[Proposal] Assembly Procedure Act

[Cormac]

I've looked at Sheepshape's suggestions and taken into account Roavin's suggestions, and I will be making the following revisions:

Assembly Procedure Act

I. Administration

(1) The Assembly will be administered according to all provisions mandated for the Assembly by Mandate 12 and according to the below procedures.

II. Legislative Procedures

(1) A minimum discussion period, beginning at the time a proposal is submitted, will be required before any proposal may be brought to vote.

a. Any proposal requiring a 50%+1 vote will be subject to a minimum discussion period of three days.
b. Any proposal requiring a two-thirds vote will be subject to a minimum discussion period of five days.
c. Any proposal requiring a three-quarters vote will be subject to a minimum discussion period of seven days.

(1) A minimum discussion period of three days is required before any proposal may be brought to vote. The Speaker is not required to open a vote if they determine that the proposal has not had sufficient discussion, but they may not delay opening a vote for more than seven days from when the motion to vote on the proposal was seconded.

(2) In order for a proposal to be brought to vote, a citizen eligible to vote on that proposal must make a motion to vote, and another such citizen must second the motion. A motion to vote may only be made by the initial author of a proposal unless the initial author is no longer a citizen or has not posted on the off-site regional forum for more than seven days without posting a leave of absence.

(3) Only the Delegate may introduce a proposal to enact, amend, or repeal a treaty or declaration of war, and only the Delegate may make a motion to vote on such a proposal.

(4) After a motion to vote has been made and seconded in accordance with procedure, the Assembly Speaker may delay a vote for up to seven additional days to allow for more discussion.

(5) (4) In the event that there are multiple competing proposals regarding the same matter in the judgment of the Assembly Speaker, the Assembly Speaker will simultaneously bring such proposals to vote, and the proposal receiving the most votes in favor will become law provided it has achieved the threshold needed to pass.

(6) (5) All votes will take place for three five days. Citizens eligible to vote may vote "Aye," "Nay," or "Abstain,." or votes of clearly similar intent in the judgment of the Assembly Speaker. Voters may not post any other content in a voting thread or embellish the format of their vote in any way, and votes that include additional content or embellishment will be discarded and split from the voting thread.

(7) (6) Voters may cast their votes either via forum poll or via votes cast by posting in each voting thread. The identities of voters will be made publicly visible in forum polls.

(8) (7) The Assembly Speaker will determine which discussions will take place publicly and which will take place privately, and may accordingly move discussions to and from the Assembly's private forum, except that the Delegate may determine whether proposals to enact, amend, or repeal treaties will be public or private. All votes will be conducted in public.

III. Deputies to the Assembly Speaker

(1) The Assembly Speaker may appoint deputies to assist in presiding over the Assembly according to its procedural rules. Appointment of such deputies a deputy will be subject to confirmation by 50%+1 vote of the Assembly if the deputy-designate has previously been removed from office by the Assembly.

(2) Deputies to the Assembly Speaker will serve until resignation, removal from office by the Assembly or the Assembly Speaker, or automatic removal from office as defined by Mandate 12.

(3) Any powers or responsibilities assigned to the Assembly Speaker by these procedures, Mandate 12, or any other law, unless explicitly directed otherwise, may be delegated by the Assembly Speaker to their deputy or deputies, and rescinded by the Assembly Speaker. Deputies will not have the power to appoint or remove other deputies.

IV. Legislative Formatting

(1) Unless otherwise noted, legislation brought to vote in the Assembly will be formatted as follows:
 

Example Title

I. Example Article Title

(1) This is an example of a section.

(2) This is an example of another section.

a. This is an example of a subsection.
b. This is an example of another subsection.

(2) Unless otherwise noted, all amendments brought to vote in the Assembly will be formatted as legislation, and the amendments therein will be formatted as follows:

(1) This is an example of text that is not amended. This is an example of text that is stricken. This is an example of text that is added.

(2) Unless otherwise noted, all amendments brought to vote in the Assembly will be formatted as legislation, and the amendments therein will be marked up so as to clearly delineate the changes being made.

(3) Only general laws and constitutional laws will be subject to formatting for legislation, but all amendments will be subject to formatting for amendments mark-up.

(4) The Assembly Speaker will reformat proposals that are not properly formatted prior to bringing them to vote.

(4) The Assembly Speaker will not open a vote on a proposal that has not been properly formatted and/or marked up in the judgment of the Assembly Speaker, and no motion to vote on such an unconforming bill will be recognized, until the proposal has been properly formatted and/or marked up.