Bill: Draft Redmont Electoral Act

[EmeraldGuuy]

CONGRESS OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF REDMONT
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A BILL TO

PROVIDE FOR ELECTIONS



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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 ‘Redmont Electoral Act’

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

(3) This Act has been authored by Riksvalgdirektør Venne Montclair-Contour and has been reviewed and improved by Utenriksminister A__C, Representative EmeraldGuuy, and Speaker HatMan.

(4) This Act contains sections and ideas based on the Electoral Act and its amendments, authored by xEndeavour, Technofied, Omegabiebel, Angryhamdog, zLost, NovaKerbal, girlfailcoded, vvirtue_ Scassany, EATB, antonfr and Yeet_Boy.

(5) This Act has been sponsored by representative EmeraldGuuy.

(6) This Act has been co-sponsored by Speaker Hat Man.

(7) This Act amends the following acts:
(a) Bar Association of Redmont Act

(8) This Act repeals the following acts:
(a) Electoral Act

2. Reasons and Intent
(1) To modernize Redmont's electoral legislation by harmonizing electoral requirements and procedures, and by removing old and unnecessary elements of the law.


PART II — GENERAL REGULATIONS ON ELECTIONS AND REFERENDA

3. Application
(1) This Act applies to all official elections and referenda held within the Commonwealth of Redmont by or for federal or local governments.

4. Responsibility for elections
(1) The Department of State is responsible for the orderly conduct of elections, referenda and the filling of vacancies under this Act.

(2) The (Deputy) Secretary of State may appoint Electoral Officers and Electoral Managers to assist in the orderly conduct of elections and referenda.

(3) An Electoral Officer, Electoral Manager or the (Deputy) Secretary of State must not engage in any official act from the candidate verification stage onwards in any election for which they have declared as a candidate or as part of a ticket.

(4) Despite Subsection (3), an Electoral Manager or the (Deputy) Secretary of State who has declared in an election may give general procedural guidance and may refer matters to another such official who has not declared in that election, but must not make any decisions concerning that election.

5. Announcement of elections
(1) Elections are announced to the general public on their start date pursuant to this Act.

(2) Announcements are published, at a minimum, by means of—
(a) the official DemocracyCraft Discord server (#government-announcements channel); and
(b) the official DemocracyCraft forums.

(3) The forum thread created for the publication of an announcement under Subsection (2)(b) is the official Election Thread.

(4) The announcement in the Election Thread must list, at a minimum—
(a) the positions or offices up for election;
(b) the requirements for standing as a candidate in the election;
(c) the template which must be used to declare candidacy;
(d) the period during which declarations of candidacy may be submitted;
(e) the requirements to vote in the election;
(f) the locations of all polling stations for the election; and
(g) the duration for which voting will remain open.

6. Declarations
(1) A citizen may declare their candidacy or the candidacy of their ticket by replying to the Election Thread using the template specified in that thread.

(2) A candidate or ticket may be officially affiliated to a maximum of one party, the abbreviation of which is listed on the ballot next to the candidate's name.

(3) A party affiliation is removed by the Department of State at the request of the party leader, or if the candidate is not listed on an optional list of endorsed candidates for that election provided to the Department of State by the party leader.

(4) No more candidates than there are seats up for election may be officially affiliated to any single party. In the event that this does occur, all candidates sponsored by that party lose their party affiliation.

(5) If the candidate does not indicate an official affiliation, declares with an unregistered party or loses their affiliation pursuant to Subsections (3) or (4), they will be listed in the ballot as an independent (IND).

7. General candidacy requirements
(1) A citizen may stand as a candidate in an election only if the citizen meets the following requirements—
(a) the citizen holds a valid passport issued by the Department of State;
(b) the citizen has accrued at least 6 hours of active playtime during the past 30 days.
(c) the citizen is not banned from holding public office pursuant to Section 20(1)(a) of the Constitution; and
(d) the citizen meets further election-specific requirements imposed by or under this Act or the Constitution.

(2) Requirements for standing as a candidate are evaluated at the close of declarations of candidacy for the election.

(3) If elected, officials must continue to meet the requirements imposed by or under this Act or the Constitution throughout their term or face automatic removal from office.

