Elections Act

Assembly MATT Duck Law Archive
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Elections Act

An act establishing elections for office

1. Election Commissioner

(1) An Election Commissioner will be appointed by the Council on Regional Security to administer all forum elections.

(2) The Commissioner will be responsible for the creation of election notices, the organization of election forums, the verification of candidate eligibility, the distribution and collection of ballots, and counting and verifying cast ballots.

(3) The Commissioner may not run for or hold an elected office during their tenure as Commissioner.

  1. This does not prohibit the Commissioner from resigning to seek office via an election or finding an accepted surrogate to oversee the election in their place.

(4) The Commissioner will be a permanent position and shall be replaced as needed due to inactivity or ineligibility by the Council on Regional Security. The Assembly may recall a Commissioner for abuse of power or neglect of responsibilities through regular order.

(5) Any election-related disputes will be arbitrated by the Commissioner; should the dispute be on a matter of law, the Commissioner shall refer it to the High Court. The Commissioner will not finalize any election until all disputes have been settled.

2. Electoral Basics

(1) For forum-based voting, voters shall vote by secret ballot.

  1. The method of casting secret ballots will be selected by the Election Commissioner. The chosen method must utilize an unaffiliated account, group, or server, with the method and all votes remaining available for audit.
  2. Voters may not alter their votes once cast via the method selected by the Election Commissioner.
  3. Named ballots shall not be released by the Election Commissioner under any circumstances.

(2) In each election, voters can, subject to limitations set for the specific voting method, vote for the Re-Open Nominations option, which shall function like a normal candidate in the election. If, under the voting method used, the option to Re-Open Nominations is a winner, the election process for the exact position won by it shall restart.

(3) To be eligible to be included on a ballot, a candidate must post a campaign in an area designated by the Election Commissioner. The campaign must prominently include a truthful declaration of all potential conflicts of interest the candidate may have within and outside of the South Pacific.

(4) To be eligible to vote in, or stand for, a forum-based election, a citizen must have been accepted by the Citizenship Committee before the period for nominations began for that particular election.

(5) If the voting method used in an election ties candidates, whether for elimination or winning, the Election Commissioner will select a method of arbitration, unless the tie can be resolved by special provisions set for the election in law. If the method chosen involves chance, an unaffiliated Discord bot will be used to generate a result in a public channel randomly using a coin toss or some similar set of pre-defined outcomes.

(6) Under Instant-Runoff Voting, the sole winner is determined as follows;

  1. As their ballot, a voter lists any candidates they wish in descending order of preference.
  2. Until a candidate has received an absolute majority of first-place preferences and thus becomes the winner, the candidate with the fewest first-place preferences is eliminated and the ballots get retallied, ignoring any eliminated candidates and discounting ballots solely listing eliminated candidates.
  3. If candidates tie for elimination, all those receiving the fewest second-place preferences among them are eliminated.

(7) Under Approval Voting, winners ‒ as many as specified for the respective position ‒ are determined as follows;

  1. As their ballot, a voter either indicates all candidates they approve of, or the option to Re-Open Nominations.
  2. Until enough winners have been found, the most-approved candidate among the non-winners becomes a winner.
  3. The option to Re-Open Nominations wins in place of the winners who have been approved on less than half of all ballots.

(8) Under Majority Voting, the sole winner is determined as follows;

  1. As their ballot, a voter indicates the candidate their vote shall go towards.
  2. If a candidate has received an absolute majority of votes, they are the winner; otherwise, the two candidates who have received the most votes advance to a runoff, held under the same rules as this round of voting. Should this runoff result in a tie, then the tie shall be broken according to the general tie-breaking procedure.

3. Office of the Delegate

(1) The Delegate will be elected in a two-round process constituting a single election, with the citizens voting on a slate of nominees on the forums, and candidates advancing from that process being voted on by regional poll on-site.

(2) On the 15th of January and July, the citizens will convene for the first round of Delegate Elections.

  1. Any eligible citizen wishing to run for Delegate may declare their candidacy, and the citizens will debate the merits of their platform. Any player who has been banned from World Assembly membership will be considered ineligible and any candidate who is later discovered to be banned from World Assembly membership will be immediately disqualified. Citizens wishing to run for Delegate must hold a number of endorsements equal to at least 80% of the existing general endorsement cap at the commencement of the election period.
  2. The campaign and debate period will last four days, after which the citizens will vote for four days.
  3. This round of voting for Delegate will use Approval Voting to determine two winners as candidates in the second round. If candidates tie for being a winner, all of those tied candidates shall be considered winners.

(3) After the winners of the first round have been determined, the second round will commence with those winners as candidates.

  1. The Election Commissioner will create a six-day-long regional poll through which eligible members may cast their ballots. The poll must provide instructions for them on how to do so, and may only allow Native World Assembly members to participate.
  2. A Dispatch containing the campaigns of all candidates will be created to aid voters in their choice.
  3. Members of the South Pacific Special Forces who are on deployment at the conclusion of the regional poll are eligible to cast a ballot. The Prime Minister shall provide a list of deployed personnel to the Election Commissioner. Members on the list can cast their ballot through a public post on the Regional Message Board which tags the Election Commissioner.
  4. The winner of this round, as decided using Majority Voting, will be declared the Delegate-elect.

