Referendum Bill

SENATE OF THE PARLIAMENTARY UNION

SENATE ORDER 2015-1

TITLE:     REFERENDUM BILL

WHEREAS:     this Bill grants the members of this Union the power to themselves make the most important decisions of this Union;
WHEREAS:    the members of this Union currently have no direct say in any of the decisions of this Union;
WHEREAS:   the members of this Union should have a say in those decisions which will most strongly affect them, be it therefore
ORDERED:    that the President, with the consent of the Prime Minister and at least two Senators, may call a Yes/No referendum on a specific issue;
ORDERED:    that the President be required to call a Yes/No referendum on a specific issue if a petition signed by at least 20% of the membership of this Union requesting him to do so is presented to him.

October 24, 2015
THE COMMUNITY OF ABDOA, SENATOR
THE ALLIED STATES OF MAREUT, SENATOR
THE KINGDOM OF STORNLAND, SENATOR

May any member of the Union debate on the issue?

Libertarian Democracy approves of this bill in it's entirety, however, feels that it is too ambiguous. What kinds of laws can go to referendum? What if the bill is passed by Parliament before a petition lands on the President's desk? How many votes does a referendum bill need to pass? What happens when a referendum passes? Does Parliament get a say in the vote?
At this time, we feel this proposal is inadequate, and should be more specific.

Debate for this bill will end at 5:00 PM Central Daylight Time on Tuesday, October 27 2015, at which point voting will begin.

How do amendments get voted on? We feel the best way to incorporate comments like Libertarian Democracy's would be to attach amendments to the bill.

Have someone propose an amended version in this thread, and assumng it gets seconded, I will call a vote on it. (That seems like the best way, lemme know if you have a better idea!)

Amendments that would include the following:

Amendment I: to replace the word "a" by the word "any" before the phrase "specif issue" throughout the bill.

Amendment II: to insert the following clause at the end of the bill:
ORDERED: that the President will be required to call a Yes/No referendum under the preceding circumstances even if the issue it addresses has already been voted on by the Parliament.

Amendment III: to insert the following clause at the end of the bill:
ORDERED: that a simple majority Yes vote is required for the referendum to result in the accepting of its terms - in the event of a tie its terms are rejected.

Amendment IV: to insert the following clause at the end of the bill:
ORDERED: that if the terms of any referendum are accepted, they are considered binding law.

Amendment V: to insert the following clause at the end of the bill:
ORDERED: that the members of the government and of this Parliament have no direct influence over the result of any referendum apart from their one vote as member of this Union.

That way sounds great.

Okay, as soon as someone says they'd like to second any of those amendments, we can vote on them.

Great!

We second the motion to amend.

I'd like to second all of the proposed amendments, but first I have a question: what if a petition is rejected, but the members of the Union want to send the same petition again? I suggest making two more amendments to prevent spamming petitions:


Amendment VI: to insert the following clause at the end of the bill:
ORDERED: if any petition is rejected, the President is required to call a Yes/No referendum on the same specific issue if a petition is signed by 40% of the membership of this Union.
Amendment VII: to insert the following clause at the end of the bill:
ORDERED: if any petition is rejected twice, the same petition cannot be sent until 24 hours have passed since the last petition on the same specific issue was sent.

With all the present amendments I support this legislation, suggesting the inability to call a Yes/No referendum on the same specific issue that has been rejected twice, regardless any higher percentage but the unanimity.

I support all the amendments that have been proposed.

We would however request that Amendment VII be altered the say "until the next term" instead of "until 24 hours [..] issue was sent." We think 24 hours is still too short of a time. However, its just a suggestion.

Quick update, guys, I apparently don't have permission to make threads on the voting chamber board, so I asked the founder if he could give me permission. As soon as that happens, we can vote on the amendments. If need be, I will extend debate on this bill to ensure we have enough time to discuss everything that needs to be discussed.

What do you mean by "the next term"? The next PM's term? Or any term? Or a specific term that has to be specified for proposing petitions?

By the next term I mean any term. Essentially the next month.

Then, I wish to second all of the following amendments (all these were mentioned already, but I changed the last one):


Amendment I: to replace the word "a" by the word "any" before the phrase "specif issue" throughout the bill.

Amendment II: to insert the following clause at the end of the bill:
ORDERED: that the President will be required to call a Yes/No referendum under the preceding circumstances even if the issue it addresses has already been voted on by the Parliament.

Amendment III: to insert the following clause at the end of the bill:
ORDERED: that a simple majority Yes vote is required for the referendum to result in the accepting of its terms - in the event of a tie its terms are rejected.

Amendment IV: to insert the following clause at the end of the bill:
ORDERED: that if the terms of any referendum are accepted, they are considered binding law.

Amendment V: to insert the following clause at the end of the bill:
ORDERED: that the members of the government and of this Parliament have no direct influence over the result of any referendum apart from their one vote as member of this Union.

Amendment VI: to insert the following clause at the end of the bill:
ORDERED: if any petition is rejected, the President is required to call a Yes/No referendum on the same specific issue if a petition is signed by 40% of the membership of this Union.

Amendment VII: to insert the following clause at the end of the bill:
ORDERED: if any petition is rejected twice, the same petition cannot be sent until a month has passed since the last petition.

Great! I support all those amendments.

All amendments are supported.
Although perhaps expanding on Amendment II would be wise:

Amendment II: to insert the following clause at the end of the bill:
ORDERED: that the President will be required to call a Yes/No referendum under the preceding circumstances even if the issue it addresses has already been voted on by the Parliament, and the result of the referendum shall supersede that of the parliamentary vote.

Right, I agree with that modification of amendment II.

Voting is now open for the amendments. Please submit your votes in the chamber.

Because not enough people have voted on the amendments, I am extending debate on this for 24 hours, so until 5 PM CDT tomorrow (Wednesday)

The Amendments have passed, and the bill now reads as follows:

SENATE OF THE PARLIAMENTARY UNION

SENATE ORDER 2015-1

TITLE: REFERENDUM BILL

WHEREAS: this Bill grants the members of this Union the power to themselves make the most important decisions of this Union;
WHEREAS: the members of this Union currently have no direct say in any of the decisions of this Union;
WHEREAS: the members of this Union should have a say in those decisions which will most strongly affect them, be it therefore
ORDERED: that the President, with the consent of the Prime Minister and at least two Senators, may call a Yes/No referendum on ant specific issue;
ORDERED: that the President be required to call a Yes/No referendum on any specific issue if a petition signed by at least 20% of the membership of this Union requesting him to do so is presented to him;
ORDERED: that the President will be required to call a Yes/No referendum under the preceding circumstances even if the issue it addresses has already been voted on by the Parliament, and the result of the referendum shall supersede that of the parliamentary vote;
ORDERED: that a simple majority Yes vote is required for the referendum to result in the accepting of its terms - in the event of a tie its terms are rejected;
ORDERED: that if the terms of any referendum are accepted, they are considered binding law;
ORDERED: that the members of the government and of this Parliament have no direct influence over the result of any referendum apart from their one vote as member of this Union;
ORDERED: if any petition is rejected, the President is required to call a Yes/No referendum on the same specific issue if a petition is signed by 40% of the membership of this Union;
ORDERED: if any petition is rejected twice, the same petition cannot be sent until a month has passed since the last petition.

October 24, 2015
THE COMMUNITY OF ABDOA, SENATOR
THE ALLIED STATES OF MAREUT, SENATOR
THE KINGDOM OF STORNLAND, SENATOR



Voting begins in approximately 4 hours.