8y]The election campaigns begin officially on the first Saturday of every March, June, September, and December, prior to the start of voting and ends on Friday at midnight, the day before voting begins.







[*:2vdb5f8y] Campaigning may continue into the Voting Period but must cease after the results are announced.





<strong class='bbc'>Section 4. Registration and Ballot Format</strong>[*:2vdb5f8y]Beginning during the Candidate Review Period and ending with the conclusion of the voting period, any citizen wishing to vote in the election must register.







[*:2vdb5f8y] Registration is simply a statement of registration in a public registration thread.







[*:2vdb5f8y] Ballots will be private. Only those who have registered will be masked for poll access.







[*:2vdb5f8y]The ballot will list all candidates in alphabetical order, using the full version of their name.







[*:2vdb5f8y]In cases where only one candidate stands for office the ballot will give voters the opportunity to vote ?Approve? or ?Disapprove? on the suitability of that candidate to hold the office in question. In the event of a majority of voters voting ?Disapprove? the position will be declared vacant, and the Delegate may appoint a citizen of The South Pacific to the position, in accordance with the Charter.





<strong class='bbc'>Section 5. The Voting Period</strong>[*:2vdb5f8y]Voting will take place over five days, beginning on the second Saturday of every March, June, September, and December.







[*:2vdb5f8y]During the voting period all registered citizens will vote using only the private ballot forms in the Election Forum.







[*:2vdb5f8y] Following the voting period official announcements of the results will be made in the Election Forum.





<strong class='bbc'>Section 6. Appeal Period</strong>[*:2vdb5f8y]Appeals of election results can only be made within seventy-two hours of the results being announced; once the results have been certified no further appeal can be made.







[*:2vdb5f8y] Appeals will be made before the Minister of Justice and follow the procedures of a suit, with the Election Commissioners to stand in defense of the election.







[*:2vdb5f8y] If multiple appeals are to be found worthy of a trial by the Minister of Justice, the various charges will be synthesized into one suit. The outcome of this suit will be the final say on appeals of the given election.





<strong class='bbc'>Section 7. Certification of results</strong>[*:2vdb5f8y]Once the results appeal period has concluded and appeals are satisfied by the Minister of Justice, the certified results of the election will be posted by the Election Commission in the Election Forum, along with any reports from the Commission on the election, which will then be concluded.





[*:2vdb5f8y] With the announcement of the certified results and the subsequent conclusion of the election, the winners will assume their elected positions.



<strong class='bbc'>Section 8. Emergency Elections</strong>[*:2vdb5f8y]Should any elected official either resign, be impeached or no longer be able to exercise their duties then the election commissioners shall call an election within 14 days for the vacated post.









[*:2vdb5f8y]This election shall follow the normal procedure of elections for the position in question.







[*:2vdb5f8y]The newly elected individual shall serve for the remainder of the existing term.









<strong class='bbc'>Section 9. Repeal</strong>[*:2vdb5f8y] This bill repeals the Election Commission Law



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</blockquote>

[Eluvatar]

Forum polls are not truly secret ballot.By observing who's online over time and looking at the totals, one can easily determine who voted which way much of the time.

[Hileville]

I like the CIVS method used in Balder. As I had to run an election on it. It requires emails to be released to whoever runs the election though.

[Haxstree]

Forum polls are not truly secret ballot.

By observing who's online over time and looking at the totals, one can easily determine who voted which way much of the time.

If people are going to be stalkers or people are that paranoid, simply post when fewer people are around?

Do you have an alternate suggestion?

[LadyRebels]

I really don't have an issue with people knowing how I cast my vote, the only thing is that the admin or Intel has to be up on things to make sure that someone is not "padding" the voting booths by creating a bunch of accounts then voting with them.

[Hileville]

Bump. Hax I had stated the CIVS system could work here. The only problem with it is you have to use email addresses of citizens.

[Rebel-topia]

Hil, that works for new(er) regions, but to get people on board to shoot you an email address would take longer then we have atm (since elections are held in March). Im all for it, as I do like that system, but would it work/be feasible here in TSP with the little activity we have?

[Antariel]

Even with our new TSPA recruits.

[Hileville]

The admins would have to provide the emails for all citizens. Which leads us to the citizenship process that we currently have. Nobody ever looses citizenship even if they don't have a nation in TSP.

[Hileville]

I am not sure where the region wants to go on this one so some input would be appreciated.

[Hileville]

How about this?

<strong class='bbc'>Section 1. The Election Commission</strong>[*:1arlvef0]The Election Commission Forum will be a permanent feature of the South Pacific Forums. During inter-election periods it will contain information on election laws and regulations, the members and terms of the Election Commissioners, and the projected schedule for upcoming Election.









