1. All occurences of "citizen" and "citizens" in the Constitution of The North Pacific and the Codified Law of The North Pacific are hereby replaced by "resident" and "residents", respectively.
2. All occurences of "membership in the Regional Assembly" in the Constitution of The North Pacific and the Codified Law of The North Pacific are hereby replaced by "citizenship".
3. All occurences of "Regional Assembly member" and "Regional Assembly members" in the Constitution of The North Pacific and the Codified Law of The North Pacific are hereby replaced by "citizen" and "citizens", respectively.
4. Article 2 of the Constitution of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
Article 2. Citizenship and The Regional Assembly
1. Resident means any person with a nation in the region of The North Pacific.
2. The Regional Assembly will consist of all citizens.
3. Requirements for citizenship will be determined by law.
4. The Regional Assembly may enact, amend or repeal laws by a majority vote.
5. The Regional Assembly may remove a government official from office by a two-thirds majority vote.
6. The number of votes required to achieve quorum for any vote of the Regional Assembly except elections will be determined by law.
7. The Regional Assembly will elect a Speaker every four months by a plurality vote.
8. The Speaker will administer the rules of the Regional Assembly. Where no rules exist, the Speaker may use their discretion.
9. Abstentions cast in the Regional Assembly will not be used to determine the result of any vote, but may be used for quorum and all other purposes.
10. The Speaker may appoint deputies to assist them in the execution of any of their powers and duties. Appointment of deputies may be regulated by law and the rules of the Regional Assembly.
5. Chapter 6, Section 6.1 of the Codified Law of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
Section 6.1: Citizenship
Any resident may apply for citizenship using their regional forum account, by providing the name of their nation in The North Pacific, and swearing an oath as follows:
I, the leader of The North Pacific nation of [INSERT YOUR TNP NATION], pledge loyalty to The North Pacific, obedience to her laws, and responsible action as a member of her society. I pledge to only register one nation to vote in The North Pacific. I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. I understand that if I break this oath I may permanently lose my voting privileges. In this manner, I petition the Speaker for citizenship in The North Pacific.
A copy of the laws applicants are pledging to obey must be available to them at all times.
An application for citizenship ceases to be valid if at any time the applicant's declared nation in The North Pacific is not located in The North Pacific.
Forum administration will have 14 days to evaluate citizenship applicants and verify that they are not using a proxy or evading a judicially-imposed penalty. The Vice Delegate will have 3 days to perform a security assessment of the applicant. All security assessments will be performed in consultation with the Security Council, and in accordance with all laws of The North Pacific.
The Speaker will reject applicants who fail an evaluation by either forum administration or the Vice Delegate.
If an applicant is rejected for failing an evaluation by the Vice Delegate, the Regional Assembly will immediately hold a majority vote on whether to uphold the rejection.
The Regional Assembly may overturn a previous decision to uphold the rejection of an applicant by majority vote.
The Speaker will accept all other applicants with valid applications.
The Speaker will process applications within 14 days. If an applicant has not been approved or rejected within that time, they will be automatically granted citizenship.
A citizen's vote will not be valid unless they maintain citizenship for the entire duration of the vote.
The Speaker will maintain a publicly viewable roster of citizens.
The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens whose removal is ordered by the Court, or whose nation in The North Pacific leaves or ceases to exist.
The Speaker's office will promptly remove any citizens who fail to post in The North Pacific forum for over 30 consecutive days.
Citizens that have submitted a notice of absence, in accordance with any regulations set by the Speaker, shall be exempt from the provisions of the above clause for the stated duration of their absence.
The number of votes required to achieve quorum for any legislative vote is equal to one third the number of those citizens who have voted in a legislative vote at least once in the last 20 consecutive days or have not missed more than three consecutive legislative votes, as determined by the time the votes closed. A legislative vote is a vote of the Regional Assembly to enact, amend or repeal laws.
6. Everyone who immediately before this bill takes effect was a Regional Assembly member will be considered a citizen once the bill takes efect.
7. Everyone who immediately before this bill takes effect had had an application for Regional Assembly membership rejected for failing an evaluation by the Vice Delegate and had had the rejection upheld by the Regional Assembly, will be considered once the bill takes efect to have had an application for citizenship rejected for failing an evaluation by the Vice Delegate and have had the rejection upheld by the Regional Assembly.
8. No part of this bill shall take effect unless all parts take effect.
Democracy and Citizenship Bill
1. All occurences of "citizen" and "citizens" in the Constitution of The North Pacific and the Codified Law of The North Pacific are hereby replaced by "resident" and "residents", respectively.
2. All occurences of "membership in the Regional Assembly" in the Constitution of The North Pacific and the Codified Law of The North Pacific are hereby replaced by "citizenship".
3. All occurences of "Regional Assembly member" and "Regional Assembly members" in the Constitution of The North Pacific and the Codified Law of The North Pacific are hereby replaced by "citizen" and "citizens", respectively.
4. Article 2 of the Constitution of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
Article 2. Citizenship and The Regional Assembly
1. Resident means any person with a nation in the region of The North Pacific.
2. Registered resident means any resident who is present on the Regional Forum.
3. Requirements for citizenship will be determined by law.
4. The Regional Assembly will consist of all citizens.
5. The Regional Assembly may enact, amend or repeal laws by a majority vote.
6. The Regional Assembly may remove a government official from office by a two-thirds majority vote.
7. The number of votes required to achieve quorum for any vote of the Regional Assembly except elections will be determined by law.
8. The Regional Assembly will elect a Speaker every four months by a plurality vote.
9. The Speaker will administer the rules of the Regional Assembly. Where no rules exist, the Speaker may use their discretion.
10. Abstentions cast in the Regional Assembly will not be used to determine the result of any vote, but may be used for quorum and all other purposes.
11. The Speaker may appoint deputies to assist them in the execution of any of their powers and duties. Appointment of deputies may be regulated by law and the rules of the Regional Assembly.
5. Chapter 6, Section 6.1 of the Codified Law of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
Section 6.1: Citizenship
Any registered resident may apply for citizenship, using their regional forum account, by providing the name of their nation in The North Pacific, and swearing an oath as follows:
I, the leader of The North Pacific nation of [INSERT YOUR TNP NATION], pledge loyalty to The North Pacific, obedience to her laws, and responsible action as a member of her society. I pledge to only register one nation to vote in The North Pacific. I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. I understand that if I break this oath I may permanently lose my voting privileges. In this manner, I petition the Speaker for citizenship in The North Pacific.
A copy of the laws applicants are pledging to obey must be available to them at all times.
An application for citizenship ceases to be valid if at any time the applicant's declared nation in The North Pacific is not located in The North Pacific.
Forum administration will have 14 days to evaluate citizenship applicants and verify that they are not using a proxy or evading a judicially-imposed penalty. The Vice Delegate will have 3 days to perform a security assessment of the applicant. All security assessments will be performed in consultation with the Security Council, and in accordance with all laws of The North Pacific.
