[Proposal] Lazarene Elections Act

[New Rogernomics]

Lazarene Elections Act

Proposed by:Additional credit to: Elections Act (Humane Republic of Lazarus and Celestial Union)​

Preamble

This act will set forth the general procedure for holding elections within Lazarus.

Section 1. The Timing of Elections

(1) General Elections shall be held 15 days prior to the end of term for an elected office.

(2) General Elections shall last for a duration of fifteen (15) days.

(3) Special Elections shall be held as soon as reasonably possible once a vacancy in an elected office appears.

(4) Special Elections shall last for a duration of eight (8) days.

Section 2. The Composition of ElectionsSection 3. The Conduct of Elections

(1) The Assembly Speaker may officiate the election.

(2) The Delegate may appoint an officiator for the election if the Assembly Speaker declines to officiate the election.

Section 4. Voting PeriodSection 5. Majority Instant-Run Off Voting

(1) Voters shall have as many voting choices as there are candidates in a majority instant-run-off election.

(1) Voters shall rank any number of candidates they choose and abstinence in order of preference.

(2) During each round, each voter shall have voted for the option they put highest in order of preference that still remains.

(3) Between each round, the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated.

(4) Rounds shall recur until:

a. a candidate has a majority of votes, in which case they will have won.
b. a majority of votes are to abstain, in which case the officiator will open nominations for a special election.

(5) Voting shall continue till a candidate receives the majority of votes as required by law for that elected position, unless a candidate:

a. Ceases to be a citizen of Lazarus and is thus determined illegible to run.
b. Rescinds their candidacy.

(6) If a candidate in an election is determined is illegible to run, the election officiator shall redistribute the votes of the illegible candidate, according to the ranked choices of voters, and continue the election.

General Notes:

• It is up to debate whether we want to exclude votes of citizens who join within an election cycle, so I have left that in above for us to discuss.
• There is also a provision to allow the court to decide whether a citizen on trial for a severe offense like treason or espionage, should be allowed an exclusion to vote.
• We probably want to also discuss what we want 'irreconcilable conflict of interest' to mean, as so far I have just put down standing for a position i.e. like if the Assembly Speaker decided to run for PM.
• Also I put the Delegate down as an option to select someone to officiate.

This is an example of the majority instant run-off voting method in practice:

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Edit (11/27/2019):

Spoiler

- Removed the example from the act and put it in the notes.

Section 5. Majority Instant-Run Off Voting

(1) Voters shall have as many voting choices as there are candidates in a majority instant-run-off election.

(2) Each simulated round of voting shall eliminate the least qualified candidate:

a. For the purposes of this Act, "simulated round" shall mean each round of voting according to the ranked choice of voters.
b. For the purposes of this Act, "least qualified candidate" shall mean the candidate that has the least number of votes.

(3) During each round of voting, the votes of the least qualified candidate shall be redistributed according to the ranked choice of voters.

(4) Simulated rounds of voting shall continue till a candidate receives the majority of votes as required by law for that elected position, unless a candidate:

a. Ceases to be a citizen of Lazarus and is thus determined illegible to run.
b. Rescinds their candidacy and is thus determined illegible to run.
c. Is excluded from an election by court judgement or ruling and is thus determined illegible to run.

(5) If a candidate in an election is determined is illegible to run, the election officiator may choose to:

a. Redistribute the votes of the illegible candidate according to the ranked choices of voters, and continue the election.
b. Re-open nominations and commence a new election, if they feel it is necessary for the fairness of the vote.

(2) If no candidate receives a majority of votes, as is determined by law for the elected position:

 

[Deleted1]

Can we make voting 5 days instead of 4? People should be given plenty of opportunity to vote.

 

[New Rogernomics]

Can we make voting 5 days instead of 4? People should be given plenty of opportunity to vote.

Increased it by a day on both elections.

 

[Roavin]

• You have a numbering error in the sections (3, 3, 4 etc.)
• I would refrain from mentioning how long the periods are in any of the sections after section 2, because then that would be an inconsistency in case of a special election as written

 

[New Rogernomics]

This is the draft and not the proposal Roavin.

Link: https://www.nslazarus.com/showthread.php?tid=1076

Check the proposal thread for the final version that has been put forward for vote.

Election periods worked well without issue through many past regimes of Lazarus, so I have no reason to change that.

That said, check the proposal thread, as that ups voting time among other things.

Edit: Oh. Get what you mean now. Will edit the proposal.