Moderator: SC Moderators
Oh, OK Beathan, thanks.
It seems rare that there would be more than one previously scheduled election per RA term anyway, so in my view this provision is nearly redundant. However, in the last RA meeting Gwyneth said she wanted it, so I put it into the wording of the bill.
Sonja --
As I read the language, "There shall not be more than one referendum per RA term." -- this means not that there will only be one election with referendums -- but that there will only be one referendum per election. That is, one question can be referred per term. For instance, this would require that you pick one, and only one, of your three referendums for consideration.
Beathan
Oh, I see - thank you for this clarification Beathan.
I incorporated Gwyneth's exact wording into the bill, but might have misunderstood what it means. In part I based my understanding of it on her post here http://forums.slcds.info/viewtopic.php? ... =15#p11014, toward the bottom in her third bullet-point. Maybe we should ask her to clarify what her intent was. If it was how I undestood it, then we could further incorporate her comment "that they could have more than one yes/no question." If it was not how I understood it, then I will want to rethink my support of it.
OK -- I think I see how this would work. In my jurisdiction, we call this the "single subject rule." An initiative or referendum can only have a single subject. I am used to each initiative or referendum also only having one up/down vote -- but, I can see this proposal working as follows:
The RA can refer a single unified subject matter to public vote. That subject can be explored in multiple yes/no questions, provided that all the questions involve the single, unified subject of the referendum.
The problem I see is that, in my jurisdiction, the "single subject rule" is, by far, the most litigated aspect of initiative and referendum law. I see this possibility here, as well -- with opponents of a referendum challenging the referendum as involving more than one subject -- and thus inviting the SC to rewrite the referendum.
Beathan
This is a cross-post to: http://forums.slcds.info/viewtopic.php? ... 7&start=30
There I wrote:
I am very happy to announce that a Referendum Bill was passed in the Representative Assembly! This was the result of help from all three factions, especially from CSDF member Gwyneth Llewelyn.
The wording of the new law is:
"Referendum Act - Preamble: A Referendum Question can be seen as a set of up to five questions, to be unambiguously answered 'aye' or 'nay', and posed to all citizens. Each Referendum Question addresses a specific topic, subject, or theme, and is advisory to the government as to the wishes of the citizens. Thus the RA determines: "The Representative Assembly may place a maximum of one referendum per term, to be voted at the next previously scheduled ballot, which shall not be legally binding."
Thank you to everybody who helped make Referendum Voting a real possibility in the CDS!!