Bills

This is bill id#1437 (this information has no legal importance and is technical in nature.

Hopper Thread

WHEREAS the Senäts elections alongside the 58th Cosă election clearly show the need for clear direction and consistency in how ties are broken in Ranked Choice Voting

BE IT ENACTED by the King, Cosă and Senäts in Ziu assembled that El Lexhatx B.14.7, which currently reads
 

14.7. If, after any iteration, there are two or more candidates with the fewest ballots assigned to them, the candidate with the fewest first preferences assigned to him shall be eliminated. If these candidates all have the same number of first preferences assigned to them, the candidate with the fewest second preferences assigned to him shall be eliminated, and so forth.

    14.7.1. If no such distinction can be made between these candidates because all have the same number of votes on every level of preference, the remaining iterations shall be conducted under multiple scenarios. Each scenario shall eliminate one of the tied candidates.

        14.7.1.1 If the different scenarios described by B.14.7.1. result in the same winner of the election overall, the winning candidate shall become the Senator.
        14.7.1.2 If the different scenarios described by B.14.7.1. result in different winners of the election overall, the result will be considered a tie between the winners of the different scenarios and will be resolved in accordance with Org.IV.6.

shall be amended in its entirety to read:
 

14.7. If, after any count, there are two or more candidates with the fewest ballots assigned to them, the candidate with the fewest ballots assigned to them after the previous count shall be eliminated. If the candidates were also tied after the previous count, the candidate with the fewest ballots assigned to them after the count before that shall be eliminated, and so on until one candidate is eliminated.

14.7.1. If no such distinction can be made between the tied candidates because all have the same number of ballots assigned to them after each count, preliminary subsequent counts shall be conducted under multiple scenarios. Each scenario shall eliminate one of the tied candidates.

        14.7.1.1 If the different scenarios described by B.14.7.1 result in the same winner of the election overall, that candidate shall be declared the winner.

        14.7.1.2 If the different scenarios described by B.14.7.1 result in different winners of the election overall, all of the originally tied candidates who would not win under any scenario shall be eliminated simultaneously, and subsequent counts shall proceed according to B.14.6. If all of the tied candidates would win under at least one scenario, the result shall be considered a tie between all candidates who would win under at least one scenario, and shall be resolved in accordance with the Organic Law.

This is bill id#1436 (this information has no legal importance and is technical in nature.

Hopper Thread

WHEREAS, the Standing Rules of the Senate have mostly been followed after their main proponent (me) stepped down from the role of chief enforcer; and

WHEREAS, this is good and makes me happy; and

WHEREAS, the Rules Committee has not even assembled since then; and

WHEREAS, it admittedly was my pet project, but pet projects shouldn't stand in the way of efficiency and streamlining, and they should be capable to stand on their own legs;