The Speaker will reject applicants who fail an evaluation by either forum administration or the Vice Delegate.
If an applicant is rejected for failing an evaluation by the Vice Delegate, the Regional Assembly will immediately hold a majority vote on whether to uphold the rejection.
The Regional Assembly may overturn a previous decision to uphold the rejection of an applicant by majority vote.
The Speaker will accept all other applicants with valid applications.
The Speaker will process applications within 14 days. If an applicant has not been approved or rejected within that time, they will be automatically granted citizenship.
A citizen's vote will not be valid unless they maintain citizenship for the entire duration of the vote.
The Speaker will maintain a publicly viewable roster of citizens.
The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens whose removal is ordered by the Court, or whose nation in The North Pacific leaves or ceases to exist.
The Speaker's office will promptly remove any citizens who fail to post in The North Pacific forum for over 30 consecutive days.
Citizens that have submitted a notice of absence, in accordance with any regulations set by the Speaker, shall be exempt from the provisions of the above clause for the stated duration of their absence.
The number of votes required to achieve quorum for any legislative vote is equal to one third the number of those citizens who have voted in a legislative vote at least once in the last 20 consecutive days or have not missed more than three consecutive legislative votes, as determined by the time the votes closed. A legislative vote is a vote of the Regional Assembly to enact, amend or repeal laws.
6. Everyone who immediately before this bill takes effect was a Regional Assembly member will be considered a citizen once the bill takes efect.
7. Everyone who immediately before this bill takes effect had had an application for Regional Assembly membership rejected for failing an evaluation by the Vice Delegate and had had the rejection upheld by the Regional Assembly, will be considered once the bill takes efect to have had an application for citizenship rejected for failing an evaluation by the Vice Delegate and have had the rejection upheld by the Regional Assembly.
8. No part of this bill shall take effect unless all parts take effect.
Democracy and Citizenship Bill
1. All occurences of "citizen" and "citizens" in the Constitution of The North Pacific and the Codified Law of The North Pacific are hereby replaced by "resident" and "residents", respectively.
2. All occurences of "membership in the Regional Assembly" in the Constitution of The North Pacific and the Codified Law of The North Pacific are hereby replaced by "citizenship".
3. All occurences of "Regional Assembly member" and "Regional Assembly members" in the Constitution of The North Pacific and the Codified Law of The North Pacific are hereby replaced by "citizen" and "citizens", respectively.
4. Article 2 of the Constitution of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
Article 2. Citizenship and The Regional Assembly
1. Resident means any person with a nation in the region of The North Pacific.
2. Registered resident means any resident who is present on the Regional Forum.
3. Requirements for citizenship will be determined by law.
4. The Regional Assembly will consist of all citizens.
5. The Regional Assembly may enact, amend or repeal laws by a majority vote.
6. The Regional Assembly may remove a government official from office by a two-thirds majority vote.
7. The number of votes required to achieve quorum for any vote of the Regional Assembly except elections will be equal to one third the number of Regional Assembly participants.
8. The Regional Assembly will elect a Speaker every four months by a plurality vote.
9. The Speaker will administer the rules of the Regional Assembly. Where no rules exist, the Speaker may use their discretion.
10. Abstentions cast in the Regional Assembly will not be used to determine the result of any vote, but may be used for quorum and all other purposes.
11. The Speaker may appoint deputies to assist them in the execution of any of their powers and duties. Appointment of deputies may be regulated by law and the rules of the Regional Assembly.
5. Chapter 6, Section 6.1 of the Codified Law of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
Section 6.1: Citizenship
Any registered resident may apply for citizenship, using their regional forum account, by providing the name of their nation in The North Pacific, and swearing an oath as follows:
I, the leader of The North Pacific nation of [INSERT YOUR TNP NATION], pledge loyalty to The North Pacific, obedience to her laws, and responsible action as a member of her society. I pledge to only register one nation to vote in The North Pacific. I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. I understand that if I break this oath I may permanently lose my voting privileges. In this manner, I petition the Speaker for citizenship in The North Pacific.
A copy of the laws applicants are pledging to obey must be available to them at all times.
An application for citizenship ceases to be valid if at any time the applicant's declared nation in The North Pacific is not located in The North Pacific.
Forum administration will have 14 days to evaluate citizenship applicants and verify that they are not using a proxy or evading a judicially-imposed penalty. The Vice Delegate will have 3 days to perform a security assessment of the applicant. All security assessments will be performed in consultation with the Security Council, and in accordance with all laws of The North Pacific.
The Speaker will reject applicants who fail an evaluation by either forum administration or the Vice Delegate.
If an applicant is rejected for failing an evaluation by the Vice Delegate, the Regional Assembly will immediately hold a majority vote on whether to uphold the rejection.
The Regional Assembly may overturn a previous decision to uphold the rejection of an applicant by majority vote.
The Speaker will accept all other applicants with valid applications.
The Speaker will process applications within 14 days. If an applicant has not been approved or rejected within that time, they will be automatically granted citizenship.
A citizen's vote will not be valid unless they maintain citizenship for the entire duration of the vote.
The Speaker will maintain a publicly viewable roster of citizens.
The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens whose removal is ordered by the Court, or whose nation in The North Pacific leaves or ceases to exist.
The Speaker's office will promptly remove any citizens who fail to post in The North Pacific forum for over 30 consecutive days.
Citizens that have submitted a notice of absence, in accordance with any regulations set by the Speaker, shall be exempt from the provisions of the above clause for the stated duration of their absence.
Regional Assembly participants will be those citizens who have voted at least once in the last 20 consecutive days or have not missed more than three consecutive Regional Assembly votes to enact, amend or repeal laws, as determined by the time they closed.
6. Everyone who immediately before this bill takes effect was a Regional Assembly member will be considered a citizen once the bill takes efect.
7. Everyone who immediately before this bill takes effect had had an application for Regional Assembly membership rejected for failing an evaluation by the Vice Delegate and had had the rejection upheld by the Regional Assembly, will be considered once the bill takes efect to have had an application for citizenship rejected for failing an evaluation by the Vice Delegate and have had the rejection upheld by the Regional Assembly.
8. No part of this bill shall take effect unless all parts take effect.
Citizenship Bill
1. Article 2 of the Constitution of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
Article 2. Citizenship and The Regional Assembly
1. Resident means any person with a nation in the region of The North Pacific.
2. Registered resident means any resident who is present on the Regional Forum.
3. Requirements for citizenship will be determined by law.
4. The Regional Assembly will consist of citizens.
5. The Regional Assembly may enact, amend or repeal laws by a majority vote.
6. The Regional Assembly may remove a government official from office by a two-thirds majority vote.
7. The number of votes required to achieve quorum for any vote of the Regional Assembly except elections will be equal to one third the number of legislatively active citizens.
8. The Regional Assembly will elect a Speaker every four months by a plurality vote.
9. The Speaker will administer the rules of the Regional Assembly. Where no rules exist, the Speaker may use their discretion.
