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by The Random Pretitle of Kringalia. . 164 reads.

Local Council Elections Act Amendment of 2022

[align=justify][size=120][b]Local Council Elections Act[/b][/size]
[i]An act to regulate elections for the Local Council[/i]

[b]1. Election Commissioner[/b]

(1) There shall be an Election Commissioner, appointed by the Council on Regional Security, who shall hold their position for an indefinite term unless they resign or another Commissioner is appointed in their stead according to the provisions of this section.

(2) The Commissioner shall be responsible for the publication of election notices and of election information and dispatches, the administration of election polls, and the proclamation and certification of results. The Commissioner shall be responsible, in conjunction with the Council on Regional Security and the High Court, as appropriate, for the verification of candidate eligibility, and the resolution of election-related disputes.

(3) The Commissioner shall not run for, or hold, the office of Delegate, Prime Minister, Minister, or Local Council, during their tenure as Commissioner.

[b]2. Candidate Eligibility[/b]

(1) Candidates must be members of the South Pacific with a Residency of at least 120 by the beginning of the nominations period.

(2) Candidates must accept a prior nomination before the end of the nominations period via a post on the Regional Message Board, quoting the nomination in full and notifying the Commissioner via nation tags. The nomination must have been made during the nominations period by a member of the South Pacific other than the candidate or a nation under their control, via a post on the Regional Message Board.

(3) Candidates must submit a conflict of interest disclosure before the end of the nominations period via a dispatch, notifying the Commissioner via nation tags. The disclosure must list all nations under the candidate’s control or access and all current positions and affiliations within NationStates. The disclosure may omit nations used for operations with the Special Forces, prior notice of this to the Commissioner by the Minister of Defence.

(4) Candidates may be disqualified at any time prior to the certification of results for any of the following reasons:

[list=a][*]If the Commissioner determines that the candidate does not meet the requirements listed in Article 2, Sections 1-3 of this Act.

[*]If the Council on Regional Security determines that the candidate represents a threat to the security of the region.

[*]If either the Commissioner or the Council on Regional Security determine that the candidate’s conflict of interest disclosure is not truthful.[/list]

(5) Candidates may run for the Local Council an unlimited number of times, but they may only run for a single seat at a time and they may not serve more than two terms consecutively, or more than one full term and more than half of a term for which another nation was originally elected.

[b]3. Election Process[/b]

(1) Elections for all three seats of the Local Council shall begin on the first of every March, July, and November. In the event that a vacancy requires a special election, one shall begin no later than two days following the vacancy.

(2) Elections shall consist of a nominations period lasting three days, a campaigning period lasting three days, and a voting period lasting three to six days. Candidates may campaign during all three periods.

(3) Voting shall be conducted via a regional poll lasting three days and restricted to Native World Assembly Residents. Members of the Special Forces who will be deployed at the end of a given voting round, as certified in advance to the Commissioner by the Minister of Defence, may cast an absentee vote via a post on the Regional Message Board that lists the candidate of their choice and notifies the Commissioner via nation tags.

(4) Voting shall consist of two rounds of voting, and each round shall have an option to re-open nominations. The first round shall be held to fill the first seat, and the candidate with the highest number of votes shall be elected. The second round shall be held to fill the second and third seats from among the candidates not elected in the first round, and the two candidates with the highest numbers of votes shall be elected.

(5) In the event that more than eleven candidates qualify for the first round, the Commissioner shall consider the candidates in descending order of Residency. The eleven candidates with the highest Residency shall proceed to the first round. The Local Council may by law provide for an alternative means of qualification for the first round.

(6) In the event that no candidates accept a nomination for a given election, the Commissioner shall conclude the election upon the end of the nominations period and the vacant seats shall be filled pursuant to Article 4, Sections 3-5 of this Act.

(7) In the event of a tie all tied candidates shall be elected, all provisions related to the number of seats in the Local Council notwithstanding. If more than one candidate is elected in the first round the number of candidates to be elected in the second round shall be adjusted accordingly so that all three minimum seats are elected.

(8) In the event that the option to re-open nominations wins a round, the candidates already elected in a prior round or who have a higher number of votes in the given round shall be elected, and the election shall revert to the nominations period for the seats that remain vacant. In the event that the option to re-open nominations wins either round of voting in the reverted election, the remaining vacant seats shall be filled pursuant to the provisions of Article 4 of this Act. 

(9) In the event that a candidate is disqualified, the next highest voted candidate shall be elected, pursuant to the provisions of Article 3 of this Act. If the next highest voted candidate is the option to re-open nominations, the vacant seat shall be filled via appointment by the Local Council after the Commissioner has certified the election.

(10) The transfer of power between the outgoing and incoming Local Council shall take place immediately after the Commissioner has certified the election.

[b]4. Vacancies of Office[/b]

(1) There shall be a vacancy, for the purposes of this Act, if less than three seats of the Local Council are filled.

(2) In the event that a seat becomes vacant and half or more of the regular terms remains, the seat shall be filled via a special election pursuant to Article 3 of this Act, except that the number of seats to be elected, and the number of rounds of voting to be held, shall be in accordance with the number of seats that are vacant.

(3) In the event that a seat remains vacant following an election, or a seat becomes vacant and less than half of the regular term remains, the seat shall be filled via appointment by the Local Council within one week of the vacancy occurring. The appointee must be a member of the South Pacific with a Residency of at least 120 at the time of appointment.

(4) In the event that the Local Council fails to make an appointment within the allotted time or is otherwise demonstrably unable to make an appointment, the Delegate shall make an appointment, subject to the same eligibility requirements listed in Article 4, Section 3 of this Act.

(5) In the event that the Delegate fails to make an appointment, the Commissioner shall as a matter of course certify the election of the next willing candidate who would have otherwise been elected in the final round of the most recent election, subject to the same eligibility requirements listed in Article 4, Section 3 of this Act. In the case of a tie, the Commissioner shall certify the election of the candidate with the highest Residency.

[b]5. Separation of Powers[/b]

(1) Local Councillors may not hold during their term the office of Delegate, Prime Minister, Minister, Chair of the Assembly, or Chief Justice, or any of their appointed deputies.

(2) Holding any of the offices listed in Article 5, Section 1 of this Act shall constitute implicit resignation from the Local Council.

[b]6. Constitutional Law[/b]

(1) This Act is a constitutional law, and further amendments to it must secure a three-fifths majority approval via regional poll or, absent that, a simple majority approval via regional poll and a unanimous approval by the Local Council. In both cases the regional poll shall last three days, be restricted to Native World Assembly Residents, and shall only have the options to Approve or Disapprove.

[hr]

To read the law as it is today, please refer to the text in the dispatch below:

https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1381893[/align]

The Random Pretitle of Kringalia

Edited:

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