(4) The Delegate-elect will be considered formally inaugurated upon achieving the most endorsements. Prior to inauguration, the sole responsibility of the Delegate-elect is to gather endorsements, in coordination with the incumbent Delegate and in cooperation with the Council on Regional Security. The incumbent will continue to hold the office of the Delegate and will remain responsible for all responsibilities of that office, serving out the remainder of their term, until the inauguration of the Delegate-elect.

4. Office of the Prime Minister

(1) On the 15th of January, April, July, and October, the citizens will convene to elect the Prime Minister.

  1. Any eligible citizen wishing to run for Prime Minister may declare their candidacy, and the citizens will debate the merits of their platform.
  2. The campaign and debate period will last four days, after which the citizens will vote for four days.
  3. The election will be conducted using Instant-Runoff Voting.
  4. The winner of the election will be declared the Prime Minister-elect by the Election Commissioner.

(2) Provided that a candidate other than Re-Open Nominations wins the election, the term for the Prime Minister-elect shall begin on the first day of the month immediately following the election period. Any and all election-related disputes must be resolved prior to this inauguration date.

(3) If Re-Open Nominations wins the election, then the term for the Prime Minister-elect shall begin on the day immediately following the date on which the Election Commissioner finalizes the results of the repeated election process. If the repeated election process extends beyond the first day of the month immediately following the initial election period, then the outgoing Prime Minister and any appointed Cabinet ministers shall remain in office in a caretaker capacity until the Prime Minister-elect takes office.

5. Office of the Chair

(1) The Assembly shall choose the Chair of the Assembly pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Legislative Procedure Act.

(2) A resolution adopting a Chair shall not constitute an election for purposes of Article 2, Section 2 of the Citizenship Act.

6. Vacancies of Office

(1) Should the office of Prime Minister become vacant, a special election will be held to fill the vacancy.

  1. The Council on Regional Security shall promptly designate a citizen to serve as caretaker Prime Minister for the duration of the special election process. The caretaker Prime Minister shall hold office until the day after the date on which the Election Commissioner finalizes the results of the special election.
  2. If at least half of the term remains as of the date on which the office becomes vacant, the Prime Minister elected in the special election will serve until the next regularly scheduled election. If less than half of the term remains, the elected Prime Minister will serve the remainder of the scheduled term and the additional subsequent full term.

(2) Should the office of Delegate become vacant, the next person in the line of succession will become interim Delegate until the next regularly scheduled election or special election, if one is required by law.

  1. If at least half of the Delegate’s term remains as of the date on which the office becomes vacant, then a special election will be held to fill the vacancy.

7. Constitutional Law

(1) The Elections Act is a constitutional law, and further amendments to it must meet constitutional amendment requirements.

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A2303.01 | Change in the Election of Ministers Passed

Article 4 of the Elections Act was amended by the Assembly on the 13th of March, 2023.

(Debate thread | Voting thread)

3

Great Council of 2022 | Omnibus Bill Adopted

The Article 7 of the Elections Act was amended by the Great Council of 2022 following its adjournment sine die and adoption of a final omnibus bill on the 29th of March, 2023, as follows:

(Debate topic | Voting topic | Announcement topic)

4

Office of the Chair | Discretionary Edits from the Chair’s Office Done

The titles and Articles 3, 4, and 5 of the Elections Act were amended using the Chair’s discretionary powers on the 8th of April, 2023, as follows:

(Debate thread)

Blue is used to represent the correction of alignment from left to centre

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A2304.02 | Omnibus Reconciliation of PM Appointed Cabinet Provisions Passed

Several different elements from across the entire Elections Act were amended via this omnibus bill, the changes can be viewed below. These changes were passed and adopted by the Assembly on 28th April 2023.

(Debate thread | Voting thread)

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A2305.03 | Delegate Election Rescheduling Amendments Passed

Article 3 was amended to re-schedule the Delegacy election and remove references to the Minister of Defence.

(Debate thread | Voting thread)

Articles 5 and 6 were separately amended to re-introduce scheduled Chair elections and re-write what occurs in the event of the Chair’s vacancy.

(Voting thread)

As a note, apologies for forgetting to update the law earlier. — @Cryo

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A2309.01 | Amended Voter Registration Bill Passed

Articles 2, 3, and 4 were amended to the changes as viewed below on the 2nd of October, 2023.

(Debate topic | Voting topic)

Text of the Bill
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A2311.02 | Amendment to the Elections Act Passed

Sections 3, 4 & 5 of the Elections Act were amended by the Assembly on the 21st of November, 2023.

(Debate thread | Voting thread)

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A2401.01 | Elections Act Reform Passed

Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 of the Elections Act were amended by the Assembly on the 11th of January, 2024.

(Debate thread | Voting thread)