THEREFORE, El Lexhatx H.18, which currently reads

18. The Senate shall autonomously determine the rules of its proceedings. To this goal, the Mençei shall mantain a body of Standing Rules of the Senate.
    18.1 At the beginning of a new term, and optionally at any subsequent time during a term, the Senate shall consider a motion to estabilish a Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. Upon successful passage, any previously estabilished Committee shall disband and a new one be formed; upon failure, a Committee shall not be formed.
        18.1.1 Regardless, any previous iteration of the Committee shall disband at the beginning of a new term of the Senate, as defined by the publication by the Chancery and/or the respective provincial conducting officers of final results for all of the seats up for elections, or the beginning of a First Clark, whichever comes first.
        18.1.2 Upon disbandment, a Committee shall not be allowed to complete debate on any proposal, but shall be empowered to complete any voting that already was in progress by the time the disbandment was effective.
    18.2 The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration shall be formed by three Senators, appointed by the Mençei. The Senate shall be empowered to object to the appointments by passing a motion to suggest an alternate composition; successful passage shall override the Mençei's appointments with the Senate's suggestion.
    18.3 The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration shall be chaired by the Mençei, but unless him- or herself was appointed to the Commitee, the Mençei shall not be considered a member of the Committee.
    18.4 Any member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and the Mençei, shall be empowered to submit to the Committee proposals regarding the estabilishment of a new Standing Rule, or the amendment or deletion of any of the preexisting Standing Rules of the Senate. After due debate, the Committee shall vote on the proposal, and the proposal shall be considered to be adopted by majority vote. Unless he/she is a member of the Committee, the Mençei shall only vote to break a tie, in the event that at least one of the three members abstained or did not vote by the end of the allotted voting time.
    18.5 The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration's proceedings shall be public; and the Mençei shall not deny a Senator's request to speak and be heard in front of the Committee. Additionally, any Senator shall place a proposal for the Committee's consideration, and upon endorsement of the proposal by any member of the Committee, or the Mençei, said proposal shall be debated and voted on as described in 21.4.
    18.6 Any proposal that has been adopted by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration shall be referred to the whole Senate for approval. The Senate shall then vote to uphold the proposal by majority vote; upon successful passage, the proposal shall take effect. Should the Senate instead reject the proposal, it shall return to the Committee's consideration for amendments, or be discarded at the original proposer's discretion.
    18.7 No Standing Rule shall infringe on any Organic or Statutory provision, and Standing Rules shall be germane to the Senate's operations.
    18.8 The Senate shall be empowered to waive any Standing Rule for the remainder of the current term by majority vote, without consulting the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.
    18.9 At any time a vacancy in the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration arises, the Mençei shall be empowered to appoint another Senator to the empty seat. The Senate shall be empowered to object to the appointment by passing a motion to suggest an alternate Senator; successful passage shall override the Mençei's appointment with the Senate's suggestion.
            18.9.1 Should a Senator resign or be expelled from the Committee, resign, strike out or be expelled from the Senate, the member will still be empowered to cast his or her vote in any Committee votes that are currently open, but not any that are initiated after the notice of resignation or expulsion is published.
            18.9.2 Failure to stand for reelection to the Senate shall not impede a member of the Committee from taking part in any of the Committee's activities prior to disbandment as per 21.1.1 and 21.1.2.
            18.9.3 Failure of a member of the Committee who is standing for reelection to the Senate to win his race, according to any provisional results, shall not impede said member of the Committee from taking part in any of the Committee's activities prior to disbandment as per 21.1.1 and 21.1.2.
    18.10 At any time, due to inactivity, other impediments to normal activity or subsequently to an individual motion of censure, the Senate shall be empowered to remove any of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration's members, through a motion adopted by simple majority.

is repealed in full and replaced by the following:

18. The Senate shall autonomously determine the rules of its proceedings.
    18.1 To this goal, the Mençei shall mantain a body of Standing Rules of the Senate.
    18.2 The Senate may amend the Standing Rules at any time between the first day of a First Clark and the Cosă being dissolved, by a vote of a majority of Senators duly chosen and seated.
    18.3 No Standing Rule shall infringe on any Organic or Statutory provision, and Standing Rules shall be germane to the Senate's operations.
    18.4 The Senate may waive any Standing Rule for the remainder of the current term, by a vote of a majority of Senators duly chosen and seated.

This is bill id#1434 (this information has no legal importance and is technical in nature.

Hopper Thread

WHEREAS, many years ago, a misguided catchment reform bill attempted to put geographic coherence above any other parameter for provincial assignment; and

WHEREAS, this blatantly ignored years of provincial culture-building; and

WHEREAS, this didn't even have the balancing effect I hoped it would have; but

WHEREAS, this caused unnecessary grief to many people now caught in the catchment area of another province, and particularly to the Cjovani people of Benito; and

WHEREAS, Ohio is not Vuodean, it never was, and it's high time we rectified the blatant error besmirching our statute books; so