(4) For the purposes of Subsection (3), any requirement relating to the playtime of the official over the past 30 days will be considered to be continually met until that candidate has received notice that their playtime is below the minimum and then fails to meet the requirement within 168 hours (7 days) of that notice.

8. Candidate verification
(1) At the close of declarations of candidacy, the Department of State verifies the eligibility of each candidate or ticket.

(2) Before voting begins, the Department of State must publish a report stating—
(a) which candidates or tickets met the eligibility requirements and have been added to the ballot; and
(b) which candidates or tickets did not meet the eligibility requirements and have been disqualified.

(3) In relation to each candidate or ticket disqualified under Subsection (2)(b), the report must specify—
(a) the requirement or requirements that were not met; and
(b) the evidence relied on in reaching that determination.

(4) If no eligible candidates or tickets remain, the period for declarations of candidacy is extended until 24 hours after the Department of State publishes its report. This Subsection applies again after each such report until at least one eligible candidate or ticket declares.

(5) If only one eligible candidate or ticket remains in an election for a single position, a vote of confidence is held in that candidate or ticket.

(6) If the number of eligible candidates or tickets remaining is less than or equal to the number of seats to be filled, the period for declarations of candidacy is extended once until 24 hours after the Department of State publishes its report. If, after that extension, the number of eligible candidates or tickets remaining is still less than or equal to the number of seats to be filled, all eligible candidates or tickets are elected, and a special election is held for any remaining vacancy.

9. Announcement of referenda
(1) Referenda are announced to the general public at least 24 hours before voting begins.

(2) Announcements are published by means of the official DemocracyCraft forums.

(3) The forum thread created for the publication of an announcement under Subsection (2) is the official Referendum Thread.

(4) The announcement in the Referendum Thread must list, at a minimum—
(a) the full text of any constitutional amendment put to referendum; or
(b) the question put to voters in the referendum.

10. Requirements for voting
(1) A citizen may vote in in an election only if the citizen meets the following requirements—
(a) the citizen holds a valid passport issued by the Department of State;
(b) the citizen has accrued at least 6 hours of active playtime during the past 30 days; and
(c) the citizen meets further election-specific requirements imposed by or under this Act or the Constitution.

11. Voting
(1) Voting starts no later than 24 hours after the close of declarations of candidacy or at least 24 hours after the announcement of a referendum, and runs for the duration imposed by or under this Act.

(2) The start of voting is announced when voting opens.

(3) Announcements are published, at a minimum, by means of—
(a) the official DemocracyCraft Discord server (#government-announcements channel); and
(b) an in-game notification visible to eligible voters.

(4) Each election or referendum has at least one polling station as defined under this Act.

(5) The Department of State may designate additional polling stations for an election or referendum.

(6) The announcement under Subsection (3)(a) includes a list of the locations of all polling stations for the election or referendum.

(7) The first candidate on each ballot is randomized, with subsequent candidates listed alphabetically. This process shall be done independently for each voter's ballot.

(8) If the final candidate in the alphabetical order is reached before all candidates have been listed, the sequence shall continue with the first candidate in the alphabetical order and stop once all candidates have been listed on the ballot.

12. Tabulation and publication of results
(1) Within 24 hours after voting ends, the Department of State tabulates and publishes the result of the election or referendum.

(2) At least two Electoral Officers must independently tabulate and verify the result of the election or referendum.

(3) In the event that a lack of available Electoral Officers would cause the results of the election to be published late, a single Electoral Officer may tabulate and verify the results with permission from an Electoral Manager or the (Deputy) Secretary of State. An Electoral Manager or the (Deputy) Secretary of State must then verify the result at a later time.

(4) Full results are published in the Election Thread or Referendum Thread. A summary of the results is published through the official DemocracyCraft Discord server (#government-announcements channel).

13. Transparency
(1) With the publication of the results of an election or referendum, the Department of State must publish the names of all Electoral Officers who assisted in the tabulation of that election.

(2) Within 7 days after voting ends, the Department of State must publish all materials used in the tabulation of that election or referendum, including but not limited to scripts, programs, spreadsheets, and intermediate result calculations.

