Refreshed Election Act of 2019
PREAMBLE: In order to better organize our election regulations, systems, and other information regarding elections it shall be brought all to this act for better understanding. This act shall also be made to fix the problems present within election legislations currently in effect by our state legislature.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE STATE OF FIRESTONE CONGRESS* HERE ASSEMBLED THAT:
SECTION 1: Election Regulations and Information
A) Elections will be defined as the following: “A public vote where there are two (2) or more Firestone Citizens on the ballot, running for an Elected Office.”
B) Positions that are filled by elections include but are not limited to: Senate, House of Representatives, Mayor, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House, etc
C) Any citizen in the state of Firestone shall be allowed to run in elections except otherwise stated in this legislation.
D) Election sponsors are those who host elections for a spot that is needed to be filled. Those members include but are not limited to: Founder, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House, etc. They shall enforce the election regulations set forth by this act and further regulations made by disqualifying or removing candidates from being eligible to win a seat in the election. Election sponsors shall be able to add additional regulations to elections they host.
E) A candidate may not bribe another person to support for them. Examples of bribery
include but are not limited to: Offering money in return for support, offering positions in return for
support, etc.
F) A candidate may not slander another candidate for the same election. Slander is to be
regarded as false and intentional allegations purposely made against another, including false
statements (not assumptions). Accidental and unintentional allegations are not slander and are to be disregarded. Opinions, being freedom of speech, are not in any way an allegation and thus shall not be regarded as slander.
G) Tourists can not be promoted during election period. This is to prevent alternative
accounts as well as external political takeovers.
H) Supports/Signatures given to a candidate before an election was announced shall not be counted toward the amount required as defined in Section 2C of this legislation.
I) Any candidate who has been convicted of a crime by the courts during or before an election without the charge being removed from their record by the courts shall immediately be disqualified.
J) A candidate who commits any felony during an election shall be disqualified. Other crimes committed could result in disqualification as well which shall be determined by the election sponsor.
K) Should citizens leave the State of Firestone Group after voting, their vote shall not count and shall be thrown out.
L) Citizens may only make one vote on a ballot. Should a citizen make more than one vote, they shall be thrown out and not counted.
M) A Vote shall be defined as a formal indication of a choice between two or more candidates expressed through a ballot.
SECTION 2: Election System
A) All Elections hosted in the state of firestone shall follow the following system.
B) The Election sponsor of an election shall create a forum post outlining all the election regulations, the amount of signatures required, the duration the candidates have to gather signatures, the date and time that voting starts and ends, etc.
C) Any citizen who wishes to be placed on the ballot in an election shall first gather signatures/ supports on one single forum post/ document showing the signatures/supports made by the supporters themselves. The amount of signatures/supports required on the post/document in order to be eligible to be placed on the ballot shall be set by the election sponsor as stated in Section 2C of this act. Once a citizen has reached the supporter/signatures required, they shall take the document/post which shows all the signatures/supports and post it on the forum post created by the Election sponsor as defined in Section 2B. These signatures/supports shall NOT count as a vote toward the candidate.
D) All citizens who do not meet the signature/support requirement of a certain election shall not be eligible to be placed on the ballot/ be elected into the seat they were running for.
E) The election sponsor shall then place all the candidates names who got the appropriate signature amount, on a ballot after the supporter deadline has been reached.
F) Citizens of Firestone will then vote on the ballot using the election method used in said election as defined in Section 3 of this legislation. Only votes on the ballot will be counted.
SECTION 3: Election Methods and Use
A) Any and all elections that are run in the State of Firestone to fill seats inside the Executive or Legislative Branch will use either the Single Transferable Vote (STV), Instant-Runoff Voting (IRV) or The First Past the Post (FPTP) voting systems to decide election results.”
B) In all elections that have two (2) or more seats open for election the Election Sponsor must use the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system. Elections where a ticket (a group of 2 or more people run as a pair) is required to run (ex: Governor Election) will not apply to this section but rather, will apply to SECTION 3C.
C) In all elections where only one (1) seat is open for election the Election Sponsor must use the Instant-Runoff Voting (IRV) system.