10. Abstentions cast in the Regional Assembly will not be used to determine the result of any vote, but may be used for quorum and all other purposes.
11. The Speaker may appoint deputies to assist them in the execution of any of their powers and duties. Appointment of deputies may be regulated by law and the rules of the Regional Assembly.
3. Article 7, Clause 10 of the Constitution of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
10. Candidates in any election must maintain citizenship for the fifteen days immediately preceding the opening of candidacy declarations and throughout the election.
4. Chapter 3, Section 3.1, Clause 3 of the Codified Law of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
In the event that a Chief Justice has not been elected by seven days after the conclusion of a Judicial election, including the conclusion of any required run-off votes, the Chief Justice shall be the Justice who received the highest number of votes in said election. In the event of a tie for highest number of votes, the Chief Justice shall be the one among those tied with the longest period of citizenship.
5. Chapter 4, Section 4.2, Clause 4 of the Codified Law of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
"Candidates" are those citizens who, during the period of the Election Cycle designated for candidacy declarations, declare themselves or accept a nomination by another citizen as a candidate for an office to be chosen at that Election Cycle.
7. Chapter 4, Section 4.4, Clause 16 of the Codified Law of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
A minimum of two Election Commissioners will be appointed by the Delegate to oversee the candidacy declaration and election processes at least one week before the beginning of the month in which the election is to be held. If an appointment of Election Commissioners has not been made by that time, the Vice Delegate shall promptly make the appointment. Citizens serving as government officials are not excluded from appointments under this clause.
8. Chapter 6, Section 6.1 of the Codified Law of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
Section 6.1: Citizenship
Any registered resident may apply for citizenship, using their regional forum account, by providing the name of their nation in The North Pacific, and swearing an oath as follows:
I, the leader of The North Pacific nation of [INSERT YOUR TNP NATION], pledge loyalty to The North Pacific, obedience to her laws, and responsible action as a member of her society. I pledge to only register one nation to vote in The North Pacific. I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. I understand that if I break this oath I may permanently lose my voting privileges. In this manner, I petition the Speaker for citizenship in The North Pacific.
A copy of the laws applicants are pledging to obey must be available to them at all times.
An application for citizenship ceases to be valid if at any time the applicant's declared nation in The North Pacific is not located in The North Pacific.
Forum administration will have 14 days to evaluate citizenship applicants and verify that they are not using a proxy or evading a judicially-imposed penalty. The Vice Delegate will have 3 days to perform a security assessment of the applicant. All security assessments will be performed in consultation with the Security Council, and in accordance with all laws of The North Pacific.
The Speaker will reject applicants who fail an evaluation by either forum administration or the Vice Delegate.
If an applicant is rejected for failing an evaluation by the Vice Delegate, the Regional Assembly will immediately hold a majority vote on whether to uphold the rejection.
The Regional Assembly may overturn a previous decision to uphold the rejection of an applicant by majority vote.
The Speaker will accept all other applicants with valid applications.
The Speaker will process applications within 14 days. If an applicant has not been approved or rejected within that time, they will be automatically granted citizenship.
A citizen's vote will not be valid unless they maintain citizenship for the entire duration of the vote.
The Speaker will maintain a publicly viewable roster of citizens.
The Speaker will promptly remove any citizens whose removal is ordered by the Court, or whose nation in The North Pacific leaves or ceases to exist.
The Speaker's office will promptly remove any citizens who fail to post in The North Pacific forum for over 30 consecutive days.
Citizens that have submitted a notice of absence, in accordance with any regulations set by the Speaker, shall be exempt from the provisions of the above clause for the stated duration of their absence.
Legislatively active citizens are those citizens who have voted at least once in the last 20 consecutive days or have not missed more than three consecutive Regional Assembly votes to enact, amend or repeal laws, as determined by the time they closed.
10. Chapter 6, Section 6.8, Clause 50 of the Codified Law of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
50. During an outbreak, no nation may have their status as a resident or citizen removed solely for leaving the region, so long as they return within three days of the end of the emergency.
11. Chapter 6, Section 6.8, Clause 51 of the Codified Law of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
51. Following an outbreak, the Speaker must promptly contact any resident or citizen who remains outside the region, and inform them that they are at risk of losing their status if they do not return within three days.
I highlight below in BBcode the changes effected by this bill. Citizenship Bill
1. Article 2 of the Constitution of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
Article 2. Citizenship and The Regional Assembly
1. Resident means any person with a nation in the region of The North Pacific.
2. Registered resident means any resident who is present on the Regional Forum.
3. Requirements for membership in the Regional Assemblycitizenship will be determined by law. 2. The Regional Assembly will consist of all citizens.
4. The Regional Assembly may enact, amend or repeal laws by a majority vote.
5. The Regional Assembly may remove a government official from office by a two-thirds majority vote.
6. The number of votes required to achieve quorum for any vote of the Regional Assembly except elections will be a third of its membershipequal to one third the number of legislatively active citizens.
7. The Regional Assembly will elect a Speaker every four months by a plurality vote.
8. The Speaker will administer the rules of the Regional Assembly. Where no rules exist, the Speaker may use their discretion.
9. Abstentions cast in the Regional Assembly will not be used to determine the result of any vote, but may be used for quorum and all other purposes.
10. The Speaker may appoint deputies to assist them in the execution of any of their powers and duties. Appointment of deputies may be regulated by law and the rules of the Regional Assembly.
2. Article 7, Clause 6 of the Constitution of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
6. All government officials, with the exception of members of the Security Council, must maintain membership in the Regional Assemblycitizenship while in office.
3. Article 7, Clause 10 of the Constitution of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
10. Candidates in any election must maintain membership in the Regional Assemblycitizenship for the fifteen days beforeimmediately preceding the opening of candidacy declarations and throughout the election.
4. Chapter 3, Section 3.1, Clause 3 of the Codified Law of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
In the event that a Chief Justice has not been elected by seven days after the conclusion of a Judicial election, including the conclusion of any required run-off votes, the Chief Justice shall be the Justice who received the highest number of votes in said election. In the event of a tie for highest number of votes, the Chief Justice shall be the one among those tied with the longest period of membership in the Regional Assemblycitizenship.
5. Chapter 4, Section 4.2, Clause 4 of the Codified Law of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
"Candidates" are those Regional Assembly memberscitizens who, during the period of the Election Cycle designated for candidacy declarations, declare themselves or accept a nomination by another Regional Assembly membercitizen as a candidate for an office to be chosen at that Election Cycle.
7. Chapter 4, Section 4.4, Clause 16 of the Codified Law of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
A minimum of two Election Commissioners will be appointed by the Delegate to oversee the candidacy declaration and election processes at least one week before the beginning of the month in which the election is to be held. If an appointment of Election Commissioners has not been made by that time, the Vice Delegate shall promptly make the appointment. Regional Assembly membersCitizens serving as government officials are not excluded from appointments under this clause.
