[JUDICIAL REVIEW] Public Thread: Delegate Elections - Candidate Eligibility

The Conclave
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4480_9db813e7c00643a2e774e6178ae6924f

Public Thread for the Judicial Review “Delegate Elections - Candidate Eligibility”

The Conclave acknowledges the request for Judicial Review as submitted by Provost CyberiumShadow.

The following procedures will be followed. The Conclave shall, according to its standing orders, convene to determine whether to confirm or deny this request. If accepted, the Conclave will follow the appropriate procedures of Judicial Reviews as follows:

2.1.1- Judicial Review of a Law shall take place following its passing, or its request by a citizen with a confirmation vote by the Conclave, or a constitutional challenge by a citizen in a civil trial.

2.1.2- Upon receipt of request, the Viceroy shall initiate public and private threads which outline the bill in its entirety, along with the end-date for the deliberation of the law.
…a. The public thread shall be available for citizens to refer precedent or applicable laws to the Conclave, but subject to censure at the request of any Arbiter.
…b. The private thread shall contain the deliberations of the Conclave and be used to draft verdicts and debate the law.

2.1.3- The Review shall rule on the interpretation or constitutional validity of a law, factoring the Concordat, all applicable statutory laws, precedent of the court, and traditional values of The East Pacific for their deliberations

Note: The version of the Delegate Elections Act spoilered below was the version submitted with this Review. However, while this Review was on-going, the Act was amended. This newer version of the Act is listed above in the Request summary; the older version NOT used for this Review is left below for record purposes:

Sections II. and III. of the Delegate Elections Act, originally submitted with Request

##SECTION II - DEFINITIONS

  1. For the purposes of this act, the following terms are defined as:
  2. “Write-In”- A vote cast for anyone who does not qualify for candidacy as defined by 2.1.3.
  3. “Nominee”- A Resident who has been nominated, either by him- or herself, or by another Resident in the designated thread (see 3.3.1) during the present Delegate election,
  4. “Candidate”- A Resident who has verified Citizenship following relevant law and has accepted a nomination as defined by 2.1.2 in the designated thread (see 3.3.1), and is therefore running for the position of Delegate in the present Delegate election.
  5. “Regular Election”- An election taking place to elect a Delegate following the four-month term.
  6. “Electioneering”- The act of campaigning outside of the platforms and events approved by the Magisterium…
  7. “Election impropriety”- Any inappropriate behavior performed during elections, which can include but is not limited to flaming, slandering, or liking posts containing votes.
  8. “Voter Fraud”- Any action attempting to gain a candidate more votes in an unlawful manner by holding unlawful Citizenships.
  9. “Vote Stacking”- The deliberate coordination of multiple Residents to obtain Citizenship for the sole purpose of voting for a particular candidate in an election.

SECTION III - GENERAL PROCEDURES

  1. The East Pacific Election Commission (“The Commission”) shall be the body responsible for conducting all Delegate elections. Any aspects of its organization and procedure not explicitly prescribed by regional law or not pertaining to the process of Delegate elections are to be determined by the Viceroy.
  2. A Delegate election shall consist of two periods: a) a nomination period and b) a voting period.
  3. Nominations of candidates for a Regular Election shall begin two weeks before the end of a Delegate’s four-month term, and shall last for a period of one week.
  4. Nominations for Delegate elections must be held in a designated forum thread created by the Viceroy.
  5. Any Resident may nominate and/or themselves as a candidate for the following elections for that nomination period.
  6. Self-nominations require a second nomination by another Resident for the self-nominee to be considered a candidate.
  7. Voting shall begin the moment nominations are closed and last for a period of one week.
  8. Voting shall be conducted in a designated forum thread created by the Viceroy (that is separate from the nomination forum thread).
  9. Only Resident who have verified Citizenship following relevant law may vote during the voting period.
  10. Results of a voting period shall be released within three days after the closure of the vote.
  11. Write-ins will not be counted. Any votes containing a write-in will be considered an abstention unless said votes contain a vote for an approved candidate in which case only the vote for any approved candidates will be counted.
  12. The first post within the nomination and voting forum threads shall host nomination and voting instructions, respectively. Other information deemed relevant by the Commission may be added to the threads as necessary.
  13. Within 24 hours of the start of the nomination period and the voting period, the Commission shall send out a regional telegram detailing instructions for nominating candidates and voting, respectively. Other information deemed relevant by the Commission may be added as necessary.
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As previously noted, the Conclave has voted to ACCEPT this Review.

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The Conclave has realized that a new version of the Delegate Elections Act has been passed in a manner that may substantially affect this Review, since this Review request was approved. Given that the SoC has no true guidance on this matter, the Conclave has decided that conducting the Review with the current version of the Act is the most sensible route.

The bills in the OP of the thread will be updated.

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In a similar train of thought to the above, the recently amended Concordat will also be utilized to guide our ruling.