Rescinded Special Elections Fix Act

[CaseyLeFaye]

A
BILL
To

Amend the Constitution and the Electoral Act​

The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:

1 - Short Title and Enactment
(1) This Act may be cited as the 'Special Elections Fix Act.'
(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.
(3) This Act has been authored by lcn and Rep. CaseyLeFaye.
(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by Sen. CopTop_YT.

2 - Reasons
(1) To fix a major issue with special elections that occurs when there are multiple vacancies in the same chamber of Congress at once.
(a) When this happens, multiple separate special elections are created. This creates issues for candidates, over which special elections to run in, usually running in all of them, which in turn creates issues for voters, over which candidate to vote for. Voters that support multiple candidates may have to choose just one candidate to ensure they win. Then, if one candidate wins every special election, it is unclear what happens next. If a voter wants to support multiple candidates, and they vote for a different candidate in each special election, all of those candidates may end up losing, if other voters did the same, but supported them in different elections. It may be possible with highly coordinated strategic voting, which is unfair for the average voter.
(2) To fix an issue where special elections must be immediately created after a vacancy, which is not possible.
(3) To change the voting system of special elections to the regular system that is used for Congressional elections.
(4) To amend the Constitution and the Electoral Act.

3 - Amendment
(1) The Electoral Act shall be amended as follows:

“10 - Congressional Special Elections​

(1) Election Schedule. When a Congressional vacancy occurs in the House of Representatives or Senate , an election will be scheduled for 3 days thereafter. Immediate public notification will allow candidates to campaign and formally submit their intent to run. a special election for the vacancy will commence within 24 hours of the Department of State being notified, given:​

(a) The seat is not up for election in the upcoming Congressional general election, if Congress is in caretaker mode;​

(b) There is not a special election for either chamber of Congress ongoing.​

(i) In this case, the special election will be scheduled within 24 hours after the conclusion of the ongoing special election(s).​

(2) Multiple Seats. If multiple seats in the same chamber of Congress become vacant before a special election for those vacancies has commenced, those vacancies will be combined into one special election, where multiple seats are up for election. ​

(a) If multiple vacant seats in the Senate of different classes are up for election in the same special election, the lowest polling winning Senators will be assigned to the class that is up for election in the upcoming Congressional general election, while highest polling winning Senators are assigned the opposite class.​

(i) In the event of a tie over which Senator is assigned what class, a run-off election consisting of a 24-hour voting period shall be conducted between the tied candidates. ​

(3) Election Timeline. The special election will follow a timeline: a 48-hour nomination declaration period, followed by a 24-hour campaigning period, and followed by a 24-hour voting period.​

(3) Plurality Winner. The candidate securing a plurality (i.e. gets the most votes out of all candidates) will fill the vacancy.​

(4) Voting System. Special elections shall be conducted with the same systems that are used for regularly scheduled elections for the relevant chamber.​

(5) Tie Resolution. In the case of a tie, a run-off consisting of a 24-hour voting period shall be conducted between the tied candidates. Should another tie occur, subsequent run-offs shall be conducted until one candidate reaches a plurality.​

(6) Excluded Individuals. In order to run for a seat in a special election, the individual must not currently hold a seat in that chamber in that Class (e.g. a Representative cannot run in a special election for the House of Representatives, but a Class A Senator can run for a Class B Senate seat).​

(7) No Caretaker Mode. The enactment of caretaker mode will not result from a special election.​

​

11 - Vacant Seats​

(1) Where a seat in a chamber becomes vacant, a special election shall automatically be triggered, except under both of the following conditions:​

(a) Congress is in caretaker mode; and​

(b) the vacant seat is up for election in the incoming General Election that month.”​

(a) Subsequent sections of the Electoral Act shall be renumbered as required to reflect this amendment.
(b) The following shall be bolded in this amendment:
(i) "Congressional" in the phrase "10 - Congressional Special Elections"
(ii) “Multiple Seats.”
(iii) “Voting System.”
(iv) “Excluded Individuals.”

 

[CaseyLeFaye]

I rescind this Bill.