14. Runoff elections
(1) If, after the results of an election have been determined, fewer candidates are elected than there are seats to be filled, a runoff election must begin within 24 hours after the results are published.

(2) Additional rules for runoff elections may be imposed by or under this Act.

15. Vacancies
(1) If a vacancy occurs in an elected office or position, the vacancy must be filled by—
(a) holding a special election; or
(b) countback pursuant to Section 25 of this Act.

(2) A vacancy is not filled if, allowing for the maximum duration of one iteration of the process for filling it, fewer than 72 hours would remain after the replacement's election before the end of their term or the commencement of a caretaker period that would end their term, whichever occurs first.

(3) Countbacks and special elections do not commence a caretaker period.

(4) Additional rules for special elections or countbacks may be imposed by or under this Act.

16. Electoral emergencies
(1) The (Deputy) Secretary of State has the power to declare an electoral emergency.

(2) Upon the declaration of an electoral emergency, the Department of State publishes an official announcement visible to the public which states, at a minimum—
(a) the characteristics of the affected parties;
(b) the method(s) chosen to rectify the situation; and
(c) the reasoning behind the decision, and why each method was chosen.

(3) Upon the rectification of the issue behind an electoral emergency the Department of State publishes an official announcement visible to the public which states, at a minimum—
(a) the characteristics of the affected parties;
(b) a definitive declaration that the issue has been resolved; and
(c) the remaining period of time that declarations or voting will be open.

(4) An electoral emergency may only be declared in the event that—
(a) the Staff Team declares that a force majeure event has occurred preventing substantial numbers of players from being able to declare, meet certain requirements, or vote;
(b) an egregious error has been made by the Department of State that has the potential to taint the results of the election; or
(c) it has become impossible to conduct a fair and democratic election process.

(4) During an electoral emergency, the Department of State may extend declarations or voting, may pause the election temporarily and may restart declarations or voting.

(5) Department of State or its officers will not face legal or disciplinary actions for their exercise of powers under this Section, so long as these actions were made in good faith and supported by reasonable and publicly stated justification. Liability may arise only where their reasoning is demonstrably unreasonable, arbitrary, or made in bad faith.

PART III — ELECTION-SPECIFIC REGULATIONS

17. Presidential elections
(1) For presidential elections, the voting system, candidacy requirements, voting requirements, election months, term lengths, and rules on the formation of tickets apply as prescribed by the Constitution and by the general requirements of this Act.

(2) Declarations of candidacy remain open for 168 hours (7 days) for general elections, or 48 hours for special elections.

(3) Voting remains open for 72 hours for general elections, or 48 hours for special elections.

(4) The newly elected President and Vice President take office—
(a) for general elections, on the later of—
(i) the 14th day of the month in which the election takes place; or
(ii) the time at which the election results are published; or
(b) for special elections, immediately upon the publication of the results of the election.

(5) A general election for the President and Vice President of Redmont begins on the first day of the month in which the election is required to take place under the Constitution.

(6) A special election for President and Vice President of Redmont starts within 48 hours of—
(a) a presidential election consisting of a vote of confidence in a single ticket resulting in no confidence; or
(b) the President of the Senate assuming a caretaker administration pursuant to Section 26(2) of the Constitution.

18. Congressional elections
(1) For elections of the members of the House of Representative and the Senate, the voting system, candidacy requirements, voting requirements, election months, and term lengths apply as prescribed by the Constitution and by the general requirements of this Act.

(2) Declarations of candidacy remain open for 168 hours (7 days) for general elections, or 48 hours for special elections.

(3) Voting remains open for 72 hours for general elections, or 48 hours for special elections.

(4) The newly elected members of the House of Representatives and the Senate take office immediately upon the publication of the results of the election.

(5) A general election for the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate begins on the first day of the month in which the election is required to take place under the Constitution.

(6) Vacancies in the House of Representatives or the Senate that arise mid-term are filled using countback, unless they are dissolved. If they are dissolved, a special election will be held to fill all seats.

(7) Candidates elected to the Senate that are also running in a simultaneous House of Representatives election are, at the time of counting, eliminated from the House of Representatives election as if they did not participate.

