Revising RA Registration Procedures

For the last several terms of office, prior to the current term, there have been problems with the responsibility of the Ministry of Immigration and Internal Affairs in the ongoing verification of the eligibility of Regional Assembly members. I greatly appreciate the efforts our current Minister of Immigration and Internal Affair, Former English Colony, has made to clear out the extensive numbers of those who no longer meet the qualifications to serve in the Regional Assembly. However, there is a systemic problem that needs to be addressed.

While some occupants of the MIIA's office have promptly and skillfully addressed the responsibilities entrusted to that office; at other times, there have been serious problems for the Regional Assembly, the Court, and the regional government as a whole that could be traced to the failure of an incumbent MIIA to discharge this responsibility entrusted to them to ensure that all members of the Regional Assembly retained their eligibility to participate in the Assembly, vote in elections, serve in the North Pacific Army, serve as jurors, or be a member of the diplomatic corps.

In addition, some of the Constitutional language has resulted in misunderstanding of the circumstances under which an ineligible party could be removed from the Regional Assembly where the facts show that eligibility no longer exists. Likewise, some have also misconstrued the role that the Prime Minister is already clearly permitted to play in the registration and verification process for Regional Assembly membership.

Some changes are needed in the language of the Constitution to remediate this problem. I am introducing a proposal for a Constitutional Amendment that will clarify the language, and permit the Court and the Speaker of the Regional Assembly to share in the responsibility for the system. With this modification, all three branches of the regional government will have the ability to ensure that a accurate and timely roll of the Regional Assembly's membership is always available, and reduce the risk of delay because of the presence of names of those who no longer are eligible to legislate, to vote, to serve in our juries, military and diplomatic corps, or fulfill the other responsibility of citizenship in The North Pacific.
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A Proposal for a Constitutional Amendment concerning the registration process for Regional Assembly membership.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE NATIONS OF THE NORTH PACIFIC, that Section 2 of Article II of the Constitution be amended to read as follows such amendment to take effect upon ratification under Article VII of the Constitution;

Section 2. Registration.

In the interest of Regional security, member Nations shall be required to register prior to participation or voting in with the Regional Assembly prior to voting in Regional elections or referenda, as prescribed by the following procedures:

1) As used in this Section, or elsewhere in reference to this Section, “registration officials” refers to The Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Regional Assembly, the Court of the North Pacific, the Regional off-site forum administrators, and any other officials of the Regional Government deemed necessary to the registration and continuous eligibility procedures in this Section.

2) 1) The registration officials Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs shall oversee the process of registration, aided by the Prime Minister and the Regional off-site forum administrators and any other support personnel of the Regional Government deemed necessary are empowered to conduct investigations and make inquiries deemed necessary for the continuing enforcement of the member eligibility and other requirements for the Regional Assembly of The North Pacific voter registration provisions outlined as provided in this Constitution, The North Pacific Legal Code, or other laws enacted pursuant to this Constitution.

2) 3) Nations that reside in The North Pacific and who agree to abide by the member Nation requirements outlined in Article II, Section 1, of this Constitution will request Regional Assembly membership at the Regional off-site forum by posting a request in a thread for that exclusive purpose, created by the Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs.

3) 4) In their request, Nations will be required to post a link to their TNP member Nation and their UN member Nation at NationStates.net, and in doing so, verify that they have taken the following oath:

"I, (Forum Name), as the leader of the (Official Full National Name), pledge to obey the Constitution and Laws of The North Pacific Region, and to act as a responsible member of its society.  I understand that if my Nation leaves The North Pacific region for reasons other than participation in North Pacific Army deployments that I may be stripped of my right to vote and required to reapply.  I pledge to only register one Nation to vote in The North Pacific.  I understand that my registration of, or attempt to register, multiple Nations to vote in The North Pacific shall warrant the summary withdrawal of my right to vote from all my Nations, past, present, and future, as well as possible expulsion from the Region. I understand that if any nation under my control directly wages war against the North Pacific, or allies themselves with a region waging war, declared or not, against the North Pacific, this shall warrant the summary withdrawal of my right to vote from all my Nations, past, present, and future, as well as possible expulsion from the Region. In this manner, I petition the Regional Government of The North Pacific region for membership in the Regional Assembly."

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4) The Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs, the Prime Minister, the Regional off-site forum administrators, and any other support personnel of the Regional Government deemed necessary are empowered to conduct investigations and make inquiries deemed necessary for the enforcement of The North Pacific voter registration provisions outlined in this Constitution, The North Pacific Legal Code, or other laws enacted pursuant to this Constitution.

5) A member Nation must immediately inform the registration officials of any changes as to the identity of its Nation residing in The North Pacific or its UN member nation in the Nationstates United Nations.

5) 6) Once any investigations or inquiries are completed, the registration officials The Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs shall expeditiously process each such registration request, and shall place any Nation accepted as a member of the Regional Assembly in a public listing of current members maintained for that purpose at the Regional off-site forum.

6) 7) At any time, should sufficient evidence be brought to the Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs or other registration officials that proves that a Regional Assembly Member fails to meet the requirements for membership due to the deletion of a Nation from NationStates through inactivity or NationStates Moderator intervention for any reason, that Nation's name may be purged from the list of members. Should a Nation, whose membership has been purged, later be found to have been resurrected in NationStates, or that the Nation become a member of the Region once again, they may re-apply for voting rights membership

according to the procedures in the preceding clauses of this Section. The act of expulsion or banning of a Nation from the Region on other grounds prior to a trial or a referendum does not affect its status as a member until and unless a final judgment is entered in a judicial proceeding or a final certification is entered in a referendum, whichever is applicable to the given situation. The North Pacific Legal Code may provide authority to the registration officials Minister of Immigration and Internal Affairs for the periodic purging of the names of member who are no longer eligible to vote in the Region be members of the Regional Assembly, upon due notice because they no longer meet the membership requirements of this Section.

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I like it, good work.

Unless I'm just being dense (in which case ignore me), but it now refers to registration officials without then defining what/who registration officials are.

Look at numbered clause 1) which is both bolded and in blue it's the definition you're looking for.

and any other necessary officials of the Regional Government deemed necessary to the registration and continuous eligibility procedures in this Section.

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the necessary is redundant...could it read and other officials of the regional government deemed necessary.....

taken care of.

Very good. I like!

Just a quick note that as the oath amendment has passed the RA, I'll update the oath in this proposal once a majority of the Cabinet has signified its approval of that amendment,

Any other issues, or is this ready for formal discussion?

so the burden of registration is on us? If we have to switch?

5) A member Nation must immediately inform the registration officials of any changes as to the identity of its Nation residing in The North Pacific or its UN member nation in the Nationstates United Nations.

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Is changing our signatures enough? Maybe we should be specific that way we don't shoot ourselves in our collective foot.

From the time the registration requirement was first adopted in the first Constitutional revision almost two years ago, the obligation to promptly advise the MIIA about changes in one's TNP or UN nation has existed.

The failure of players to do so has been one of the systemic problems in the system, as the failure to provide a current TNP and/or UN nation means that otherwise qualified players appear to be disqualified.

Since more than just the MIIA are going to be responsible for eligibility verification under this amendment, and since the Regional Assembly list needs to be current on a continuous basis, prompt notification remains necessary.

In past terms of office, the MIIA permitted changes to be posted in the same thread as new applications; and a nation/player involved with military or intelligence activities has always been able to provide notification privately through the responsible military or intelligence officials. The use of the word "immediate," therefore, is not really a change from the current process; it is just more clearly stated.

The text of the proposal has been updated to reflect the amendment to the oath that has now been approved by the Regional Assembly and the Cabinet.