Any person with an account on the regional forum and a nation in The North Pacificregistered resident may apply for Regional Assembly membershipcitizenship, using their regional forum account, by providing the name of their nation in The North Pacific, and swearing an oath as follows:
I, the leader of The North Pacific nation of [INSERT YOUR TNP NATION], pledge loyalty to The North Pacific, obedience to her laws, and responsible action as a member of her society. I pledge to only register one nation to vote in The North Pacific. I pledge that no nation under my control will wage war against the North Pacific. I understand that if I break this oath I may permanently lose my voting privileges. In this manner, I petition the Speaker for citizenship in The North Pacific.
A copy of the laws applicants are pledging to obey must be available to them at all times.
An application for Regional Assembly membershipcitizenship ceases to be valid if at any time the applicant's declared nation in The North Pacific nation is not located in The North Pacific.
Forum administration will have 14 days to evaluate Regional Assemblycitizenship applicants and verify that they are not using a proxy or evading a judicially-imposed penalty. The Vice Delegate will have 3 days to perform a security assessment of the applicant. All security assessments will be performed in consultation with the Security Council, and in accordance with all laws of The North Pacific.
The Speaker will reject applicants who fail an evaluation by either forum administration or the Vice Delegate.
If an applicant is rejected for failing an evaluation by the Vice Delegate, the Regional Assembly will immediately hold a majority vote on whether to uphold the rejection.
The Regional Assembly may overturn a previous decision to uphold the rejection of an applicant by majority vote.
The Speaker will accept all other applicants with valid applications.
The Speaker will process applications within 14 days. If an applicant has not been accepted or rejected within that time, they will be automatically accepted to the Regional Assemblygranted citizenship.
A Regional Assembly membercitizen's vote will not be valid unless they maintain Regional Assembly membershipcitizenship for the entire duration of the vote.
The Speaker will maintain a publicly viewable roster of Regional Assembly memberscitizens.
The Speaker will promptly remove any Regional Assembly memberscitizens whose removal is ordered by the Court, or whose nation in The North Pacific leaves or ceases to exist.
The Speaker's office will promptly remove any Regional Assembly memberscitizens who fail to fail to log in to the North Pacific forum for over 30 consecutive days; or who have not voted for 20 consecutive days and have missed four consecutive Regional Assembly votes to enact, amend or repeal laws, as determined by the time they closed.post in The North Pacific forum for over 30 consecutive days.
Regional Assembly membersCitizens that have submitted a notice of absence, in accordance with any regulations set by the Speaker, shall be exempt from the provisions of the above clause for the stated duration of their absence.
Legislatively active citizens will be those citizens who have voted at least once in the last 20 consecutive days or have not missed more than three consecutive Regional Assembly votes to enact, amend or repeal laws, as determined by the time they closed.
9. Chapter 6, Section 6.2, Clause 17 of the Codified Law of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
17. All registered citizens residing in The North Pacific may request information from the Government through the Delegate and the designated officers of the Executive.
10. Chapter 6, Section 6.8, Clause 50 of the Codified Law of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
50. During an outbreak, no nation may have their status as a citizen or Regional Assembly memberresident or citizen removed solely for leaving the region, so long as they return within three days of the end of the emergency.
11. Chapter 6, Section 6.8, Clause 51 of the Codified Law of The North Pacific is hereby amended to read as follows,
51. Following an outbreak, the Speaker must promptly contact any citizen or Regional Assembly memberresident or citizen who remains outside the region, and inform them that they are at risk of losing their status if they do not return within three days.
12. Everyone who immediately before this bill takes effect were a Regional Assembly member will be considered a citizen once the bill takes efect.
13. No part of this bill shall take effect unless all parts take effect.
I am reintroducing for consideration this bill, which I had first proposed in September but at the time did not have the time to see through. You can find the original here. The new draft is very similar to the one I proposed then. Changes include some updates to account for laws that have passed since then, as well as the inclusion of definitions for "residents" and "registered residents" in the Constitution.
I quote below what I had said about this bill the previous time I proposed it.
This bill is in part inspired by a similar bill proposed by Alunya in June 2014. I've also received feedback from Asta, COE, and Democratic Donkeys.
During this past term, I have been in contact with numerous new nations joining the forum, as well as nations that either became inactive on the forum or left the region altogether. I ask them for their experience in the region and the forum, and the reasons why they are leaving. There have been several nations that expressed a strong interest in certain areas of the forum (roleplay, NPA, Executive Staff, WA affairs, OOC), but a disinterest in the RA and legislating in general. Yet, RA membership and participation is a requirement for these nations to become enfranchised, first-rate members of our community. This issue has been again and again cited as the reason why these nations left the forum or the region. The strong emphasis our government structure places on the RA and legislative activity has been one of the main stumbling blocks the government has been encountering this term in our efforts to recruit nations to the forum.
Not all of these nations chose to leave. Several of them have chosen to stay in the forum, and during this term we had a large number of members that were contributing exclusively in areas of the forum outside of the RA. All these members are making meaningful and valuable contributions to the region. Yet, just because they are not interested in legislating, they do not enjoy the right to vote and stand for office, while others who do nothing else but contribute a vote on some bill once a month do. This to me seems utterly unfair and undemocratic, and unacceptable really given the pride we take in our democratic values.
Many of these considerations apply to more established members of our community as well. Punk d is a good example: He recently chose to refrain from activity in the RA and stay as a "citizen". This means that he is no longer able to vote or stand in elections. Similar considerations applied in the past to other long-term members (I recall at least Eras). Once again, the fact that such established members of our region get disenfranchised simply because they are no longer interested in contributing legislatively, while continuing to contribute in other ways, is absurd and unacceptable.
This biil intends to address these considerations. It does so by replacing Regional Assembly membership with a legally defined citizenship that is of broader scope. A member is granted citizenship in a manner identical to how they would be granted RA membership currently (nation in the region, oath, admin and VD check). Once a citizen, all they need to maintain their citizenship is to keep a nation in TNP and to have some posting activity on the forum (namely, at least one post per 20 days). Their posts can be anywhere in the forum and do not have to be in the RA.
All citizens can vote and stand for the various elected offices. They can be appointed to the various appointed offices. And, if they choose, they can also freely participate in the legislative activity of the Regional Assembly.
Given that, under this bill, it would be possible to have multiple valid citizens who are not active legislatively in the RA, the bill also amends how quorum is achieved. The number of votes required for quorum is calculated as a percentage of the number of legislatively active citizens, instead of all citizens. Legislatively active citizens are those that maintain voting activity analogous to that required currently for maintenance of RA membership.
All of the above apply today, and are perhaps even more relevant than they were then.
I consider one of the successes of the current and the previous terms the fact that we have seen a redistribution of activity from within the RA to other areas of the government of the forum, many of which have been revitalized from almost zero activity. We see many of our members actively contributing to our roleplay section, to all Ministries through the Executive Staff, to World Assembly votes and discussion, and to the North Pacific Army. These contributions are voluminous, meaningful, and critical to the welfare of our region and community.
