Awaiting Assent P.B.01-053 | Indies and MMP Patch Act

[Capt11543]

A
BILL
TO
Rectify an error which has been discovered in the Indies and MMP Act​

1 - About this Act
(1) This Act
(a) may be cited as the Indies and MMP Patch Act
(b) may be numbered as P.B.##-### (to be assigned by the Office of the Speaker).
(c) shall be enacted immediately upon receiving assent from His Majesty the King.
(d) has been authored by MP Capt11543.
(e) has been co-sponsored by MP ConsequencesInc.

2 - Amendments to the Alexandrian Electoral Act
(1) §5a(2)(b)(i) shall be struck.

(2) §5b - Proportional Representation shall be amended in the following manner:

“(1) All seats not given to independent candidates under §5a of this act shall now be allocated in accordance with Sainte-Lague amongst eligible parties.

(2) An "Independent" option shall be included on the party ballot. For the purposes of seat allocation and candidate election, all independent candidates shall be grouped into an independent bloc represented by this option.

(3) [...]

(4) [...]

(5) [...]

(6) Once the independent bloc has been allocated as many seats as there were independent candidates who won direct mandates, it shall no longer be eligible to receive any more seats, and shall be ignored for the remainder of the seat allocation process.

(7) [...]

(8) [...]”

(3) §5c - Candidate Election shall be replaced with the following text:

“(1) After seat apportionment, direct candidates are elected to seats which have been allocated to their party in order from most to least first-choice votes received on the candidate ballot.
(a) If there are more winning direct candidates from a party than there are seats allocated to that party, then the lower-ranking direct candidates are not elected to seats.

(2) After the direct candidates have been seated, party-list candidates are elected to their respective party’s unfilled seats.
(a) Any party-list candidate who has already been elected as a direct candidate is ignored and the next unelected candidate on the party list is elected instead.

(3) If any party was apportioned seats which it could not fill, it may nominate a member to fill those seats. If any seats remain unfilled after 14 days, a special election must be held to fill those seats.”

 

[Capt11543]

Labour/Public Servants
Through MP Capt11543
Moves to Pass
The Indies and MMP Patch Act​

Parliament notes:
(1) The intention of the Indies and MMP Act is to provide a fair and robust electoral system which gives independent candidates a fighting chance while preserving the proportionality required under the Constitution.
(2) The Act’s proposed system required the candidate and party ballots to be linked. Conversations with electoral officials have revealed that this is not possible.

Based on this, Parliament decides:
(1) The proper course of action is to rectify this error as soon as is practicable.
(2) The next-best option is to allow voters to vote for independents as a party and group all independents together for the purposes of seat allocation.

To fulfil this, Parliament projects the following administrative efforts:
(1) The Ministry of Internal Affairs will need to update its internal guidance on how to adjudicate the election.
(2) Education will need to be provided to voters and candidates regarding the new MMP system.

To implement the above, Parliament passes:
A
BILL
TO
Rectify an error which has been discovered in the Indies and MMP Act​

1 - About this Act
(1) This Act
(a) may be cited as the Indies and MMP Patch Act
(b) may be numbered as P.B.##-### (to be assigned by the Office of the Speaker).
(c) shall be enacted immediately upon receiving assent from His Majesty the King.
(d) has been authored by MP Capt11543.
(e) has been co-sponsored by MP ConsequencesInc.

2 - Amendments to the Alexandrian Electoral Act
(1) §5a(2)(b)(i) shall be struck.

(2) §5b - Proportional Representation shall be amended in the following manner:

“(1) All seats not given to independent candidates under §5a of this act shall now be allocated in accordance with Sainte-Lague amongst eligible parties.

(2) An "Independent" option shall be included on the party ballot. For the purposes of seat allocation and candidate election, all independent candidates shall be grouped into an independent bloc represented by this option.

(3) [...]

(4) [...]

(5) [...]

(6) Once the independent bloc has been allocated as many seats as there were independent candidates who won direct mandates, it shall no longer be eligible to receive any more seats, and shall be ignored for the remainder of the seat allocation process.

(7) [...]

(8) [...]”

(3) §5c - Candidate Election shall be replaced with the following text:

“(1) After seat apportionment, direct candidates are elected to seats which have been allocated to their party in order from most to least first-choice votes received on the candidate ballot.
(a) If there are more winning direct candidates from a party than there are seats allocated to that party, then the lower-ranking direct candidates are not elected to seats.

(2) After the direct candidates have been seated, party-list candidates are elected to their respective party’s unfilled seats.
(a) Any party-list candidate who has already been elected as a direct candidate is ignored and the next unelected candidate on the party list is elected instead.

(3) If any party was apportioned seats which it could not fill, it may nominate a member to fill those seats. If any seats remain unfilled after 14 days, a special election must be held to fill those seats.”