D) In all elections, where there is only 1 seat is open, and only two candidates are running, The First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system will be used. The First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system will also be used in any and all elections for Speaker of the House. Also, if deemed the position will be open via election by the Lieutenant Governor or Speaker of The House respectfully, the positions of Speaker Pro Tempore and President Pro Tempore will use The First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system.
E) Single Transferable Vote (STV) will be defined as a voting system that uses ranking to determine many seats up for grabs in an election
F) Instant-Runoff Voting (IRV) will be defined as a voting system that uses ranking to determine one ticket/seat up for grabs in an election.
G) In any voting for positions within the State of Firestone that use the Single Transferable Vote (STV) or Instant-Runoff Voting (IRV) voting systems, the citizens of the State of Firestone, if they choose to vote, will be provided with the official voting ballot as determined by the Election Sponsor. The citizens who choose to vote may rank their candidates, with 1 being the candidate they support the most and lower being less support. Citizens must support at least 1 person on the ballot, should they vote, and can rank as many candidates as they want before turning in their ballot. In any voting for positions in the State of Firestone that use The First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system for voting, each Citizen, if they chose to vote, will be provided with the official voting ballot as determined by the Election Sponsor. Citizens will pick one (1), and only one (1), person to support before turning in their ballot to vote. Should any ballots be turned in that do not follow the guidelines above, they will be considered spoilt ballots, and will be discarded.
H) Once voting closes, should the voting system be the Single Transferable Vote (STV) or Instant-Runoff Voting (IRV) voting system, the number of votes OVERALL will be counted. Then, the following algorithm will be used to determine the number of votes needed to secure a seat: The number of valid votes divided by one more than the amount of seats available plus 1. (ex: 300 votes / (3 Seats +1) +1 = 76 votes needed to secure a seat).
I) The Single Transferable Voting system, when used, will operate in the following way:
The algorithm in SECTION 2A is used to calculate the number of votes needed to win a seat.
Votes are organized by 1st place choice by the Election Sponsor. If ANYONE is at or over the limit they win a seat. If not, skip to #7. If number of winners = number of seats open for election, the election ends. If the winners votes exceed the amount of votes needed to secure a seat, the excess votes will go to their next choice, if any. If there are no more choices on the ballot, the ballot will be removed outright. Excess votes will be defined as: “Votes casted for a candidate after they have reached the number of votes required to secure a seat.” After votes are relocated, repeat step #3. If nobody is at or over the winning threshold, then the person with the least amount of votes will be eliminated and their votes will be relocated to their next choice, if any. If there are no more choices on the ballot, the ballot will be removed outright. EXCEPTION: If there is only 1 candidate left, and 1 seat left, even if the candidate does not reach the threshold needed to secure a seat, they will be rewarded with a seat regardless. After votes are relocated, repeat step #3.
J) The Instant-Runoff Voting system, when used, will operate in the following way:
The algorithm in SECTION 2A is used to calculate the number of votes needed to win a seat. Votes are organized by 1st place choice by the Election Sponsor If ANYONE is at or over the limit they win the election. If not, skip to #4. If nobody is at or over the winning threshold, then the person with the least amount of votes will be eliminated and their votes will be relocated to their next choice, if any. If there are no more choices on the ballot, the ballot will be removed outright. EXCEPTION: If there is only 1 candidate left, and 1 seat left, even if the candidate does not reach the threshold needed to secure a seat, they will be declared the election winner regardless.After votes are relocated, repeat step #3.
K) The First Past the Post (FPTP) shall be defined as a voting system that gives each person one vote, and the candidate who receives a plurality of the votes wins.
L) Plurality will be defined as: The number of votes cast for a candidate who receives more than any other but does not receive an absolute majority.
M) The First Past the Post voting system, when used, will operate in the following way:
Once all votes are respectfully separated to the candidates the citizens cast their ballot to, the candidate with a plurality of the votes will immediately win the election. Should there be a tie, or no votes have been cast, in any election, the spot will be considered hung, and the tie will be broken by the Governor. Should the election be for Governor, the Founder will break the tie.