19. BAR Council elections
(1) Notwithstanding the general requirements under this Act, a citizen may stand as a candidate in the BAR Council election only if the citizen meets the following requirements—
(a) the citizen holds at least the qualification of Attorney;
(b) the citizen is a member of the BAR in good standing pursuant to the Bar Association of Redmont Act; and
(c) the citizen does not hold any of the following incompatible offices:
(i) President or Vice President of Redmont;
(ii) Attorney General;
(iii) Member of Congress; or
(iv) Judicial Officer.

(2) Notwithstanding the general requirements under this Act, a citizen may vote in the BAR Council election only if the citizen holds at least the qualification of Solicitor.

(3) Elections are conducted using a Single Transferable Vote electoral system.

(4) Declarations of candidacy remain open for 48 hours.

(5) Voting remains open for 48 hours.

(6) The newly elected members of the BAR Council take office immediately upon the publication of the results of the election.

(7) A general election for the members of the BAR Council begins on the fifteenth day of January, May and September of each year.

(8) Vacancies on the BAR Council that arise mid-term are filled using countback.

(9) Despite Section 6(2), no candidate in a BAR Council election may be officially affiliated to any political party. All candidates are listed as independents.

20. Local elections
(1) A citizen may stand as a candidate in a town election only if the citizen meets the general requirements of this Act and the requirements imposed by the town constitution.

(2) A citizen may vote in a town election only if the citizen meets the general requirements of this Act and the requirements imposed by the town constitution.

(3) Requirements to vote imposed by the town constitution may only regard aspects of—
(a) having citizenship of the town; or
(b) the amount of active playtime accrued over the past 30 days.

(4) Elections are conducted using a Single Transferable Vote electoral system.

(5) Declarations of candidacy remain open for 48 hours.

(6) Voting remains open for 48 hours.

(7) The newly elected town officials take office immediately upon the publication of the results of the election.

(8) A general election for town positions begins on the fifteenth day of the month in which the election is required to take place under the town constitution.

(9) Vacancies for elected town positions that arise mid-term are filled through the method determined by the town constitution, which must be one of the methods described in Section 15 of this Act.

(10) In the event that the town constitution does not specify a method through which vacancies are filled, a countback is used to fill vacancies.

21. Referenda
(1) For referenda on Constitutional amendments the voting system, voting requirements, and referendum timelines apply as prescribed by the Constitution and by the general requirements of this Act.

(2) For other referenda, the voting system, voting requirements, and referendum timelines apply as determined by the Act or town legislation that prescribes the referendum, or as determined by the (Deputy) Secretary of State.


PART IV — SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTE

22. Single Transferable Vote
(1) This Part applies to elections held under the Single Transferable Vote electoral system.

(2) In a Single Transferable Vote (STV) electoral system, voters rank the candidates in order of their preference.

(3) Voters must rank at least five candidates, or all candidates if there are fewer than five candidates on the ballot.

23. Counting
(1) The threshold (quota) for election is computed by dividing the number of valid, non-empty ballots by the number of seats up for election plus one.

(2) Each valid ballot has an initial value of one and is credited to the voter's first-choice candidate.

(3) A candidate whose vote total exceeds the quota is elected.

(4) Vote counts are always rounded to five decimals (0.00001).

(5) An elected candidate's surplus must be transferred using the Gregory fractional transfer method. Each ballot credited to that candidate is transferred to its next available (non-elected and non-eliminated) preference at its current value multiplied by the surplus divided by the candidate’s total vote value.

(6) If no surplus remains to be transferred, the candidate with the lowest vote total must be eliminated and that candidate's ballots transferred at their current values according to the next available (non-elected and non-eliminated) preferences.

(7) A ballot with no available further preference takes no further part in the count.

(8) Counting continues until all seats are filled or the number of remaining candidates equals the number of unfilled seats, in which case those remaining candidates are elected.

24. Resolution of ties
(1) In the event that candidates must be eliminated pursuant to Section 23(6), but multiple candidates are tied for the lowest vote total, the candidate to be excluded must be determined by—
(a) the lowest vote total in previous rounds, considered from most recent to earliest;
(b) if still tied, the lowest Borda score calculated from original ballot rankings; and
(c) if still tied, selection by lot the candidate to be eliminated.

