Mafiascum Democracy

[Ircher]

/register

We accepted the constitution, yes?

If so, I would like to run for president.

[Ircher]

The constitution as currently written neither endorses nor prohibits any religion. You are free to worship as you please.

[Ircher]

Yeah, but is it recognized by the people as a religion or as something else?

Hmm... That's for the people to decide!

[Ircher]

VOTE: Yea Porkens

His right to post here and vote in elections is protected by the Bill of Rights.

[Ircher]

Plus, he can't do any damage here, so what really is the cost?

[Ircher]

Clause 1: At no time may the people have their right to discuss or deliberate on matters of the state taken away from them. The people are not required to exercise these rights but are heavily encouraged to do so.

Clause 2: It shall not be withheld from the people the right to actively influence and shape the government and its decisions. Whether by directly voting or by voting for people to represent their interests, the people must always possess some voice in the government.

These clauses from the Bill of Rights protects Porkens ability to register and vote in general elections.

That said, we probably should amend this with a clause stating that the bill of rights does not apply if sanctions are enacted against a player for rulebreaking (here).

[Ircher]

I think it's better not to delete posts.

[Ircher]

Of course, aside from adding, changing, and removing positions, to amend this constitution, we first have to amend the amendment process itself. (In its current state, we can't amend any part of the Bill of Rights, and I did that for good reason.... Just forgot a few things tis all.)

[Ircher]

Well, I guess we can alter it by unaminous consent--I did have that clause in there. Really depends on how much authority we want to give the Bill of Rights: above all other constitutional clauses or on par with them?

[Ircher]

Report them if they continue to post, simple as that. At that point, they are willfully vandalizing the game.

As far as rendering them on par goes, that means the clause #4 of section III needs to be amended. I also think we still need a president even if we do not immediately form a senate.

[Ircher]

I am running for president.

I agree to:

• Be respectful at all times.
  
• Listen to and factor in other people's opinions and thoughts.
  
• Not to filibuster a bill by simply letting it sit there. (It's not a pocket veto because the bill still exists, waiting for approval/veto if the president ignores it. So it is a filibuster instead.)
  
• Be fair and just in the usage of my power.

[Ircher]

Clause 2: In order to amend this constitution, the people must directly will it. Any and all amendments to this constitution shall not be determined by the Senate but shall be directly voted upon by the people. A simple majority is required to add, subtract, or change any part of this constitution.

Clause 3: Laws are not amendments. Laws govern the page-to-page runnings of this government and are secondary to this constitution. In any case where there is a conflict between a law and this constitution, this constitution shall override the parts of the law where the conflict exists.

Clause 4: Amendments either a) add positions to the government b) change the way current positions in the government run (as specified in this constitution) c) remove positions from the government or d) the method by which this constitution is amended. All other bills that are passed are considered laws.

Due to the way amendments are defined in clause #4, it is implicitly stated that all other changes to the constitution are currently disallowed.

That said, we can amend the constitution currently with simply a simple majority vote.

[Ircher]

Clause 1: At no time may a law or amendment be made that directly conflicts with any clause of the Bill of Rights (see section I). If such a law or amendment is passed, it shall be ignored.

Eh, we do have this clause actually. So we could add stuff / alter stuff / remove stuff from the Bill of Rights with unaminous consent after all....

Pedit: That's still amending the constitution. Additions, deletions, and alterations are all forms of amendment.

[Ircher]

An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. They are often used when it is better to change the document than to write a new one.[1]

[Ircher]

Let's go with midnight Monday (UTC) as the deadline for presidential candidates as well.

Edit: That would be in (expired on 2018-08-06 00:00:00).

[Ircher]

Is that a /register?

[Ircher]

Not necessarily. It probably helps though.

[Ircher]

Idk, ask Inferno!

[Ircher]

1) Clause 1 of Section III is very important and was written for a reason. We shouldn't remove it necessarily. Perhaps, we could replace it though with something like: "At no time may a law be made passed that directly conflicts with any clause or part of the Bill of the Rights. The amendment of the Bill of Rights is governed by the clauses in that section rather than by this section of the constitution. Any law or clause in this constitution that conflicts with the Bill of Rights (except as previously noted) shall have the conflicting parts ignored in favor of what is written in section I." The Bill of Rights exists to (or at least try to) exists above the rest of the Constitution so as to ensure those rights aren't easily taken away. Even in democracies, things can go wrong.
2) That sounds fine. Remember though--laws aren't amendments to the Constitution.
3) That seems fine (with a slight change). The exact wording that I would be in favor of would be "Clause 4: Amendments either a) add positions to the government b) change the way current positions in the government run (as specified in this constitution) c) remove positions from the government d) the method by which this constitution is amended, or e) add, remove, or modify clauses within the Bill of Rights as allowed by that section. All other bills that are passed are considered laws and must not conflict with the constitution as it is currently written."

Edit:
Also, a fourth thing that should probably change:
In clause 2 of section III: "A simple majority is required to add, subtract, or change any part of this constitution." should be changed to "A simple majority is required to add, subtract, or change any part of this constitution unless otherwise noted in this constitution." (Though, perhaps we should require more votes for amendments? A simple majority isn't exactly demanding.)

[Ircher]

Yeah, we could leave 1) as-is and implement 2/3.

[Ircher]

I am running for President.

I think we might as well? The people can always override the Senate with 2/3rds (rounded up) are against it.

[Ircher]

Oh, and I guess we vote in public. Probably best for transparency anyway.

Presidential Ballot:

VOTE: Ircher (There's no restrictions on self-voting.)

Senator Ballot:

(As currently written, everyone should probably specify everyone on their ballot, but let's just default with 1 for the unlisted if that isn't the case.)
1. Inferno390
2. Invisibility
3. Agent Sparkles
4. Porkens
5. James Brafin
6. 2 718281828459
7. Gamma Emerald
8. Ircher

Also, here's what I think as far as laws and amendments go:

1) Adopt 2) as specified in 60. (Direct vote by the people--

simple majority rules

unaminous consent required.)
2) Adopt 3) as specified in 61. (Direct vote by the people--simple majority rules.)
3) Add laws that makes the election process more explicit/formalized. (This should be done by the Senate--no need for a constitutional amendment here.)
3a) How long does each election last? I'd go with about 24 hours give or take a few hours.
3b) When exactly do terms end? I'd go with as soon as the new set of people in the government are sworn in.
3c) When do elections start? I'd say a day before the start of the next term.
3d) For the Senate, what happens if a person fails to vote? I'd just say discard their ballot completely. (It's not like it will make a difference.)
3e) For the Senate, what happens if there is a tie for 2nd place? Or a 3-way tie for 1st place? No tiebreakers were specified in the Constitution; for this first round, I'd probably go with whoever had the most 1st votes then 2nd votes, et cetera among the tied candidates, but we may a law specifying a different system later on.
3f) What happens if a player is selected for both the Senate and the President spot? I'd probably go with left the candidate choose which they want.
3g) Can a player decline to take a position that they are elected for? As currently written, that doesn't seem the case. (A law would suffice here though.)

[Ircher]

Both elections shall end in (expired on 2018-08-07 11:59:59) or tomorrow right before 12:00 noon (GMT).