By-Elections

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Delia Lake
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By-Elections

Post by Delia Lake »

We have a situation where the CDS does not have enough candidates for the 34th term of the RA to fill the Constitutionally specified number of seats. We need to resolve this according to the Constitution and Code of Laws. While there are procedures addressing by-elections, they only partially address the situation we find ourselves in right now. Below I have copied the section of the Constitution and also CDSL 20-02 By-Election Procedures Act, and CDSL 32-1 Election Bill (STV Quota). While the SC can call for a by-election, the procedures as currently written would require us to either use the census from the end of July or wait for the end of January census, neither of which is ideal for a by-election to fill an under-filled term before it begins or shortly thereafter. To address our situation legally, we need to review the current laws and I believe recommend an amendment to cover a situation when there are insufficient candidates during a scheduled election which then require us to hold a by-election. Please read these and comment.

The Constitution, Article I - The Representative Body, Section 2
The number of representative seats in the RA is equal to five.
In each RA election, voters shall select from among the candidates using Single Transferable Voting (a ranked voting method).
Vacancies in RA positions will be filled by by-election administered on a schedule set by the Scientific Council consistent with other applicable CDS law.

CDSL 20-02, By-Election Procedures Act

Preamble:

The laws of the CDS do not provide a clear set of directions for the SC to use in scheduling by-elections. This act is intended to provide a clear procedure to use in scheduling by-elections, that complies with CDSL 16-04 Citizenship membership publication for election purposes, CDSL 13-09 Campaigning Act, CDSL 13-04 Chancellor Direct Election Constitutional Amendment Act, CDSL 13-05 Chancellor Election Act and the Constitution.

Section 1 – Vacancies from the RA or Chancellorship:

Where a vacancy occurs on or before April 1st or October 1st, and the regular elections for the sitting RA and Chancellor had excess candidates who did not attain a seat, the regular election software will be run again using the data from the regular election, to establish the order in which the unsuccessful candidates would have been elected, had there been additional seats on RA available or multiple positions for Chancellor. The Dean of the SC will ask such candidates, in order, if they wish to fill the vacant RA seat or Chancellorship. Once a candidate accepts, the Dean will publish the results and announce the name of the candidate who has accepted. That candidate will be sworn into office as soon as possible.

Where there were no unsuccessful candidates in the regular election, or where no qualified candidate accepts the seat or Chancellorship, a by-election will be held as per Section 2.

Section 2: Schedule for By-elections:
To ensure a current Citizen List is in place in the event of a by-election, a census will be taken on the last Friday of July, August, January and February and will be used to create a Citizen List, using the procedures legislated in CDSL 16-04 Citizenship membership publication for election purposes.This Citizen List shall be posted in the Forums, on the portal, and inworld by the Chancellor,(or in the event of a Chancellor vacancy, the Dean of the SC) with information on how to challenge inclusion or exclusion from the list . Any citizen may challenge inclusions or exclusions within 14 days of publication, by notecard to the Dean of the SC. Where no challenges have been received, or once any challenges have been resolved, the Citizen List will be declared accurate and official.

If a vacancy occurs on or before March 31st, or on or before September 30th, the most recent Citizen List shall be used to establish those who qualify to stand for election or to vote.

The SC shall meet and create a schedule for the by-election, ensuring that all of the following timeframes are observed:

The Dean of the SC will open new applications on the day notice was officially published in the Forums and close applications after a week.
The Dean of the SC will declare the Citizen List to be official once the deadline for challenges has passed, and when any challenges have been resolved.
Only those citizens whose names appear on the official Citizen List may run for office or vote in the by- election.
The Dean of the SC will ensure that all candidates are listed on the Citizen List and will publish an official list of candidates to the Forums and inworld.
The campaigning period may begin at noon SLT on the Saturday following the publication of the official candidate list, but not before noon SLT on the 22nd day following the date the census was conducted.
The polls for by-election may open at noon SLT the following Saturday, but not before the 29th day following the date the census was conducted, and will remain open for 168 hours. In the event of a server outage which prevents citizens from casting ballots and which lasts more than 12 hours, the Dean of the SC has the authority to adjust or extend the election schedule.