THEREFORE, Article 7.5 of Title E of El Lexhatx, which reads

7.5. BENITO PROVINCE. Talossan citizens living in the following areas shall be assigned to Benito Province: the Wisconsin counties of Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Jefferson, Marathon, Marquette, Portage, Waukesha, Waupaca, Waushara, Winnebago, and Wood. Internationally, Albania, Andorra, Austria, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, Vatican City.

is amended by inserting "; and the U.S. state of Ohio" after the word "Wood", to read:

7.5. BENITO PROVINCE. Talossan citizens living in the following areas shall be assigned to Benito Province: the Wisconsin counties of Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Jefferson, Marathon, Marquette, Portage, Waukesha, Waupaca, Waushara, Winnebago, and Wood; and the U.S. state of Ohio. Internationally, Albania, Andorra, Austria, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, Vatican City.

FURTHERMORE, Article 7.6 of Title E of El Lexhatx, which reads

7.6. VUODE PROVINCE. Talossan citizens living in the following areas shall be assigned to Vuode Province: the City of Milwaukee (WI) and all suburbs of Milwaukee, which lie to the north and east of the City of Milwaukee; and the U.S. states of Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania; and the Mexican States of Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Sinaloa, San Luis Potosi, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Queretero, and Zacatecas. Internationally, the nations of Algeria, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Tunisia, and Western Sahara.

is amended by removing the word "Ohio, ", to read:

7.6. VUODE PROVINCE. Talossan citizens living in the following areas shall be assigned to Vuode Province: the City of Milwaukee (WI) and all suburbs of Milwaukee, which lie to the north and east of the City of Milwaukee; and the U.S. states of Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania; and the Mexican States of Aguascalientes, Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, Sinaloa, San Luis Potosi, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Queretero, and Zacatecas. Internationally, the nations of Algeria, Chad, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Tunisia, and Western Sahara.

This is bill id#1435 (this information has no legal importance and is technical in nature.

Hopper Thread

WHEREAS, the process to elect a Túischac'h is essentially fine, but is worded weirdly; and

WHEREAS, there was a reason why it was worded this way, namely to use the device of the "petition" to let a headless Cosă organise itself and have the Chancery merely proclaim the results; and

WHEREAS, however, this may open the door to all sorts of recourses in case the procedure is not followed to the letter; and

WHEREAS, it may be desirable to reword the procedure to allow a little leeway in the actual way the election is conducted, while keeping the essence of the process unchanged; so

THEREFORE, El Lexhatx H.21, which currently reads:

21. The Cosa shall elect the Túischac'h as follows.
    21.1. At any time between the Election Deadline and the following Dissolution of the Cosa, any Member of the Cosa shall be empowered to publish and open for signatures a petition nominating an eligible person for the office of Túischac'h.
    21.2. Once a petition is published, any eligible Member of the Cosa shall be empowered to second the nomination by countersigning the petition in public.
    21.3. Members may not second multiple nominations concurrently; if a Member wishes to support a different petition, he/she shall first publicly retract the earlier countersignature.
    21.4. Following any number of petitions, presented as above and supporting the same candidate, being signed or counter-signed by members currently representing an absolute majority of seats in the Cosa, the candidate named in the petition(s) shall be declared by the Secretary of State to be the Túischac'h.
    21.5. Petitions may not be carried over from one vacancy in the office of Seneschal to Túischac'h. Once a Túischac'h is elected as above, all petitions shall be made moot.

is amended to read:

21. The Cosă shall elect the Túischac'h as follows.

21.1. Should the position of Túischac'h be vacant and a majority of Cosă seats be filled, any Member of the Cosă may either nominate one eligible person for the office of Túischac'h, or second such a nomination made by another Member of the Cosă.
21.2. Members of the Cosă may not nominate or second multiple different nominees.
21.3. Should the Secretary of State determine that an eligible person has been nominated and seconded by members currently representing an absolute majority of seats in the Cosă, the Secretary of State shall declare the person to be duly elected as Túischac'h, to serve until the Dissolution of the current Cosă.