[GA - DEFEATED] Fairness In Elections

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Hulldom

Hulldom

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Fairness In Elections
Category: Furtherment of Democracy | Strength: Strong
Proposed by: Tinhampton | Co-authored by: CoraSpia | Onsite Topic​

Recalling that an earlier attempt to allow prisoners to vote was defeated by approximately 8,300 votes to 6,000, partially due to issues concerning the enfranchisement of voter fraudsters and disenfranchisement as punishment for a crime which are not present in this resolution,

Believing that those member states which choose to hold democratic elections or referenda should refrain from rendering anyone unable to vote in them simply due to their circumstances, and

Seeking to restore many of the protections for formerly-imprisoned voters that were assured by GA#419 "Voting Equality for Freed Inmates"...

The General Assembly hereby:

  1. defines, for the purposes of this resolution:
    1. an "election" as an election for public office or a referendum (whether binding or non-binding), and
    2. a "relevant crime" in any given member state as any one of:
      • any war crime,
      • any crime against humanity, including torture and all forms of genocide,
      • a crime involving proven election fraud,
      • a crime involving the deliberate killing or injury of other people, successful or not, in order to facilitate a political goal, and
      • a crime involving the overthrow of the government of that member or any of its political subdivisions,
  2. requires members to ensure that no person within their jurisdiction is prevented (or otherwise unduly restricted) from voting in a election as punishment for any crime other than a relevant crime; or simply because that person is currently, or has previously been, punished for a crime other than a relevant crime,
  3. forbids members and any courts that may be established by resolution from rescinding any person's citizenship in order to bypass Articles b or d in relation to that person,
  4. reminds members that they must not prevent any person from voting at any election simply because:
    1. that person possesses or does not possess any arbitrary or reductive characteristic, except where such prevention is allowed by prior and standing international law (including future international law on preventing minors from voting) or necessary to ensure that those who are not citizens of a particular member state do not vote in elections organised by that member,
    2. that person is employed, unemployed, a member or a non-member of any trade union, nor simply because
    3. that person is bankrupt or in debt,
  5. requires each prison in member states to protect their inmates from being pressured to vote for or against any option, candidate or slate of candidates (or to refrain from voting) by any entity employed by or currently held at that prison in all elections in a manner that seriously impacts those inmates' judgement,
  6. orders that those members which choose to hold elections provide adequate voting access to prison inmates equivalent to the voting access enjoyed by the non-incarcerated population,
  7. clarifies that this resolution does not mandate that elections be organised in any member state, yet
  8. mandates that those members which choose not to hold elections apply Articles b, c, d and f in regards to all people that would otherwise be eligible to vote in any non-election votes it may organise (such as votes organised by a one-party state to determine who joins that party's central leadership committee which only members of that party can vote in), and that any prisons within such members likewise apply Article e to such votes, and
  9. insists that all members - whether or not they hold elections - permit those expressions of opposition to their government that are in full compliance with international law.
Co-authored with CoraSpia.
Click to expand...
Note: Only votes from TNP WA nations and NPA personnel will be counted. If you do not meet these requirements, please add (non-WA) or something of that effect to your vote.
Voting Instructions:
  • Vote For if you want the Delegate to vote For the resolution.
  • Vote Against if you want the Delegate to vote Against the resolution.
  • Vote Abstain if you want the Delegate to abstain from voting on this resolution.
  • Vote Present if you are personally abstaining from this vote.
Detailed opinions with your vote are appreciated and encouraged!
[TR][TD] For [/TD][TD]Against[/TD][TD] Abstain [/TD][TD] Present [/TD][/TR][TR][TD]3[/TD][TD]9[/TD][TD]0[/TD][TD]2[/TD][/TR]
 
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IFV - Against - Please upvote!
Overview
"Fairness in Elections" seeks to expand voting rights in member nations by protecting the ability of convicted criminals to vote and mandating that prison inmates receive adequate voting access, among other provisions.

Recommendation
While regulating member nations' electoral systems may seem morally palatable, this proposal does not tackle that premise well. Section d is entirely redundant with existing law, clause f ignores potential issues caused by different constituency systems and prisoner movement, clause h inexplicably limits itself to nations which do not hold elections as defined by the proposal and is easily circumventable by simply holding occasional non-binding votes or referenda, and clause i achieves effectively nothing. The proposal's protection of convicted criminals' ability to vote is itself circumventable, as a nation may still disenfranchise would-be voters for nominally unrelated reasons, as clause c aptly demonstrates in its attempt to patch but one of the ways a nation may circumvent the proposal's core provision.

For these reasons, the Ministry of World Assembly Affairs recommends voting Against the at-vote General Assembly resolution, "Fairness in Elections".
 
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For.

I feel it is very right for prison inmates to not be pressured or bullied to support and vote for a particular candidate. That way, elections would be fair and square.
 
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This proposal has made quorum and will proceed to vote at Major Update on Sunday, June 13-pending the item ahead of it staying quorate.
 
My opinion on election stuff has changed. Present since I haven't read the actual resolution since drafting. (non-WA)
 
Boston Castle:
This proposal has made quorum and will proceed to vote at Major Update on Sunday, June 13-pending the item ahead of it staying quorate.
Click to expand...
Scratch that. This proposal will now proceed to vote at Major Update on Wednesday, June 9-pending the item ahead of it staying quorate following the withdrawal of “Protections During Territorial Transitions”.
 
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For (non-WA)

Just to summarize my thoughts, this is a vast improvement over Tin's previous resolution in this subject. It doesn't force states to grant the vote to those who have committed crimes against humanity or crimes against the election system. It allows prisoners redress if they are treated harshly. A politician is much more likely to listen to a group that can vote than one that can't. This improves instances with states with mass incarceration or a flawed justice system for example. Furthermore, it further affirms that voting is an inalienable right, and one that can only be taken away in exceptional circumstances.

Overall this seems like a nice compromise between no resolution and the previous resolution, and I think it's certainly worthy of a for vote.
 
Against as per IFV and my belief that regulating the specifics of national elections just isn't something the WA is well-equipped to handle. I would love to see a future proposal to the contrary, though.
 
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