And yet, we still have a law in place denying all these members the right to elect their government or stand for election themselves, unless they additionally become active (under some definition of "active") in the RA. We impose no similar requirement to members who are active in the RA but contribute nowhere else and ignore all of the important areas I mentioned above. It is as if activity in the RA were first-rate activity, and all other kinds of activity were second-rate and not as worthy. This assymetry is not only absurd and insulting, it is also unfair and undemocratic. And it is detrimental to the region as well, as it considerably increases the risk of alienating all these members and driving them, and their skills and activity, away.
Just take a look at the latest batch of RA removals. Akhil, Nasania, DeathFell, King Ems, Spadanera, and midtkandal all lost their right to vote, despite being some of our best soldiers in the NPA. Separatist Peoples lost his right to vote, despite being a very helpful deputy Minister of WA Affairs. Sasten lost his right to vote despite being a dedicated TNPer with nothing but constructive posts both in-game and on the forum. Albrecht I, Corporal Clegg, and Nasania (already mentioned above) lost their right to vote, despite being excellent RPers and contributors to the Ministry of Culture. Akhil (already mentioned above) lost his right to vote, despite all the manual recruitment telegrams he has sent for the Ministry of Home Affairs. Miss Ideophilia lost her right to vote despite her contributions during Zombie day and her continued presence on the WA forum. Punkd lost his right to vote, despite being a dedicated TNP member and admin for years (I'd include Ator People, but I believe Ator would have been removed for forum inactivity anyway). I am sure I am missing some contributions here, and I apologize for that, but that's just because there are so many of them! And this is just the latest batch of removals. To mention just the most notable cases in the near past, Gladio lost his right to vote because he does not participate in the RA. We have lost Sciongrad, who was invaluable in the Ministry of WA Affairs, because he kept having to reapply for RA membership. And of course, we lost our Vice Delegate Abacathea, despite him being active in other areas of the forum, the Security Council included. All of these citizens should have the right to vote, and not be discriminated against in favor of those members that choose to focus in the RA.
I would like to address some of the concerns raised in the previous iteration of the bill.
Concern: The new activity requirements are hard to keep track of and enforce. Response: Not anymore. I have written a script that uses the RA/Citizenship registry to automatically keep daily records of all RA members/citizens' post counts in a publicly accessible location. I have also written a google spreadsheet script that uses these records to automatically determine if someone's citizenship needs to be removed for inactivity. The script can be directly installed in the current RA/Citizenship registry. The combination of the two makes keeping track of citizenship completely automated, arguably even easier to keep track than the current requirements we have. You can see a copy of the RA/Citizenship registry spreadsheet with the new scripts installed here.
Concern: We already have Citizens on the forum. What happens to them? Response: There is currently no such thing as a legally established citizen. Citizens are mentioned in a couple of places in the Legal Code, but there is no definition of who is a citizen. The forum usergroup "citizen" is an invention of the administrators, meaning someone who has a nation in TNP and has registered on the forum. Should this bill pass, the RA usergroup will need to be renamed to "citizens" and the current "citizen" usergroup will need to be renamed into something else. I suggest the term "registered resident", which for completeness and consistency I have also included as a definition in my amendment. Regardless of the name we choose, I will endeavor to make sure that those currently masked as "citizens" and who choose not to apply for legal citizenship will not lose any forum access they enjoy right now.
Concern: Even if it just an admin invention, this bill means that many people who thought they were "citizens" will no longer be and will find themselves as "residents". Isn't that worse? Response: A large number of those currently active in the "citizens" usergroup are members who in the past had RA membership, and it lapsed because of the voting requirements. With the new bill, and assuming that they choose to reapply for citizenship, this will no longer happen. I will make sure personally to notify all current "citizens" of the change, and invite them to apply for the new citizenship. For the rest, let me first say that I consider the right to vote a fundamental component of the notion of citizenship. Calling someone who does not have the right to vote a citizen is misleading. So, it is better if those members are no longer under the illusion that they are actual citizens, by giving them an appropriately named usergroup.
Concern: What happens to the current RA members? Response: They will become citizens as soon as the bill passes. For the vast majority of them, maintaining their citizenship will be just as easy as, if not easier than it is now.
Concern: Even if we create citizenship, should there not be a separate class of Regional Assembly members that citizens need to apply separately to become? Response: I have not seen anyone offer any arguments supporting this separation. At the same time, I have arguments against it. Separating RA membership from citizenship makes it harder for citizens to become involved in the legislative process; they have to go through one more hoop to join the RA. Why create such an obstacle? If anything we should be making it as simple as possible for members to get involved in the RA. Moreover, the RA, in addition to legislating, has certain powers that should be available to all citizens to exercise, such as the recall of government officials. Finally, creating a separation between citizens and RA members requires considerable expansion and complication of the Constitution and Legal Code.
Concern: Shouldn't the Speaker be elected only by legislatively-active citizens (or only by RA members, of citizens and RA members are separated)? Response: I do not believe so. The Speaker is responsible for many areas unrelated to the legislative powers of the RA. The Speaker moderates discussion of recall motions, oversees membership granting and removal, and serves as Election Commissioner. All these are roles that directly affect all citizens, not just RA members. Furthermore, if we applied the same argument to other positions, we would have the Delegate elected only by members in the Executive Staff, and Justices elected only by those who comment in the Court area.
Finally, like the previous time, should this bill pass, I intend to propose the following changes to the RA rules, to bring them in compliance with the new citizenship concept.
Section 1. Proposals
1. Any citizen may bring a proposal for discussion before the Regional Assembly.
2. The Speaker may schedule a vote on any proposal being discussed by the Regional Assembly as permitted by law.
3. If, before a vote on a proposal begins, at least three citizens object to the decision of the Speaker to schedule it, the Speaker must cancel the scheduled vote.
4. If a number of citizens equal to or exceeding one-tenth of the number of legislatively active citizens, including the citizen that introduced the proposal to the Regional Assembly, motion that a vote should be held on a proposal before the Regional Assembly, then the Speaker must schedule a vote on that proposal to begin as soon as permitted by law.
Section 2. Voting
1. No more than two votes to enact, amend or repeal laws may take place simultaneously at any time.
2. Unless otherwise required by law, votes of the Regional Assembly will last for a minimum of three and a maximum of seven days.
3. The Speaker will, at the beginning of a vote of the Regional Assembly, decide its duration as permitted by law.
4. If a number of citizens equal to or exceeding one-tenth of the number of legislatively active citizens object to the duration of a vote of the Regional Assembly decided by the Speaker before the conclusion of the vote, then that vote will last for the maximum duration permitted by law.
5. If at the conclusion of a vote quorum has not been achieved, then the Speaker may extend the duration of the vote to the maximum permitted by law.
Section 3. Deputy Speaker and Vacancies
1. The Speaker may, at their discretion, appoint a citizen as Deputy Speaker. The Speaker may, at their discretion, remove an existing Deputy Speaker.
