Proposed Legislation: Article X and Y

[Black_Hole]

The following is the proposed legislation:

Article X.  The Census is defined as the average number of votes cast,
            dropping fractions, in each of the contested elections in
            the most recent general elections.  
            
            1.  Should more than 3 citizens request it within a 48 
            hour period in the Judiciary thread, the Chief Justice 
            will create a poll to determine a true Census.  The results
            of this poll will override any previous Census.             
            
Article Y.  As this is intended to be a living document, and can change,
            this Constitution may be Amended as outlined below.
            
            1.  A Proposed Poll post must be posted in the discussion 
                thread for the amendment for 24 hours before submission 
                to the Judiciary for review.  This post must include 
                the current text and the proposed text.
            
            2.  Judicial approval of the Amendment  
            
            3.  A poll which is open for at least 96 hours, which states
                the text of the proposed section(s), the text of the
                section(s) being replaced and the posing the question
                in the form of Yes/No/Abstain.
                
            4.  To pass, the proposal must meet one of the following 
                criteria:
                a.  A 2/3 majority of all votes cast.
                b.  A simple majority of all votes cast and the total
                    number of votes exceeds 60% of the Census.

Please vote yes(I agree to the changes), no(I do not agree to the changes), or abstain.

For this legislation to pass, it must:
either
a. A 2/3 majority of all votes cast.
or
b. A simple majority of all votes cast and the total
number of votes exceeds 60% of the Census.

This poll will be open for 96 hours

 

[donsig]

I have to vote against this one. Article X.1 gives a 48 hours time limit which is a) too small and b) indeterminate (since the article does not specify the point the 48 hours begins).

Also, if this is supposed to be part of our constitition I shudder to think what you've all done to the beautiful document we had back in DGIII. This kind of stuff belongs in the Code of Laws not the constitution. It is no wonder we have to write the bloody constitution over every time we start a demogame!

 

[Ashburnham]

I would think it's understood that the 48 hours starts from the moment the citizen posts the request. Also, I don't think the time-span is too short at all. If the Judiciary can't put up a simple poll within 48 hours of being asked, we've got more problems than just sloppy legislation.

 

[donsig]

I would think it's understood that the 48 hours starts from the moment the citizen posts the request. Also, I don't think the time-span is too short at all. If the Judiciary can't put up a simple poll within 48 hours of being asked, we've got more problems than just sloppy legislation.

What if the requests are made by pm? This is not prohibited by the legislation as the form of the request is not defined.

48 hours is too short a time because of weekends for one thing. Assuming a procedure is worked out for making the request (remember three citizens have to make the request) then the 48 hour clock strarts ticking. (This is of course compounded by the fact that we're a world-wide community in vastly different time zones.) Say the request is made on Friday evening. The 48 hours is up Sunday evening. Give the judiciary a break and give them weekends off.

 

[Ashburnham]

Well, donsig, I'm afraid we've both read this amendment incorrectly. Looking at the wording, it looks like it's the citizens who must make the request within 48 hours of each other. The CJ may then put up the poll at his leisure.

While I'm a bit embarassed that I missed this the first time, I actually like the law better this way. By establishing a deadline for a certain number of citizens to request a new census, we are assuring that any poll put up would be backed by the concerted demands of the citizenry. And, I'm afraid you have no reason to oppose the legislation now, donsig.

 

[Black_Hole]

These articles have passed approval.