(2) The Borda score of a candidate is calculated based on the position of a candidate in the preferential list of each voter: they receive 7 points for a first preference, 6 points for a second preference, 5 points for a third preference, and so on, until the eighth preference and beyond, for which they receive no points.

25. Countbacks
(1) Where an official's seat becomes vacant during their term and this Act prescribes vacancies must be filled by countback, a replacement must be elected by recounting only the ballots that contributed to the departing official's election.

(2) Only candidates who stood unsuccessfully in the original election, remain eligible, agree to serve and do not already hold a seat may participate in the countback.

(3) Candidates are considered to have agreed to serve where they have not informed the Department of State otherwise after the original election, but at the latest 24 hours after the vacancy becomes known.

(4) The countback uses the ballots credited to the departing official at the end of the original count. Each ballot carries only the value retained by that member, excluding any value transferred to other candidates as surplus.

(5) The ballots are then recounted pursuant to the rules of Sections 23 and 24 of this Act with one available seat and with the candidates and values of the ballots reflecting the provisions of this Section.

(6) If the elected replacement, upon private notification of their election by the Department of State, does not accept the position within 24 hours, a new countback is conducted where they will be considered not to have agreed to serve.

(7) The replacement serves for the remainder of the departing official's term. If no eligible candidate agrees to participate, or no ballot shows a preference for a participating candidate, a special election is held for the vacant seat.

(8) Where the seat of an official elected by countback becomes vacant, another countback must be conducted using the same ballots and values used in the preceding countback. Candidates participate if they meet the requirements of Subsection (2).


PART V — OTHER ELECTORAL SYSTEMS

26. Instant Runoff Voting
(1) Elections held under the Instant Runoff Voting electoral system are held pursuant to Part IV of this Act, with the number of seats to be filled taken to be one.


PART VI — AMENDMENTS

27. Amendments to the Bar Association of Redmont Act
(1) Subsections (4), (5), (6) and (7) of Section 1 of Part IV of the Bar Association of Redmont Act are repealed in their entirety.

(2) Sections 3 and 4 of Part IV of the Bar Association of Redmont Act are repealed in their entirety.

(3) Following Section 2 of Part IV of the Bar Association of Redmont Act, a Section is inserted which reads as follows:

"3. Chairperson Election
(1) Following the conclusion of each Council election, the newly elected Councillors elect a Chairperson from among themselves by simple majority vote, starting within 24 hours of the Council being constituted.

(2) Councillors are allowed 24 hours to indicate whether they nominate themselves for the position of Chairperson. This period ends early upon all Councillors indicating whether or not they nominate themselves.

(3) Voting lasts for 48 hours, or until all Councillors have voted.

(4) Where no candidate secures a simple majority in the first round, the candidate with the fewest votes shall be eliminated and a further vote held, repeating until a candidate secures a simple majority.

(5) Where a tie cannot be resolved by further voting, the Councillor who received the highest number of votes in the Council election from which they elected to the Council is appointed Chairperson.

(6) The Council may, by a simple majority vote, adopt alternative procedures for the election of the Chairperson, provided that:
(a) The procedure is published in the BAR forum before it takes effect; and
(b) The procedure ensures the Chairperson is elected by the Council, from among its five respective members, in a fair and democratic manner."

28. Repeal of the Electoral Act
(1) The Electoral Act is repealed in its entirety.


PART VII — TRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

29. Ongoing elections
(1) This Act does not apply to elections for which declarations have opened prior to the enactment of this Act.

(2) Notwithstanding Subsection (1), countbacks are conducted for vacancies that arise from the moment this Act is enacted if this Act prescribes the use of countbacks for that type of vacancy and a Single Transferable Vote electoral system applied to the original election, even if declarations for the original election opened prior to the enactment of this Act.

30. Extension of BAR Councillor terms
(1) The terms of all sitting BAR Councillors are extended until the next scheduled general election pursuant to Section 19 of this Act.

31. Plugin implementation
(1) Subsections (7) and (8) of Section 11 of this Act enter into effect no earlier than upon publication of an announcement by the Department of State stating that the necessary plugin features to randomize individual ballots' orders have been implemented.