2. Unless otherwise specified by law, the Speaker may delegate any of their powers and duties to the Deputy Speaker. Delegation under this section does not relieve the Speaker of any of their powers and duties. Any provisions of law related to the powers and duties of the Speaker, when exercised by the Deputy Speaker under the provisions of this clause, shall apply to the Deputy Speaker.
3. When the position of Speaker is vacant, the Deputy Speaker will assume the powers and duties of the office of the Speaker for the duration of the vacancy. When the position of Deputy Speaker is simultaneously vacant, the legislatively active citizen who is available, has the longest period of citizenship, does not decline the position, and is not otherwise prohibited by law will assume the powers and duties of the office of the Speaker for the duration of the simultaneous vacancy.
4. A citizen’s period of citizenship is defined as the amount of elapsed time since that citizen's most recent approved citizenship application without an interruption.
I consider this by far the most important bill I have written here in TNP. Considering that, ever since I joined the RA, I have been the region's most prolific legislator, introducing a wide range of innovations and far-reaching reforms, this should be telling. I also consider this bill a very important aspect of the campaign on which I ran for delegate, both times, which was a campaign that emphasized expansion of our community and integration of new members.
In the last Judicial Election, we broke the historical record for most votes in an election. Should this bill pass, I am certain that we will break the record once more, and by a very comfortable margin.
The current version uses the concept of "legislatively active citizen" to keep quorum requirements unchanged.
I have no preference regarding quorum requirements. As long as it is not adverse to the rest of the bill passing, I would be fine with removing them, or replacing them with some other reasonable system. Another alternative may be to move all of the details of their implementation to the legal code.
Also, what about the votes of the RA/Vice Delegate to have people blocked from the RA previously -- either untrustworthy, no confidence, or various reasons why one would be blocked.
This change would allow those citizens who have been blocked from the RA to propose legislation, vote, stand and hold office. In effect would negate those previous blocks.
How does one reconcile the desire for citizen inclusion and the Will of the current RA to have kept certain people out who the RA feels is a determent to the assembly?
I meant in the Constitution and Legal Code. If we remove the legislative active citizens from these documents, we'll need to further amend the RA rules to make a couple formulae work.
PaulWallLibertarian42:
Didnt you try to submit this awhile back or similar to make all citizens members of the RA by default? Or was that Alunya?
I am reintroducing for consideration this bill, which I had first proposed in September but at the time did not have the time to see through. You can find the original here. The new draft is very similar to the one I proposed then. Changes include some updates to account for laws that have passed since then, as well as the inclusion of definitions for "residents" and "registered residents" in the Constitution.
I quote below what I had said about this bill the previous time I proposed it.
This bill is in part inspired by a similar bill proposed by Alunya in June 2014. I've also received feedback from Asta, COE, and Democratic Donkeys.
Also, what about the votes of the RA/Vice Delegate to have people blocked from the RA previously -- either untrustworthy, no confidence, or various reasons why one would be blocked.
This change would allow those citizens who have been blocked from the RA to propose legislation, vote, stand and hold office. In effect would negate those previous blocks.
How does one reconcile the desire for citizen inclusion and the Will of the current RA to have kept certain people out who the RA feels is a determent to the assembly?
Current citizens who have applied for the RA in the past and been blocked would be reclassified as residents under this bill, and if they then applied for citizenship, I think their block would still be in effect. However, to make certain, it might be worth adding another implementation clause:
Anyone who is currently blocked from becoming a member of the Regional Assembly due to failing a security check by the Vice Delegate shall be similarly blocked obtaining citizenship until or unless their block is removed by the Regional Assembly.
Also, what about the votes of the RA/Vice Delegate to have people blocked from the RA previously -- either untrustworthy, no confidence, or various reasons why one would be blocked.
This change would allow those citizens who have been blocked from the RA to propose legislation, vote, stand and hold office. In effect would negate those previous blocks.
How does one reconcile the desire for citizen inclusion and the Will of the current RA to have kept certain people out who the RA feels is a determent to the assembly?
For new citizenship applicants, the same system applies when it comes to VD checks.
For past RA applicants that have been blocked, you make a valid point but that's easy to resolve. I'll add an implementation clause saying that applicants who are currently blocked from gaining RA membership remain blocked from gaining citizenship under the new law.
I really like the structure of this bill. It is very informative and insightful. In addition to that, it addresses all types of concerns that might come up, and the answers to the concerns that might come up are all pretty good and solid.
This has my 100% support.
In addition to that, as Minister of Home Affairs for a term and a half now, I would like to point as I have pointed out in the past, the importance of this. Like r3n, our ministry works directly with members who leave the region out of dissatisfaction with the RA as a whole. Believe or not, but in order to be anything successful you have to be in the RA. It is becoming restricting body overtime. Like r3n stated, we have MANY, MANY, and MANY (3 times) members who are not in the RA, yet if they could run and vote for office, they would make such great candidates and voters. In addition to that, many members leave because they can’t hold office because of RA guidelines and limits.
If this bill was to pass, first of all, think of how our elections would have new talented candidates with great abilities and potential. In addition to that, think of the increase in regional, role-play, and governmental activity. There would also be a lot more people who stay in the region, because it seems like most members who lose their RA membership just disappear from the forum for the main part.
So in conclusion, this bill once again, has my full and utmost support.
I could support allowing citizens to vote in elections, but I think running in them should still be RA members only. It's really not difficult to join (yes, I'm aware of conscientious objections to a certain Law).
Just take a look at the latest batch of RA removals.
If someone can't maintain the existing commitment of voting once in awhile, it makes one wonder how much priority they would place on their elected duties (capable as they may be). Additionally, if someone can dedicate most of their time to RPing, doing their duties as an appointed gov't official, or volunteering for the Executive Staff and/or Foreign Affairs, what's so hard about typing Aye, Nay, or Abstain in 1 of every 4 RA proposal votes (or keeping abreast of TNP legislation for that matter)?
It is as if activity in the RA were first-rate activity, and all other kinds of activity were second-rate and not as worthy.
Everyone has their preference where they like to post. I myself prefer the RA, and have little interest in RPing or other areas of the forum (well, I do play a couple spam games). With all due respect, drafting/debating legislation is different than discussing the merits of Freddy Fazbear. To each his own, though.
Again, giving citizens the right to vote is fine with me, but seeking an elected position should keep the existing requirements (RA membership). I think it's important that CMEOs have a solid understanding of the Laws and policies of TNP. That includes drafting and debating them, not just reading them or echoing others who do the legwork. This is particularly important for the Justice position (it's important to all positions really, but Justice especially). As is it atm, I can't support this bill.
If someone can't maintain the existing commitment of voting once in awhile, it makes one wonder how much priority they would place on their elected duties (capable as they may be). Additionally, if someone can dedicate most of their time to RPing, doing their duties as an appointed gov't official, or volunteering for the Executive Staff and/or Foreign Affairs, what's so hard about typing Aye, Nay, or Abstain in 1 of every 4 RA proposal votes (or keeping abreast of TNP legislation for that matter)?
