Proposal:Elections and Referendums Act

Preamble

This act will establish procedures for the administration of elections and referendums.

Article 1: Elections

Section 1: Nominations

1. Nominations for any elected office will be opened on the third to last Monday of its term, and will be closed when voting is opened.
2. A thread will be created on the Regional Forums, and all nominations will be submitted in it by post.
3. No person may stand for the office of Delegate or Vice Delegate and the office of senator at the same time.
4. Any candidate for Delegate who does not nominate a candidate for Vice Delegate or whose nominee does not accept before voting begins will not be eligible for election.
5. No person may stand for office in any election during which they became a citizen.

Section 2: Platforms

1. Any candidate or political party contesting an election may submit a platform.
2. When nominations are opened, a thread will be created on the Regional Forums, and all platforms will be submitted by post in it.
3. All candidates will be contacted by private message on the Regional Forums and encouraged to submit a platform.

Section 3: Voting

1. Voting for any elected office will begin on the last Thursday of its term and will close at the end of the following Sunday.
2. Ballots will be collected secretly using a Condorcet Internet Voting Service poll with detailed ballot reporting enabled and without proportional representation enforced.
3. The description for any such poll will contain:

   1. Any submitted platforms;
   2. A highly visible disclaimer that the Condorcet Internet Voting Service is only used to collect ballots, and its results may be incorrect;
   3. A link to Information for Voters and;
   4. Instructions to contact the Chief Justice with any questions.

4. Candidates' party affiliations will be listed by their names in any such poll.

Section 4: Results

1. The results of any vote for an elected office will be tallied and announced within the Monday following its close.
2. The Droop quota will be used in elections to the Senate.
3. Any ties will be broken in favor of the candidate with the highest vote count in the most recent round where no tie existed. If no such round exists, the tie will be broken in favor of the candidate who has held their current citizenship the longest.
4. The full results of the count will be posted on the Regional Forums, and will include:
   1. The names of the elected candidates;
   2. The details of each round of the count, including each candidate's vote count, which candidates have been elected or eliminated, how many ballots have been transferred, the number of exhausted ballots, and a sum of the total number of ballots;
   3. A link to the raw results of the poll;
   4. A highly visible disclaimer that CIVS was only used to collect ballots, and its results may be incorrect;
   5. A link to Information for Voters;
   6. Instructions to contact the Chief Justice with any questions.

Section 5: Terms of Office

1. A new term for any elected office will begin the Tuesday following the close of voting.

Article 2: Referendums

Section 1: Voting

1. If a referendum is initiated by a petition or act of the Senate, a vote will begin on the second following Thursday and will close at the end of the following Sunday.
2. A poll will be created on the Regional Forums, and all ballots will be submitted in it.
3. If the referendum is on an amendment to the Constitution or laws, the poll will contain the full text of the proposed change. Else, if the referendum is on the recall of an elected official, it will contain the office and person in question.

Section 2: Results

1. The results of the referendum will be tallied and announced within the Monday following the close of voting.

Article 3: General Provisions

Section 1: Information for Voters

1. All citizens will be promptly informed of the opening of any nominations or votes by in-game telegram and private message on the Regional Forums.
2. The Regional Message Board will contain announcements about all current elections and referendums, and the dates of any upcoming elections or referendums.

Section 2: Franchise

1. No person may participate in any vote during which they became a citizen.

Section 3: Dates and Times

1. For the purposes of this act, all dates and times will be determined using Universal Time.