PROPOSAL: Voting Rights Convention

plembobria

plembobria

TNPer
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DU Convention on Voting Rights:
Preamble;
In order to protect and defend the tenets of Democracy, and to preserve the rights of all citizens of member states to participate in the Democratic Process, the members of the Democratic Union hereby adopt this convention.

Section 1
A “citizen” shall be defined as person holding citizenship in a member-state by either being natural-born or naturalized as a citizen according to the respective member states' laws.

A “polling place” shall be defined as a permanent or temporary location where citizens may go to vote.

An “election official” shall be defined as a person supervising a polling place, working at a polling place, supervising the counting of votes, or operating machinery or other device used for the counting of votes.

“Election fraud” shall be defined as:
  • The act of casting false ballots;
  • Voting more than once;
  • Intentionally not counting certain votes;
  • Intimidation of voters;
  • The intentional falsification of election results, or:
  • Allowing persons not granted the right to vote under the respective member states' laws or this Convention.
A “constituency” shall be defined as geographic area whose resident citizens elect one or more officials to any kind of legislative body.

An “apportioned constituency” shall be defined as a constituency constructed to encompass a certain population size.

Section 2.
No member state shall deny the right of any citizen to vote on account of race, sex, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, or political ideology.

All citizens shall have the right to stand for elective offices.

Any fee or deposit required for a candidate or political party to printed on ballot paper (or listed on any equivalent machine) shall not be exorbitant, and shall be uniform.

This section shall not be construed to deny the governments of member states to nullify any citizen's right to vote, or stand for an elective office, on conviction of felony, treason, or election fraud.

Section 3.
No member state shall intentionally draw the boundaries of any apportioned constituency in order to favor any particular political group over another.

Section 4.
Voters shall have the right to vote anonymously and in secret. No member state shall compel any citizen to vote for any single candidate.

Citizens shall have the right to feel safe while voting; no election official shall be allowed to intimidate or discourage any citizen from entering a polling place.

This section shall not be construed to deny election officials the power to require citizens to display identification or any other proof of citizenship before voting.

Section 5.
Any member state found guilty of election fraud, or violation of any other provision of this Convention may be expelled from the Democratic Union.
Click to expand...

DU Convention on Voting Rights:
Preamble;
In order to protect and defend the tenets of Democracy, and to preserve the rights of all citizens of member states to participate in the Democratic Process, the members of the Democratic Union hereby adopt this convention.

Section 1
A “citizen” shall be defined as person holding citizenship in a member-state by either being natural-born or naturalized as a citizen according to the respective member states' laws.

A “polling place” shall be defined as a permanent or temporary location where citizens may go to vote.

An “election official” shall be defined as a person supervising a polling place, working at a polling place, supervising the counting of votes, or operating machinery or other device used for the counting of votes.

“Election fraud” shall be defined as:
  • The act of casting false ballots;
  • Voting more than once;
  • Intentionally not counting certain votes;
  • The intentional falsification of election results, or:
  • Allowing persons not granted the right to vote under the respective member states' laws or this Convention.
A “constituency” shall be defined as geographic area whose resident citizens elect one or more officials to any kind of legislative body.

An “apportioned constituency” shall be defined as a constituency constructed to encompass a certain population size.

Section 2.
No member state shall deny the right of any citizen to vote on account of race, sex, religion, ethnicity, sexuality, or political ideology.

All citizens shall have the right to stand for elective offices.

Any fee or deposit required for a candidate or political party to printed on ballot paper (or listed on any equivalent machine) shall not be exorbitant, and shall be uniform.

This section shall not be construed to deny the governments of member states to nullify any citizen's right to vote, or stand for an elective office, on conviction of felony, treason, or election fraud.

Section 3.
No member state shall intentionally draw the boundaries of any apportioned constituency in order to favor any particular political group over another.

Section 4.
Voters shall have the right to vote anonymously and in secret. No member state shall compel any citizen to vote for any single candidate.

Citizens shall have the right to feel safe while voting; no election official shall be allowed to intimidate or discourage any citizen from entering a polling place.

This section shall not be construed to deny election officials the power to require citizens to display identification or any other proof of citizenship before voting.

Section 5.
Any member state found guilty of election fraud, or violation of any other provision of this Convention may be expelled from the Democratic Union.
Click to expand...