I did not say it is hard. I said it is arbitrary. It is about as easy and as arbitrary as basing the right to run for office on a requirement that you participate in WA votes, or take part in NPA operations, or always vote in the DU. How would you like it if we replaced RA voting requirements with one of these?
falapatorius:
It is as if activity in the RA were first-rate activity, and all other kinds of activity were second-rate and not as worthy.
Everyone has their preference where they like to post. I myself prefer the RA, and have little interest in RPing or other areas of the forum (well, I do play a couple spam games). With all due respect, drafting/debating legislation is different than discussing the merits of Freddy Fazbear. To each his own, though.
Sure, I never said that these preferences are the same, nor that you or anyone else should be forced to change their preferences. To the contrary, what I did say is that people should be allowed to have their preferences, and be given the right to vote as long as they contribute in some way, whatever that may be.
In the current situation, your preference is treated in a privileged manner compared to the preferences of others'. As a result, those other members that don't prioritize RA are still forced to divert time from their preference to come here. Again, consider the hypothetical situation I mentioned above, where the right to vote or stand for office is dependent on taking part in RPs, the WA, or the NPA. Would you appreciate it that those preferences receive privileges that yours does not?
falapatorius:
Again, giving citizens the right to vote is fine with me, but seeking an elected position should keep the existing requirements (RA membership). I think it's important that CMEOs have a solid understanding of the Laws and policies of TNP. That includes drafting and debating them, not just reading them or echoing others who do the legwork. This is particularly important for the Justice position (it's important to all positions really, but Justice especially). As is it atm, I can't support this bill.
Do you have a solid understanding of the NPA policies? Our WA policies? These are areas that many of our officials need to draw and enact policy in. Therefore, it is important that they have qualifications in those areas. Yet, we do not by law require them to have these qualifications - their RA membership is hardly solid evidence of qualification in any of these areas. Familiarity with the legislative process is arbitrarily selected as the only qualification to be enforced by law.
Evaluation of these qualifications is best left to the voters themselves. If someone has never voted on a bill or in any other way indicated knowledge of the legislative procedure, I would be hesitant to vote for them for Speaker. Similarly, if someone has never written or at least commented on a bill, I'd be disinclined to support them for Justice. But similarly, if someone does not bother to contribute anywhere else in the forum and only posts in the RA, I would not vote for them for Delegate. In all three cases though, I would want them to be able to run, and allow the electorate to make a decision.
I agree with eliminating the quorum requirements for legislation, per se, but it could get a bit sticky concerning Constitutional Amendments requiring 2/3rds of the Regional Assembly. But that could be solved by simply saying that it involves 2/3rds of those who voted for such an amendment. Or there is another solution:
For constitutional amendments requiring a 2/3rds majority of the RA, we convene a "Senate" for Constitutional Amendments - the "Senate" shall consist of every RA member who has voted in the revious three votes which occurred in the RA.
Simply put, for Constitutional Amendments which require a 2/3rds vote of the RA, the quorum shall consist of all RA members (Citizens) who case a vote in one of three preceding legislative votes in the RA. This assures that legislatively active members are eligible to vote and sets a specific number of votes needed for a quorum (2/3rds) for Constitutional Amendments.
Roman, that's totally unnecessary, since a 2/3 majority vote already means 2/3 of those who voted aye or nay, just like any other kind of majority in The North Pacific.
I think the continued unmasking and remasking of members can be sometimes fairly ridiculous (as was with my 19-member 'massacre' yesterday, and the other one where Aba and Gladio got the axe). Placing everything in the hands of participating in 4 votes over 20 days, when that clearly is not the interest of every participant in this grand project of regional governance has led to several important members, even very clearly active ones, getting the axe from their positions. As it stands, I wouldn't mind the voting requirements being removed.
As it stands, holding RA membership differs from holding (what is currently unofficially classified as) Citizenship by two criterion:
1. The voting requirements, and
2. The forum activity requirements.
For one, I think that the new forum activity requirements proposed by r3n make sense. While in some sense it does place an 'obligation' to post in the forums, I think that it is a reasonable requirement for active TNPers, and for less active ones, if the circumstances permit it LoA can be granted.
My main concerns are technical in nature, that being amending standing procedures to better reflect the nature of the changes, the overhauls required to the RA sheets, and what becomes of those currently classified as Citizens (I'm currently thinking of a classification of Old Citizens, a classification that could also be used for remasking future citizens that don't meet the forum activity requirements.)
All in all, I think this bill can make TNP far more participatory than it currently is.
I have some reservations about the sheer complexity of this proposal; I have a suspicion that the same result can be obtained with a lot less complexity.
A properly defined terminology for "resident" could easily simplify this bill (along the lines of the term of art of "resident" used in a Court opinion from 2010. Until a more recent Court mucked things up without really reading that earlier opinion, it worked quite well with the current legal documents and avoided the head-splitting complexity of this proposal.
Another way about this is to return to the "registered voter" system that was adopted at the constitutional convention, with an voluntary opt-in for participating in the Regional Assembly. Some complained that having two user groups was too complicated and had it consolidated into one user group, but this proposal demonstrates that that consolidation was an error.
Like I said, this probably can be done a lot more simply than what this proposal lays out.
In the current situation, your preference is treated in a privileged manner compared to the preferences of others'. As a result, those other members that don't prioritize RA are still forced to divert time from their preference to come here. Again, consider the hypothetical situation I mentioned above, where the right to vote or stand for office is dependent on taking part in RPs, the WA, or the NPA. Would you appreciate it that those preferences receive privileges that yours does not?
The main reason I joined the RA was the right to vote. If your hypotheticals were requirements, I'd comply. It might not be my main interest, but if it allows me to vote..
You may want to remove the RA requirement to stand in an election, but I'm fine with it as is. If you want to characterize that as privileged, insulting, undemocratic, so be it. I stand by my statements. Yes to voting, No to candidacy without RA membership.
My main concerns are technical in nature, that being amending standing procedures to better reflect the nature of the changes, the overhauls required to the RA sheets, and what becomes of those currently classified as Citizens (I'm currently thinking of a classification of Old Citizens, a classification that could also be used for remasking future citizens that don't meet the forum activity requirements.)
Olvern, I refer you to a couple of things I said in my second post:
r3n:
r3naissanc3r:
Concern: We already have Citizens on the forum. What happens to them? Response: There is currently no such thing as a legally established citizen. Citizens are mentioned in a couple of places in the Legal Code, but there is no definition of who is a citizen. The forum usergroup "citizen" is an invention of the administrators, meaning someone who has a nation in TNP and has registered on the forum. Should this bill pass, the RA usergroup will need to be renamed to "citizens" and the current "citizen" usergroup will need to be renamed into something else. I suggest the term "registered resident", which for completeness and consistency I have also included as a definition in my amendment. Regardless of the name we choose, I will endeavor to make sure that those currently masked as "citizens" and who choose not to apply for legal citizenship will not lose any forum access they enjoy right now.
Finally, like the previous time, should this bill pass, I intend to propose the following changes to the RA rules, to bring them in compliance with the new citizenship concept.
