Regional Assembly Rules and Procedures

[Abstain]

Policies and Procedures of the Regional Assembly:

• Regional Assembly Procedures - As adopted by the Regional Assembly on the dates listed after each rule.
• Proposal and Voting Policy - As maintained by the Speaker's Office.

Spoiler: Archived Material: The following policies are outdated, vacated, or otherwise NOT in effect. They are provided for archival purposes.

• The Voting Rights of the Speaker - As posted by Kingborough on November 5, 2012.[/s] [Vacated by General COE]
• Elections and Law 28 Activity Requirements - As posted by Grosseschnauzer on Feb 28, 2012[/s] [Vacated by new legal code]
• Powers of the Speaker Pro Tempore - As posted by Grosseschnauzer on Feb 28, 2012[/s] [Vacated by new legal code]
• RA Voting Procedure - as posted by Limi on March 27, 2012[/s] [Revised by this post.]
• Duties and Abilities of the Speaker - As posted by A mean old man on Oct 2, 2011[/s] [Outdated]
• Voting Rights of the Speaker - As posted by Grosseschnauzer on Mar 25, 2009.[/s] [Revised by this post.]
• The RA Forums - As posted by Grosseschnauzer on Feb 3, 2009 and updated by Grosseschnauzer on Feb 28, 2012 [Outdated]

 

[Grosseschnauzer]

For temporary reference, here is the new Section 5 of Article II of the Constitution, on voting procedures in the Regional Assembly:

Section 5: Regional Assembly Voting

1. A quorum is the minimum number of members of the Assembly required to participate through voting on all matters except elections and procedural motions. A quorum is defined as thirty per cent of the membership of the Assembly as it stands at the time a vote is taken in the Assembly.
2. Abstentions are used to signify a member's participation in a vote, but shall not be included in determining any election or any other matter voted upon by the Regional Assembly other than to determine the participation of a quorum.
3. A simple majority vote is a vote in which a majority of those voting for or against a measure vote for it.
4. A fractional majority vote is a vote in which at least that fraction of those voting for or against a measure vote for it. Fractions which may be invoked include two-thirds, three-fifths, and three-fourths.
5. Except as otherwise adopted by the Assembly as a Law or Procedure, voting in all matters shall last for seven days.

 

[Kingborough]

I feel that past policy on the rights of the Speaker are crippling to the Speaker and deny him or her the right to express their opinion, nor do they serve any functional purpose or have any legal standpoint (and in fact in some ways may be interpreted as violating the bill of rights, restricting a member from exercising their vote). Therefore I am repealing the previous traditions of the Speaker's to only vote "abstain" on matters in the Regional Assembly, and I feel it is best to inform the RA of this change.

From here on ought the Speaker shall vote as follows;

The Speaker shall vote however he or she wishes too just as any other member of the Regional Assembly.

 

[Crushing Our Enemies]

I am vacating Kingborough's policy on the voting rights of the speaker, as I consider it unnecessary. In the absence of any speaker-made policy on Speaker voting rights, the Speaker may vote any which way he pleases. We don't need a speaker-made policy to tell us what the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and RA policy already make plain.

That being said, I still intend to abstain when I vote on proposals, as that is my personal choice, and my campaign promise.