SECTION 4: Election Investigations
A) After the results of any election are released the elected official shall not officially take office(along with oath) until twenty-four(24) hours after the results are released.
B) An investigation into the election can be launched within this twenty-four hour time zone. The investigation shall be launched by the Election Sponsor if requested with at least twenty(20) supports on a forum
C) If an investigation is launched into the election within this twenty-four hour time zone the elected official shall not officially take office(along with oath) until the investigation is concluded.
D) If the investigation occurs for longer then seventy-two(72) hours with no conclusion the elected official shall be permitted to officially take office and be sworn in.
E) If through the investigation evidence is presented about wrongful doing(as defined in Section 2 of this legislation.) during an election done by the elected official, the elected official shall forfeit the office.
F) If there is no evidence presented during the investigation period that shows wrongdoing by the elected official then they shall officially take office along with swearing in.
G) If evidence is presented after the elected official has already taken office that evidence shall be brought to the Firestone Congress in the form of a impeachment/expulsion.
H) Wrongful doings shall be defined as violating any of the election rules as defined in Section 1 of this act.
SECTION 5: Crimes Related to Elections
A) Preventing the Exercise of the Right to Vote shall be defined as: A felony crime where The Election Sponsor has the intent to prevent another person from exercising his or her right to vote, which includes: removing/discarding any person(s) ballot they’ve cast without valid reasoning, and/or, in another manner, prevents a person from exercising his or her right to vote.
B) Violating the Free Decision of Voters shall be defined as: A misdemeanor crime where the accused compels/forces another person by means of force, serious threat, corruption, or deception, or in any other unlawful manner to: vote; not vote or; to vote in favor of or against a particular proposal or person;
C) Abuse of the Right to Vote shall be defined as: A person commits the felony offense of abuse of the right to vote when he or she, during an election, or a referendum: votes using a alternate account(s) and/or votes even though he or she has already voted.
D) Violating Confidentiality in Voting shall be defined as: A misdemeanor crime where, by use of force, serious threat, corruption, or deception, or in any other unlawful manner demands a person to reveal how he or she voted.
E) Election Fraud shall be defined as: The Felony offense of election fraud when the Election Sponsor: adds, subtracts, or deletes votes, without valid reasoning; publishes election results that do not correspond with the actual voting results; or in any other manner falsifies the results of an election.
F) Threat to an Election Candidate shall be defined as: A Felony offense when he or she: threatens or commits any other unlawful act against an election candidate; with the intention of forcing him or her to withdraw his or her candidacy or to prevent him or her from exercising any activity legally permitted during an election campaign.
SECTION 6: Nullifications
A) A Bill to Broaden the Duties of the Firestone Election Committee defined as A Bill to Broaden the Duties of the Firestone Election Committee shall be declared null and void.
B) A Bill to Solve Election Issues defined as A Bill to Solve Election Issues shall be declared null and void.
C) A Bill to Simplify Elections defined as A Bill to Simplify Elections shall be declared null and void.
D) A Bill to Save The Firestone Election Committee defined as A Bill to Save The Firestone Election Committee shall be declared null and void.
E) A Bill to Remodel Elections defined as Bill to Remodel Elections shall be declared null and void.
F) A Referendum to Remodel Elections defined as A Referendum to Remodel Elections shall be declared null and void.
G) A Bill to Re-establish election regulations defined as A Bill to Re-Establish Election Regulations.pdf - Google Drive shall be declared null and void.
H) A Bill to Assemble the Firestone Election Committee defined as A Bill to Assemble the Firestone Election Committee shall be declared null and void.
I) A Bill to Implement Instant Run off voting as the primary way to elect our Governors defined as A bill to implement Instant Run Off voting as the primary way to elect our Governors shall be declared null and void.
SECTION 7: The Firestone Courts shall enforce the crimes defined in this legislation and the Election sponsors shall enforce the regulations and systems defined in this legislation.
SECTION 8: Upon passage this legislation shall go into effect immediately.
Respectfully submitted to the Congress of the State of Firestone,
Chief Sponsor(s):
Lieutenant Governor 851raymond