[*:1arlvef0]The Election Commission will oversee the Election as maintained in this law, and will provide guidance to any inquires concerning the election.









[*:1arlvef0]The Election Commission will have three members, one chair and two deputies. All three are appointed by the delegate one month after the conclusion of the delegate elections. The delegate will can alter his appointments within one week of the initially scheduled appointments. After that they can not be waived by the delegate, but must be impeached.









[*:1arlvef0] Commissioners serve six month terms and may not occupy any other office at any other time during their term.









[*:1arlvef0] The Chair of the Election Commission is given moderation powers over the Election Forums, with other commissioners capable of receiving such power at the order of the delegate. The Minister of Security is obligated to help the Election Commission perform its tasks in ensuring no voter fraud or any such deception occurs, as obligated by the Voting Law.









[*:1arlvef0]All time references in this law are in South Pacific standard time, which is indicated by the clock above the forum and equal to GMT.









<strong class='bbc'>Section 2. Candidate Review Period</strong>[*:1arlvef0]The Election Commission will create a public thread to review all prospective candidates, beginning on the last Saturday of every February, May, August, and November, prior to the start of campaigning and ending on Friday at midnight, the day before the campaigning officially begins. Anyone wishing to be a candidate must submit themselves for review in this thread.









[*:1arlvef0]Prospective candidates must satisfy the following conditions to be accepted.



a. Prospective candidates must be citizens.



b. Prospective candidates must fulfill all specific requirements for the office they are running for as spelled out in the Charter.



c. Prospective candidates must declare any conflicts of interest, in accordance with the Conflict of Interests law of the South Pacific.



d. Prospective candidates may not run for more than one position.



e. No candidate will be denied if these requirements are met.











[*:1arlvef0] Accepted Candidates will be provided a Campaign Thread immediately after their acceptance. Candidates can begin utilizing said thread immediately, regardless of whether or not the official campaign period has begun. Although campaigning is not limited to this specific thread, disruption of the forum or the regional message board with promotional material will be considered as spamming under the 3 warnings law and dealt with accordingly.









<strong class='bbc'>Section 3. The Campaign Period</strong>[*:1arlvef0]The election campaigns begin officially on the first Saturday of every March, June, September, and December, prior to the start of voting and ends on Friday at midnight, the day before voting begins.











[*:1arlvef0] Campaigning may continue into the Voting Period but must cease after the results are announced.









<strong class='bbc'>Section 4. Ballot Format</strong>[*:1arlvef0]The ballot will list all candidates in alphabetical order, using the full version of their name.











[*:1arlvef0]In cases where only one candidate stands for office the ballot will give voters the opportunity to vote ?Approve? or ?Disapprove? on the suitability of that candidate to hold the office in question. In the event of a majority of voters voting ?Disapprove? the position will be declared vacant, and the Delegate may appoint a citizen of The South Pacific to the position, in accordance with the Charter.









<strong class='bbc'>Section 5. The Voting Period</strong>[*:1arlvef0]Voting will take place over three days, beginning on the second Saturday of every March, June, September, and December.











[*:1arlvef0]During the voting period all registered citizens will vote using only the private ballot forms in the Election Forum.











[*:1arlvef0] Following the voting period official announcements of the results will be made in the Election Forum.









<strong class='bbc'>Section 6. Appeal Period</strong>[*:1arlvef0]Appeals of election results can only be made within seventy-two hours of the results being announced; once the results have been certified no further appeal can be made.









[*:1arlvef0] Appeals will be made before the Superior Court and follow the procedures of a suit, with the Election Commissioners to stand in defense of the election.









[*:1arlvef0] If multiple appeals are to be found worthy of a trial by the Minister of Justice, the various charges will be synthesized into one suit. The outcome of this suit will be the final say on appeals of the given election.









<strong class='bbc'>Section 7. Certification of results</strong>[*:1arlvef0]Once the results appeal period has concluded and appeals are satisfied by the Minister of Justice, the certified results of the election will be posted by the Election Commission in the Election Forum, along with any reports from the Commission on the election, which will then be concluded.





[*:1arlvef0] With the announcement of the certified results and the subsequent conclusion of the election, the winners will assume their elected positions.





<strong class='bbc'>Section 8. Emergency Elections</strong>[*:1arlvef0]Should any elected official either resign, be impeached or no longer be able to exercise their duties then the election commissioners shall call an election within 14 days for the vacated post.









[*:1arlvef0]This election shall follow the normal procedure of elections for the position in question.









[*:1arlvef0]The newly elected individual shall serve for the remainder of the existing term.





<strong class='bbc'>Section 9. Repeal</strong>[*:1arlvef0] This bill repeals the Election Commission Law







[*:1arlvef0] This bill repeals the Voting Law



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