CDSL 32-1 Election Bill (STV Quota)

The CDS Constitution specifies that the electoral system will use the Single Transferable Vote method to allocate seats to the Representative Assembly following an election. The CDS will use the ‘Droop quota’ to determine the minimum number of votes a candidate needs in order to be elected.

Droop quota is understood to mean: without the decimal part.

In the event that the number of declared candidates for the Representative Assembly is equal to the number of seats, the declared candidates shall be acclaimed into office without a campaign period or polling.

In a case where the number of candidates declared for the Representative Assembly is less than the number of seats, the Scientific Council may call for a by-election in an attempt to fill any available seat(s). Seats that remain open after one by-election shall remain vacant for the balance of the term.

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Lilith Ivory
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Re: By-Elections

Post by Lilith Ivory »

I agree those laws need to be clarified.

CDSL 20-02 Section 2 states:

To ensure a current Citizen List is in place in the event of a by-election ….

this suggests we have to use the most current census for by-elections. In this case that would be the census taken at Oct. 17, 2020
http://forums.slcds.info/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=9621

and there is also CDSL 16-04 Citizenship membership publication for elation purposes
https://cdsdemocracy.org/faqs/cdsl-16-0 ... -purposes/

Preamble
It is the law of the CDS that citizens must hold the title to their land for more than 28 days, and have tier paid in full to qualify to vote or to run for office. However, due to the complexities of the electoral calendar, the validation of that requirement is unnecessarily complicated.
The Citizen List shall be the certified list of CDS citizens eligible to run for office or vote in CDS Elections. The Citizen List will be created in the following manner:

1. At 12 noon SLT on the dates designated by the Scientific Council, the Chancellor or his or her designate, will generate both a list of tier payors and a Land Scanner list of parcel owners. They will then compare these two lists to determine that a given name appears on both lists and that that given name is current in at least one parcel tier payment. In cases where the parcel owner is a group, the Chancellor or his or her designate shall compare the list of tier payors to the registered citizens for that group. Each group registered citizen must be listed as the tier payor and current in tier payment for at least one qualifying group-owned parcel. The Chancellor or his or her designate will use these lists to create one list of the citizens who are qualified to run for office or vote, the Citizen List.

2. Within 24 hours the Chancellor will publish the List on the CDS Forums, by notecard to the SL group ‘CDS’, by notecard available at the Praetorium and any other public location the Chancellor may choose, and on the CDS web portal.

3. Only those citizens whose names appear on the published Citizen List may run for office or vote in the CDS elections.

4. Any citizen may challenge the inclusion or omission of an avatar on the Citizen List by petitioning the Scientific Council. Any such petition challenging the Citizen List must be received by the Dean of the SC no later than midnight SLT, 14 days after that Citizen List is published. The SC will make every effort to resolve such challenges within 7 days so that nominations and elections can proceed with an accurate Citizen List.

6. This bill applies to all elections and by-elections of Government members, representatives, or any official polling act called by any of the Government Branches (such as referenda or public consultation) that may have legislative power.

7. This bill does not revoke any other right of citizens, specifically NL 5-21, Citizen Involvement Act, or any public contest without the force of legislative power, such as proposing a new theme for an upcoming region to be publicly opened, redesigning the CDS official presence, or similar non-legislative acts.

Section 1 and section 6 allows the SC to ask for a census whenever we need one.
Our landscanner creates a citizen list now every friday so it would´t be a problem to have a full census created quickly

"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."
Terry Pratchett
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Lilith Ivory
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Re: By-Elections

Post by Lilith Ivory »

We had nearly the same situation Nov 2012 already.
I suggest we save ourselves a lot of pondering and deal with the by-election the same way as 2012
the SC transcript and minutes can be found here:
https://forums.slcds.info/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3943

"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."
Terry Pratchett
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