DU Convention on Voting Rights:
Preamble;
In order to protect and defend the tenets of Democracy, and to preserve the rights of all citizens of member states to participate in the Democratic Process, the members of the Democratic Union hereby adopt this convention.

Section 1
A “citizen” shall be defined as person holding citizenship in a member-state by either being natural-born or naturalized as a citizen according to the respective member states' laws.

A “polling place” shall be defined as a permanent or temporary location where citizens may go to vote.

An “election official” shall be defined as a person supervising a polling place, working at a a polling place, supervising the counting of votes, or operating machinery or other device used for the counting of votes.

“Election fraud” shall be defined as:
  • The act of casting false ballots;
  • Voting more than once;
  • Intentionally not counting certain votes;
  • The intentional falsification of election results, or:
  • Allowing persons not granted the right to vote under the respective member states' laws or this Convention.
A “constituency” shall be defined as geographic area whose resident citizens elect one or more officials to any kind of legislative body.

An “apportioned constituency” shall be defined as a constituency constructed to encompass a certain population size.

Section 2.
No member state shall deny the right of any citizen to vote on account of race, sex, religion, or political ideology.

All citizens shall have the right to form political parties and stand for elective offices

Any fee or deposit required for a candidate or political party to printed on ballot paper (or listed on any equivalent machine) shall not exceed one-thousand North Pacific dollars.

This section shall not be construed to deny the governments of member states to nullify any citizen's right to vote, or stand for an elective office, on conviction of felony, treason, or election fraud.

Section 3.
No member state shall intentionally draw the boundaries of any apportioned constituency in order to favor any particular political group over another.

Section 4.
Voters shall have the right to vote anonymously and in secret. No member state shall compel any citizen to vote for any single candidate or political party.

Citizens shall have the right to feel safe while voting; no election official shall be allowed to intimidate or discourage any citizen from entering a polling place.

This section shall not be construed to deny election officials the power to require citizens to display identification or any other proof of citizenship before voting.

Section 5.
Member states shall be obliged to investigate and prosecute election fraud.

No person ever convicted of election fraud shall be serve as an election official in any member state.

Section 6.
Any member state found guilty of election fraud, or violation of any other provision of this Convention by the Democratic Court may be expelled from the Democratic Union.
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I would love to see this go to vote, and Syrixia, being staunch supporters of democracy, would be happy to abide by the laws constructed by this Convention.
 
(I know I am not in the DU but I thought I should just mention a few thing. You left a lot of protected groups out. You forgot language, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender identity.

Also you might want to bring political parties out of voting rights because there is such a thing as democracies that do not allow political parties.

North Pacific Dollar is also a currency unit that has never been brought up or its value. So a thousand of this random currency we are hearing about for the first time could be anything. It could be almost nothing, or the entire GDPs of several countries)
 
I have several questions about this.

1) Firstly the third Clause in Section 2 I disagree with. It talkes about the conduction of elections which I do not think is appropriate for this organisation to intervene in. How one nation decides to administer their democratic elections and process's should be of its primary concern. The Union may supervise yes, regulate maybe but to an extent. I do believe this is beyond that extent.

Secondly, I don't recall The North Pacific having a currency or some institution that governs one. I also do not remember my Nation acknowledging or using it.


2) Clause 2 Section 5, again, I think it ought to be something for a nation to decide. Not this Union.

3) Section 6 is interesting. It uses the conditional verb of 'may'. That means they could be subject to some sort of decision that would decide whether they would be expelled or not. But what institution is to decide. The DU itself, the Chairman or a Union Court. And if it is a Union Court, there are none that have been established as of yet as in they do not have members to comprise it.

As the representative of my nations government, I will say that my Nations Government is not particularly fond of this bill especially considering its most powerful institution is a hereditary position that wields near autocratic authority yet still permits free and fair elections as well as democratic processes and institutions in government.

Overall, this is a good proposal. Being the Democratic Union it ought to be a priority of this organisation to preserve and protect democracy; the right to vote for all and the right to be secure in voting but when overreaching into the actual administration of elections, I draw the line.
 
Lord Lore:
(I know I am not in the DU but I thought I should just mention a few thing. You left a lot of protected groups out. You forgot language, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender identity.

Also you might want to bring political parties out of voting rights because there is such a thing as democracies that do not allow political parties.

North Pacific Dollar is also a currency unit that has never been brought up or its value. So a thousand of this random currency we are hearing about for the first time could be anything. It could be almost nothing, or the entire GDPs of several countries)
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Thank you. Your concerns have been addressed.

