The Registration Fee Reduction Act

[Dr. Txec dal Nordselvă]

Jan 7, 2014 4:22:45 GMT -6 Sir C. M. Siervicül said:

Jan 6, 2014 18:39:15 GMT -6 Üc R. Tärfâ said:

Well, when the Gov proposes a budget and the Ziu approves it, they're also allocating money collected, by OrgLaw, to "cover the cost off the election". Is organic to allocate those funds to other uses? Was organic to use that money to buy a medallion? It can be inorganic even collect registration fees without any real electoral expense to cover.

You're right that there is a question about how registration funds previously collected can be spent organically. I question whether it's accurate to state that "that money" was used for the Seneschal's chain of office, because funds have been received from sources other than registration fees, including stamp sales, donations, and TalossaWare. We'd have to check with the Burgermeister and MinFin to see whether an audit can reveal the source of all funds in the treasury, and how much came from registration fees versus other sources. If records are inadequate to un-mingle the funds, then even if someone were to file suit over the use of registration fees for non-election expenses, I think it likely that the courts would decide to grant only prospective relief rather than imposing the burden of throwing the treasury's baby out with the bath water.

On whether it's inorganic to even collect registration fees without any real electoral expense to cover, I say yes and no. On the one hand, that's the point of this bill. $20 seems so much in excess of any foreseeable expenses as to be unreasonable. On the other hand, a smaller fee could be justifiable on the basis that some minor expenses may crop up, and it's impractical to impose retroactive fees after the specific nature of the expenses has been identified.

Another option is to start having election expenses. I think we could justify paying something towards web hosting as an election expense, especially if a web-based voting system is implemented. I also used to like receiving snail-mail ballots, though probably even the $20 fee is inadequate to resume that practice with our current population size.

The RUMP party is proud to state that any costs above and beyond what are actually needed for election expenses that the RUMP has paid in over the years can be considered a donation to the treasury if that makes things more "organic."