Section 1. Proposals
1. Any citizen may bring a proposal for discussion before the Regional Assembly.
2. The Speaker may schedule a vote on any proposal being discussed by the Regional Assembly as permitted by law.
3. If, before a vote on a proposal begins, at least three citizens object to the decision of the Speaker to schedule it, the Speaker must cancel the scheduled vote.
4. If a number of citizens equal to or exceeding one-tenth of the number of legislatively active citizens, including the citizen that introduced the proposal to the Regional Assembly, motion that a vote should be held on a proposal before the Regional Assembly, then the Speaker must schedule a vote on that proposal to begin as soon as permitted by law.
Section 2. Voting
1. No more than two votes to enact, amend or repeal laws may take place simultaneously at any time.
2. Unless otherwise required by law, votes of the Regional Assembly will last for a minimum of three and a maximum of seven days.
3. The Speaker will, at the beginning of a vote of the Regional Assembly, decide its duration as permitted by law.
4. If a number of citizens equal to or exceeding one-tenth of the number of legislatively active citizens object to the duration of a vote of the Regional Assembly decided by the Speaker before the conclusion of the vote, then that vote will last for the maximum duration permitted by law.
5. If at the conclusion of a vote quorum has not been achieved, then the Speaker may extend the duration of the vote to the maximum permitted by law.
Section 3. Deputy Speaker and Vacancies
1. The Speaker may, at their discretion, appoint a citizen as Deputy Speaker. The Speaker may, at their discretion, remove an existing Deputy Speaker.
2. Unless otherwise specified by law, the Speaker may delegate any of their powers and duties to the Deputy Speaker. Delegation under this section does not relieve the Speaker of any of their powers and duties. Any provisions of law related to the powers and duties of the Speaker, when exercised by the Deputy Speaker under the provisions of this clause, shall apply to the Deputy Speaker.
3. When the position of Speaker is vacant, the Deputy Speaker will assume the powers and duties of the office of the Speaker for the duration of the vacancy. When the position of Deputy Speaker is simultaneously vacant, the legislatively active citizen who is available, has the longest period of citizenship, does not decline the position, and is not otherwise prohibited by law will assume the powers and duties of the office of the Speaker for the duration of the simultaneous vacancy.
4. A citizen’s period of citizenship is defined as the amount of elapsed time since that citizen's most recent approved citizenship application without an interruption.
I consider this by far the most important bill I have written here in TNP. Considering that, ever since I joined the RA, I have been the region's most prolific legislator, introducing a wide range of innovations and far-reaching reforms, this should be telling. I also consider this bill a very important aspect of the campaign on which I ran for delegate, both times, which was a campaign that emphasized expansion of our community and integration of new members.
In the last Judicial Election, we broke the historical record for most votes in an election. Should this bill pass, I am certain that we will break the record once more, and by a very comfortable margin.
"Legislatively-active citizens" is just a means to compute quorum requirements as well as requirements for various motions in the RA procedures (e.g., 1/10 of members to force an immediate vote, etc.) Legislatively-active citizens are just those that meet the currently existing voting requirements.
Grosseschnauzer:
I have some reservations about the sheer complexity of this proposal; I have a suspicion that the same result can be obtained with a lot less complexity.
A properly defined terminology for "resident" could easily simplify this bill (along the lines of the term of art of "resident" used in a Court opinion from 2010. Until a more recent Court mucked things up without really reading that earlier opinion, it worked quite well with the current legal documents and avoided the head-splitting complexity of this proposal.
Another way about this is to return to the "registered voter" system that was adopted at the constitutional convention, with an voluntary opt-in for participating in the Regional Assembly. Some complained that having two user groups was too complicated and had it consolidated into one user group, but this proposal demonstrates that that consolidation was an error.
Like I said, this probably can be done a lot more simply than what this proposal lays out.
That's essentially what the proposal does. It is long, but not complex. The reason for the length is that "RA member" or similar is mentioned in so many places in the constitution and legal code, and the bill has to go and amend every single one of them.
Personally I intuitively would prefer keeping the term "Regional Assembly member" to describe what you name Legislatively active citizens, but that might be too confusing.
I am unsure what is wrong with the current system that needs radical overhaul. At the moment those who are interested in the governmental side can join the RA, vote on stuff and stand for stuff. Those not interested in the RA don't have to.
I am unsure what is wrong with the current system that needs radical overhaul. At the moment those who are interested in the governmental side can join the RA, vote on stuff and stand for stuff. Those not interested in the RA don't have to.
Yes - people who are interested in governing (or serving as some sort of government official, like a deputy or a minister), but not interested in legislating. Looking at the executive area in particular, Gladio was recently removed as minister of defense for missing votes, despite being regularly active on the forum and astonishingly active and successful on the field. By all measures he's a fantastic minister.... but he doesn't care about voting on laws and so got removed temporarily.
Similarly, it's not unreasonable to think that people who are interested in participating in areas besides legislating, like cultural events, RP, military action, writing for the newspaper, etc, might care about who their elected officials are and want to participate in voting, but who struggle to maintain RA membership because they don't care about that area.
I'm worried about the changes that this bill will have, I admit... but I am coming around to r3n's thinking on this. The RA is one area in which people can participate - I see no real reason why it should be privileged in our laws above other areas, both governmental and cultural.
But the RA is about governing AND legislating. The two go hand in hand. Frankly, if people are so disinterested or disorganised that they cannot vote "abstain" every now and again, i am not sure I would want them as a minister.
I am more worried about, potentially, the people responsible for our laws being out-block-voted in the election of delegate. This could have really dangerous implications in the direction of TNP and, at the moment, I am not in favour.
I too share concerns regarding these reforms. I can see their pro's which I must admit they would most likely highly benefit the region and see and increase in activity, however, the negative implications it could have on The North Pacific. Hmm......
I have submitted an informal alternative version to this bill, including a poll, for r3n, all regional assembly members, and general citizenry to comment on.
Roman, that's totally unnecessary, since a 2/3 majority vote already means 2/3 of those who voted aye or nay, just like any other kind of majority in The North Pacific.
I have some reservations about the sheer complexity of this proposal; I have a suspicion that the same result can be obtained with a lot less complexity.......
Upon further examination and consideration, I agree with the contention that the proposal is very complex. More so than what we need in the context of TNP.
flemingovia:
But the RA is about governing AND legislating. The two go hand in hand. Frankly, if people are so disinterested or disorganised that they cannot vote "abstain" every now and again, i am not sure I would want them as a minister.
I am more worried about, potentially, the people responsible for our laws being out-block-voted in the election of delegate. This could have really dangerous implications in the direction of TNP and, at the moment, I am not in favour.
No need to worry about that. The IRC Cabal has been subjugated and placed under the complete control of the Secret Brotherhood of The Cheese Oligarchy. This was accomplished through methods involving fluoridated drinking water, homogenised milk, subliminal messages hidden in product and pharmaceutical warning labels. Obey the HypnoToad.