Andrew:
I have several questions about this.

1) Firstly the third Clause in Section 2 I disagree with. It talkes about the conduction of elections which I do not think is appropriate for this organisation to intervene in. How one nation decides to administer their democratic elections and process's should be of its primary concern. The Union may supervise yes, regulate maybe but to an extent. I do believe this is beyond that extent.

Secondly, I don't recall The North Pacific having a currency or some institution that governs one. I also do not remember my Nation acknowledging or using it.
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http://www.nationstates.net/page=poll/p=10945. I will edit this provision, since the value of North Pacific dollars is rather ambiguous.
Andrew:
2) Clause 2 Section 5, again, I think it ought to be something for a nation to decide. Not this Union.
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I'm going to strike that bit out. This convention is intended to prevent governments from engaging in election fraud. This clause is arbitrary to this purpose.

Andrew:
3) Section 6 is interesting. It uses the conditional verb of 'may'. That means they could be subject to some sort of decision that would decide whether they would be expelled or not. But what institution is to decide. The DU itself, the Chairman or a Union Court. And if it is a Union Court, there are none that have been established as of yet as in they do not have members to comprise it.
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I intend to fix that. I'm not going to push for a vote until the new constitution is ratified.
 
When defining election fraud, I believe intimidation should go in there as well. Section 4 Clause 1 and 2 both touch up on some sort of discrimination or compelling a citizen to vote for a certain person or party.
 
dmb615:
When defining election fraud, I believe intimidation should go in there as well. Section 4 Clause 1 and 2 both touch up on some sort of discrimination or compelling a citizen to vote for a certain person or party.
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Okay, I'll add that.
 
He's been very inactive. Everywhere. I'm starting to fear for the DU's survival.
 
I wouldn't go as far as to say that I am concerned about the DU's survival, but i am certainly concerned about the inactivity. I am sure Scandigrad will be on within the week. Until then, I guess stay patient.
 
DU survival is not an issue. He has probably been inactive due to school. If it get's bad we can come up with a backup plan but give it till the end of the week. Everything will be sorted out.
 
McM isn't active either. I suggest we agree on and subsequently appoint a temporary chairman and deputy chairman until either the real chairman and deputy chairman return. When one of them returns they may either let the other serve their temporary role or impeach them and do everything themselves.

I nominate Egalotir for temp. chairman and Dalies for temp. deputy chairman.

Of course, Scandigrad could come out of nowhere and nullify my idea like a minute from now, lel
 
I am for this as well. I want to move everything to vote at once and we can deal with the legality of it later.
 
Syrixia:
McM isn't active either. I suggest we agree on and subsequently appoint a temporary chairman and deputy chairman until either the real chairman and deputy chairman return. When one of them returns they may either let the other serve their temporary role or impeach them and do everything themselves.

I nominate Egalotir for temp. chairman and Dalies for temp. deputy chairman.

Of course, Scandigrad could come out of nowhere and nullify my idea like a minute from now, lel
Click to expand...

Egalotir:
I am for this as well. I want to move everything to vote at once and we can deal with the legality of it later.
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Does the DU constitution provide for removing officials from office?
 
Yeah but it's not time to remove them lol, it's only been a week and a half. Either we use my (or some other) system to find temporary leaders or wait another week and then consider removing them if they haven't returned.
 
Official Title of Nation: King s Landing
Short Title of Nation: K Landing
Capital City: Tyrion
Region of Residence: North
Head of State: Marina Flor
Head of Government: Felipe Uquillas
Democratic Union Representative (if admitted): Marina Flor

Type of Government: Democratic Parlament
Martin, Jr. Units: 90
Diebold Scale: 50

Your Nation's attitude towards Democracy: Embrace it
Your Nation's attitude towards the North Pacific: Acceptance
Reason for joining the Democratic Union: To have good political and economical relationships with countrys that share the same democratic ideals.

Oath of Membership

I, (Head of State and/or Head of Government) swear to promote the ideals of peace, freedom and progress among the other nations of the North Pacific and beyond. By joining the Democratic Union, I/we understand our role to the region, and will act in such a way that will only benefit its future. I/We vow to stomp out the seeds of evil that only serve to restrict the values that the North Pacific treasures, and will weed out these seed in the hope that one day our proud virtues can grow prosperously.

Sincerely,
Marina Flor, Head of State
 
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