[Locked] Repeal Voting Equality for Freed Inmates

[Mazemba]

This hardly got any response on the General Assembly forum. Any feedback here would be welcome.

Resolution GA 419 Voting Equality for Freed Inmates (Category: Furtherance of Democracy, Strength: Mild) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

The General Assembly,

Questioning the wisdom of mandating how democracy should be practised when member nations are not required to practise democracy at all,

Regretting a resolution intended to further democracy which finds fault with many democratic nations while dictatorships and absolute monarchies are automatically compliant,

Concerned that GA 419 offers no definition of what constitutes voting, leaving much uncertainty as to how the legislation is to be applied across the Assembly's great variety of legislatures, referenda, workers' communes, committees and reality TV shows,

Mindful that nations determined to disenfranchise the convicted will be encouraged to impose harsher penalties such as lifelong probation in order to circumvent the resolution,

Frustrated at GA 419's title referring only to incarceration when the proposal applies across the range of different judicial punishments used in member nations,

Baffled by GA 419's opposition to disenfranchising people because of something that does not affect mental capacity despite allowing nations to do precisely that in response to fraud and subversion, which do not affect mental capacity,

Disappointed that in containing grammatical errors such as "paid the consequence," "deprived from," "impede capacity" and others, GA 419 falls far short of the usually high standard of writing offered by the delegation that wrote it,

Aspiring to a higher standard of international law making,

Hereby repeals GA 419 Voting Equality for Freed Inmates.

 

[Stoskavanya1]

Back in January I also wrote a draft to Repeal Voting Equality for Freed Inmates. I never followed through on it, but i'll be glad support yours to make it happen.

Questioning the wisdom of mandating how democracy should be practiced when member nations are not required to practice democracy at all,

Regretting a resolution intended to further democracy which finds fault with many democratic nations while dictatorships and absolute monarchies are automatically compliant

These two statements seem to be saying the same thing, i'd try to combine it somehow so it doesn't look like your trying to puff up your repeal. For reference in my repeal I wrote it as

Disturbed that the resolution places additional requirements on otherwise functional democracies, problematic due to the ability of non-democratic nations to dictate such standards without having to observe the provisions of the resolution themselves,

Concerned that GA 419 offers no definition of what constitutes voting, leaving much uncertainty as to how the legislation is to be applied across the Assembly's great variety of legislatures, referenda, workers' communes, committees and reality TV shows,

I think this clause is good. The whole argument of the resolution breaks down when you include votes that do not require representative democratic participation. Referenda on criminal punishments, the election of the local sheriff, workers communies, etc. The philosophies of some states may think that they do not need the input of all sections of society in order to make the right decision on certain matters, and in those cases one can see why a nation may not want prior inmates voting on those elections.

I wouldn't go as far to say that the resolution requires equal voting in reality T.V shows, though, that may be stretching it a bit.

Mindful that nations determined to disenfranchise the convicted will be encouraged to impose harsher penalties such as lifelong probation in order to circumvent the resolution,

In my opinion I wouldn't include this. One, its a hypothetical that only the most extreme nations would resort to. Two, I don't think voters in the WA usually take to pandering to the extreme elements in the WA anyway.

Baffled by GA 419's opposition to disenfranchising people because of something that does not affect mental capacity despite allowing nations to do precisely that in response to fraud and subversion, which do not affect mental capacity,

Good point. There may be a more tactful way of putting that, though.

Frustrated at GA 419's title referring only to incarceration when the proposal applies across the range of different judicial punishments used in member nations,

Ha ha, I had the same concern in my repeal. I do wonder why UM used "prior inmates" and not a more conventional term.

The other sections are fine as well.

I simply do not think the 'one size fits all' nature of the resolution translates well onto the international stage. As long as nations are free to choose their own ideology they should be free practice it as they fit, unless that practice would violate intrinsic human rights. I don't think voting equality for prior inmates is an intrinsic human right.

 

[Simone]

Locked as similar legislation passed as GA#661