MOTION: Combined electoral procedures bill PASSED 4-0-0

[Jubal]

Simple majority, one week.

Drafting discussion was here.


The Plaza Moves:

1. Preamble
a ) This bill exists to delineate the practices that should be followed by administrators when conducting electoral polls.
b ) Electoral polls are here defined as any election, ratification or by-election that selects people for a staff rank.

2. Voting Practice
a ) That the results of elections be hidden from everyone, administrators included, until such time as the election is finished.
b ) That users be permitted to change their vote until such time as the poll has concluded, to maximise the time in which the democratic process can take place.
c ) That if it be necessary or unavoidable for administrators to know the current state of a poll prior to its conclusion, they shall not be permitted to state on any public channel what that state is.
d ) That any administrator or other staff member or returning officer setting up an election shall be required to state clearly, both in the thread and in the headings of any polls, the plain English versions of staff titles as set out in the constitution.

3. Multiple Candidacies
a ) That any citizen standing for office at any one time may only run for a maximum of one position on the administrative council and one non-administrative staff position.
b ) That in the event of a certain quota of votes being won in a non-administrative vote by a candidate successfully elected to another staff position, there shall be an immediate by-election for the
vacant position.
b.1 ) That this quota shall be one divided by one more than the number of positions up for election: that is, fifty percent in a one-candidate election, one third in a two-candidate election, one quarter in a three candidate election, and so on.
b.2 ) That in elections where multiple candidates are running but some get eliminated as a result of successful election to administrative office, any other candidates that reach the quota themselves may be considered elected, and any by-elections should only be held for posts not thereby filled.

4. By-elections
a ) When an elected staff position becomes vacant more than a month before the next normal election period, all citizens will be invited to apply to take up the post. Applications for the position will be open for at least a week.
b ) Once applications have closed, the applicants will be submitted to a vote of the citizens. The vote will be open for a week, with a simple first-past-the-post win needed for victory. If there is only one applicant, the vote will be Yes/No.

4. Electoral Practice
a ) That a thread for permitting the candidates and voting citizens to debate and discuss manifestos and pledges around the election shall exist for the full two weeks of the election, and shall be open to record and present all statements that candidates wish to make regarding their candidacy.
b ) That joint statements or formal manifestos between groups of candidates may also be presented in this way

6. Registration of Parties
a ) That parties, formed of at least two citizen members, may register themselves with staff for the purposes of record-keeping and of presenting a joint manifesto for the running of the site at election times.
b ) That parties so registered shall be permitted an appropriately placed subforum within the Plaza's structure for organisational matters pertaining to their party.
c ) That a subforum shall always be maintained, on an equivalent level to the party subforums, for discussion and support among independent candidates to office.
d ) That options such as profile fields may be constructed to allow citizens to display party affiliations, should they so wish, with the stipulation that all parties must have equal access to such representation.

7. De-registration of Parties
a ) That parties shall be de-registered when they have failed to present candidates in two successive elections, and have no currently serving members of the staff team registered as members, and are unable to present a case for their continued registration.
b ) This shall include the removal of features such as profile options, and the archiving of relevant subforums and threads.

8. Repeal of Prior Bills
a ) That this motion replaces and shall therefore, by passing, repeal the Election candidacies bill 2014, Electoral practice bill 2014, By-election procedure bill 2015, Party recognition bill 2013, and Party de-registration bill 2014.

[Glaurung]

Passed 4-0-0. The repealed bills will be moved from Active Legislation to Completed Votes.