Section I - Amendment to the Code of Laws

[Cyc]

This poll is created to determine whether or not we will establish the first Law in our Code of Laws (CoL). Basically, this law states the method used in approving any Amendments to the Code of Laws. The term Amendments would apply to the inital forming of the CoL, as well as to any changes to the document after that. The poll may not make a lot of difference in the game for some people, but it is important, so please vote.

The format of this poll is one of a public YES/NO/ABSTAIN format. The poll question asks whether you approve of the legislation posted below to be admitted to the Code of Laws.

YES ~ You approve of the legislation posted below.

NO ~ You reject the legislation posted below.

ABSTAIN ~ You have no opinion.

CoL I. Code of Laws Amendments

1. Altering the Code of Laws requires the proposed change to be presented in a
   discussion thread. When discussion dies down, a proposed poll must be posted 
   at the bottom of the discussion thread and remain there for at least 24 
   hours for review.  During this period, some form of a "Second" and a "Third" 
   must be obtained from at least two citizens other than the bill's author. 
   During this period of review, if any changes are made, the 24 hour review
   period starts over at that time and all "Seconds" and "Thirds" are lost.

2. Once the review period ends, and a "Second" and a "Third" obtained, the
   author of the proposed change may request a Judicial Review, by posting 
   in the Judicial thread. Having passed Judicial Review, the proposed poll
   may be posted in the Poll sub-subforum. The poll must remain open for 72 
   hours.

3. A quorum of 37% of the active census is required for the poll results to be 
   valid. 55% (dropping fractions) of those voting must approve of the proposed 
   change for it to be admitted to the Code of Laws.

For matters of clarification, there must be, using the figures posted above, 21 people voting in this poll in order for it to be valid. At least 11 of those votes must be a YES votes in order for the legislation to be approved. If the vote count goes beyond 21, then the 55% rule will remain in effect.

Forum discussion can be found here.

This poll will remain open for 3 days (72 hours)

 

[KCCrusader]

Don't you have to submit this for review? I mean...You obviously will pass it. And I would after reading it. But it definately takes a review to pass a law eh?

 

[Cyc]

Don't you have to submit this for review? I mean...You obviously will pass it. And I would after reading it. But it definately takes a review to pass a law eh?

You are correct, KCCrusader. This poll has been submitted to the Court for Judicial Review. If this proposal passes Judicial Review, there should be no problem with the Amendment passing. All other rquirements have been satisfied.

 

[Civman2004]

I question the validity of using the method contained within this law to evaluate it's success or failure. Since it isn't passed yet, how can we say we need 55% of votes for it to become law?

(Just making trouble - I have no issue with the way it's working, but it could set a bad precedent)

 

[Cyc]

I question the validity of using the method contained within this law to evaluate it's success or failure. Since it isn't passed yet, how can we say we need 55% of votes for it to become law?

(Just making trouble - I have no issue with the way it's working, but it could set a bad precedent)

We are in the initial stages of creating the lower book of law called the Code of Laws. We have to start somewhere, so it makes sense to start with the parameters of approving the remaining Sections. Once this Section is approved, it will make passage of other Sections more uniform. The process will become simpler.

 

[Sarevok]

I vote Yes.

 

[Gregski]

Don't we have to research Code of Laws and build a courthouse before we can pass this law?

Seriously it's good, but I believe the ratio of yes should be much higher, 67% in my view. A vote with less than 2/3 majority will not hold sufficient levels of public confidence.
Also the ratio of total voters should be something like 50% of the active voting electorate.
Because of these reasons, regrettably I cannot support this legislation.

 

[Black_Hole]

why not?
seems good to me...

 

[Gregski]

why not?
seems good to me...

Assuming you refer to my post, I felt that the percentages for turnout and yes votes were not sufficiently high to ensure the will of the entire citizenry. I will not raise major issues if this is not an issue for others though.

 

[Cyc]

Assuming you refer to my post, I felt that the percentages for turnout and yes votes were not sufficiently high to ensure the will of the entire citizenry. I will not raise major issues if this is not an issue for others though.

I believe you just did. Two posts in opposition may be considered that.

Just so you know, the Constitution is a national document that guides our nation. Because its Articles are written the way they are, general consensus is that the Constitution should be difficult to change. Thus a high approval rating was attached to it.

This poll is in regards to the fist Section to be established for the Code of Laws, a lower Book of Laws designed to help define th Constitution. Because of the way it is written, general consensus is that laws for this book should still require citizen participation at an enhanced level, but be easier to change than the Constitution. Thus a lower approval rating is attached to it. This makes amending lower laws quicker and easier for the people.

 

[Sir Donald III]

Well, noble Gregski, there have been some concerns by the veterans about how accurately the Census represents the "Active Voting Electorate".

The Census currently stands at 50, but would likely have a major adjustment next month.

It takes 38 votes for a Quarum to be achieved for Constitutional ammendments under the revised Article I. I don't know what was required under the Original Article I, but enough people thought it was attrocious enough to change it. Even so, with the recent ammendments as standard, we only made 40. In fact, had the Chief Justice not answered my concerns, I would have been remembered as "the Newbie that held up the Constitution" rather than a reformist that's helping to complete the Constitution.

37% of Quarum would be 18, if I did the math correctly. Further, you would have to have a slight bit more than a simple majority of those voting to win.

Heck, His Honor the Chief Justice debated about having a Poll to determine what the voting thresholds would be, but the response in the discussion thread was for going ahead with the suggested standard within the CJ's proposal.

 

[ravensfire]

Abstain, public poll.

-- Ravensfire

 

[Cyc]

I would like to thank everyone who voted on this Amendment.