The Party Registration Regularity Act

[Istefan Perþonest]

The Party Registration Regularity Act

WHEREAS the current law on how parties register themselves is not clear, and

WHEREAS something as important as election law requires clarity, now

THEREFORE we, the Ziu, enact that:

1. Each party has the responsibility of communicating to the Secretary of State a list of its authorized agents and the name of its leader, and of updating the same.

2. In any case where the authorized agents of a party or its leadership are a matter of dispute in a manner affecting party registration or the filling of empty seats in the Cosa, the Secretary of State shall make a good-faith effort to determine which disputant has the best right to name such, taking into consideration the internal rules of the party. Each other disputant shall have the opportunity to register under a party name that differentiates it from the other disputants.

3. In any case where the authorized agents of a party or its leadership are a matter of dispute in a manner affecting party registration or the filling of empty seats in the Cosa, and the Secretary of State is unable to determine that any of the disputing claimants to a party has a best right to name such, each disputant shall have the opportunity to register under a party name that differentiates it from the other disputants. In such a case as to leadership, the original party shall be considered to not have a functional leader for the purposes of Article VII, Section 9 of the Organic Law.

Urent q'estadra sa

Istefan Perþonest, MC, CSPP
Flip Molinar, MC, CSPP

[Flip Molinar]

I would like to cosponsor this bill please.

[Munditenens Tresplet]

I agree with the contents of this bill; I would have one suggestion for an addition:

"FURTHERMORE,

4. The Secretary of State shall have full discretion on whether a party can proceed with registration should a problem arise with receipt of the filing fee for that party.
5. Such party may appeal any decision made by the Secretary of State on such matter, and during such time as it is going through the process of appeal, the party shall be registered until a decision has been made by the Cort on such appeal.
6. If such party has made a Section 5 appeal, and the decision of the Cort calls for the party to be stricken from registered status, the party shall not be made to vacate any seats held in the current Cosa until the term of such Cosa has expired.
7. By no means can Section 4 of this act can be construed to deny a party registration if such party has paid its filing fee in full and the fee has been received by the Burgermeister of Inland Revenue and/or the Ministry of Finance.

FINALLY, 42RZ14 is amended where necessary to comply with this act."

...Or something like that; you get the point.

[D. N. Vercáriâ]

What, people can't congregate in political parties as they like?

[Istefan Perþonest]

Mar 6, 2012 13:36:22 GMT -6 D. N. Vercáriâ said:

What, people can't congregate in political parties as they like?

They can, all they like.

Registration is a technical issue dealing with elections. Per Article VI, Section 2 of the Organic Law -

Only"registered" political parties may obtain seats in the Cosâ. Parties which win votes but are not registered may not assume their seats in the Cosâ until they register. A party may register at any time with the Secretary of State as follows: First, the party must have at least one member designated as its "Leader." Second, the leader must provide the Secretary of State with a 50-word (or less) statement of the general aims and views of the party. Third, the Secretary of State may request from all parties a fee, to be set by law, to cover the cost of the election. This fee shall be uniform for all parties.

There has been concern that malicious persons could go ahead and register under the name of a well-known party, in order to deceive less-active citizens into giving them votes. The purpose of this legislation is to make it clear that when the OrgLaw says "A party may register", it doesn't mean anybody claiming to be that party, it means actual representatives of the party acting on its behalf. Parties are given the responsibility to tell the SoS who their authorized agents are as an aid to the SoS in identifying such. The SoS is explicitly instructed in cases of a dispute to make a good-faith judgment of who actually represents the party (rather than automatically register whomever tried to register first). In the absolute worst case, everybody claiming to represent the party is registered under distinguishable names.

[D. N. Vercáriâ]

What's that with this fee? Theoretically, those who decide on the amount could bar their opponents from sitting in Parliament by asking for an absurdly high registration fee, couldn't they?

[Istefan Perþonest]

Mar 6, 2012 12:11:24 GMT -6 Munditenens Tresplet said:

I agree with the contents of this bill; I would have one suggestion for an addition:

Obviously, Talossa recently had a problem with registration fees. Some sort of fix is necessary. But I'm not quite sure how to word it. And I think it counts as subject matter for a related bill, not a "furthermore" on this one.

[Istefan Lorentzescu]

As far i as know unless it has been kept secret their has been no problems to date with Party Registration Fees
It was just noted that it could be open to abuse if some one wanted to.

[Istefan Perþonest]

Mar 9, 2012 0:02:11 GMT -6 Istefan Lorentzescu said:

As far i as know unless it has been kept secret their has been no problems to date with Party Registration Fees

Well, there's the whole thing with the CSP and Eðo Grischun's lawsuit (Case 12-01 before the Uppermost Cort), which centered on registration fees, and to which I was referring.

[Munditenens Tresplet]

Mar 8, 2012 16:27:33 GMT -6 Istefan Perþonest said:

Mar 6, 2012 12:11:24 GMT -6 Munditenens Tresplet said:

I agree with the contents of this bill; I would have one suggestion for an addition:

Obviously, Talossa recently had a problem with registration fees. Some sort of fix is necessary. But I'm not quite sure how to word it. And I think it counts as subject matter for a related bill, not a "furthermore" on this one.

It could qualify as a separate bill, but considering the fact that this is the "Party Registration Regularity Act", I figured the title would be enough for the inclusion of something essential to the registration process, that being the registration fee.

The point is moot, however, as I have proposed it as a separate bill.

[Istefan Perþonest]

Okay, this version is also now modified specifically in the hope of making it clear that the SoS is not judging intra-party disputes, but rather determining facts necessary to exercise his office.

[David Donofrio]

I am not yet a citizen, but as a student of political science, this bill appears to be quite common sense.

[Istefan Perþonest]

Apr 7, 2012 10:11:37 GMT -6 David Donofrio said:

I am not yet a citizen, but as a student of political science, this bill appears to be quite common sense.

Thank you.