Bill: Draft Duplicate Terms Act

[Novakerbal]

CONGRESS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
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A BILL TO

Amend the Constitution




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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 ‘Duplicate Terms Act’

(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.

(3) This Act has been authored by Representative NovaKerbal.

(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by Senator Incarnation__ and Representative xXTheoryXx.


2. Reasons and Intent

(1) Recent rulings by the Judiciary necessitate that Congress clarify the legislative intent behind the right to run for office, and whether reasonable limitations on this right may be permitted.

(2) Currently, a member of Congress can run in a special election for a seat in the chamber which they already represent.

(3) Nothing exists to prevent a popular player from running for a seat in the same chamber, and subsequently running for the seat vacated in the event that they win. This would create continuous administrative strain via looping special elections, and would prevent either chamber of congress from having a full complement of members.

(4) This bill aims to clarify the Constitution, and emphasize that reasonable limitations can be placed upon the right to run for office. As well as explicitly codifying restrictions on running for duplicate seats during special elections.


PART II — Amendments to the Constitution

3. Amendments
(1) Section 7 of the Constitution is amended as follows:
7. Electoral Terms and Limitations

(1) Chamber Eligibility. A citizen may only serve in one chamber of Congress. If a citizen is elected to both the House of Representatives and the Senate, they must forfeit their seat in the House and assume their seat in the Senate.

(2) Seat Eligibility. A member of Congress may not run for a vacant congressional seat if they fulfill both of the following:

• They maintain a seat in the same chamber of congress as the vacant seat.
• Their remaining term in office covers the entirety of the remaining term in office of the vacant seat.

(3) Caretaker. Congress will enter caretaker 10 days before the polls are set to close for the general Congressional election and will leave caretaker immediately after the election results for the aforementioned election are put into effect.



(2) Section 35 of the Constitution is amended as follows:
35. Rights & Freedoms
The Redmont Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it, subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law that are justified in a free and democratic society.

(1) The right to participate in, and run for elected office, unless as punishment for a crime.

(2) The right to vote in elections and referendums, provided the player accrued 6 or more active hours of playtime in the last 30 days at the time of voting.

(3) The right to Secret Ballot in elections and referendums.

(4) All accused are entitled to appeal a charge made against them by the state.

(5) Every citizen has the right to not produce self-incriminating evidence in any situation. In criminal matters, no adverse inferences may be made from this right being exercised, specifically such that the exercise of this right in itself shall not be weighted when determining a verdict in criminal Court.

(6) Freedom of Political Communication.

(7) Rights, excluding the right to participate in, and run for elected office, cannot be withheld as punishment for a crime on the basis of criminality, rights are inalienable.