Bill: Vote Congressional Expansion Act

[ameslap]

CONGRESS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
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A BILL TO

AMEND THE CONSTITUTION TO
EXPAND CONGRESS




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The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:


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PART I — PRELIMINARIES

1. Short Title and Enactment

(1) This Act may be cited as the ‘Congressional Expansion Act’

(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately following its assent.

(3) This Act has been authored by Representative Ameslap, using material authored by Stanley582.

(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by Representative Murasaki Aii and Senator DartanBoy.

(5) This Act amends the following Constitution.

2. Reasons and Intent

(1) Redmont has seen an influx of players and playtime in the last three months.

(2) This influx creates even more disparity in the Citizen-to-Congress ratio, a body that is designed to be of and for the people.

(3) Fixes issues that were brought up by the President in their Veto.

PART II — Amendments

3. House of Representatives

(1) Section 3 of the Constitution shall be amended to read:

3. House of Representatives
The House of Representatives shall consist of 11 15 citizens, referred to as Representatives who are elected for a 2-month term.

4. Senate

(1) Section 4 of the Constitution shall be amended to read:

4. Senate
The Senate shall consist of 6 8 citizens, referred to as Senators who are elected for a 4-month term. The Senate acts as the house of review to the House of Representatives.

(2) Section 9(2) of the Constitution shall be amended by inserting the following:

(b) Newly Created Seats. Where the number of seats in the Senate is increased, newly created Senate seats shall be assigned between Class A and Class B so that the number of seats in each class remains equal, or as nearly equal as possible.

(c) Initial Term. A citizen initially elected to a newly created Senate seat shall serve for the remainder of the term applicable to the class to which that seat has been assigned.

5. Absolute Floor

(1) Section 10(3) of the Constitution shall be amended to read:

(3) Absolute Floor. Notwithstanding the above, no decision shall be valid unless it receives at least affirmative votes equating to 4 6 for the House of Representatives, and 2 3 for the Senate.

(a) Where the number of seats in a chamber is increased by an amendment to the Constitution, any increase to the absolute floor associated with that expansion shall not take effect until each newly seat created by that amendment has first been assumed by a citizen.

6. Quorum

(1) Section 10(1) of the Constitution shall be amended by inserting the following subsection:

(a) Newly Created Seats. Where an amendment to the Constitution increases the number of seats in either chamber of Congress, a newly created seat shall not be included in the statutory number of seats of that chamber until a citizen first assumes office in that seat.

7. Electoral Terms and Limitations

(1) Section 7 of the Constitution is amended by inserting the following:

(4) Newly Created Seats. Where an amendment to the Constitution increases the number of seats in either chamber of Congress, the newly created seats shall be filled at the first regularly scheduled congressional election following the enactment of the amendment.

 

[greymc]

- I've already talked about this before but I'll say it here.

1. Population. This bill talks about data used from July 2026 in comparison to April 2026. This was before the mass exodus after the strike, and seeing that we now have a lot less of a player-base on at once, I'd like new data before we continue here.
2. Representation. Just because a Representative or Senator has more people that they need to represent does not mean there is a lack of representation. They still represent the same percentage of people, and I haven't heard any actual concerns about people feeling not represented. You can dm a rep or senator anything you need, and they will still listen to you.
3. Flawed Data. This data uses an active player base metric from people who I believe have 6h of playtime. This is normally a good metric, but in the most recent July special, only 323/4 people voted. This gives us about 29 people per Representative, and 54 people per Senator. Obviously, there are more people than just the voters, but people cannot be truly and fully represented unless they go out an vote.
(I'm not saying you aren't represented, before someone takes me out of context, I'm saying people who don't vote aren't allowing themselves to be as visible so Reps can see them)
4. Senate. The Senate, per the Constitution, is the "house of review" to the HoR. It can confirm appointments, hold impeachment trials, and approve treaties. This is a big job that we need for people who are more experienced in Redmont. Opening up the Senate this early (2 months after the jaron wave) is much more reactionary than logistical. The Senate is fine as it is, six people allows us for real debate between a small group actually making sure what the House passes is logistical and good for Redmont.
5. Irreversible. This change is irreversible. Going up to 15 Representatives and 8 Senators will not be undone, because why would Congress choose to lower themselves, meaning definitely that 4 reps and 2 senators are out of a job. The reason I put a motion to amend for 13 Representatives, is because if that fails and leads to poorly elected representatives (I'll say more below) then it's only two seats. I'd rather take a slow route and see how it effects the Commonwealth before we jump to any drastic changes.
6. Democracy. I haven't gotten to be able to properly run the numbers, but I believe through my research that people with only 5 first preference votes & small back-end votes could get elected if we go to 15 representatives. This isn't democracy, it's getting some friends to rank you & hand you a free role.

 

[unalign]

I prefer if it's directly based on the number of voters on the election somehow. i dont like irreversible