Elections Act, 2023

Criminal Code Act, 2023
Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland
An Act establishing a new Criminal Code for the Empire of Great Britain.
Citation	Original Text
Enacted by	Joint Session of Westminster
Date enacted	24 January, 2023
Date of Royal Assent	27 January, 2023
Signed by	HM Queen Elizabeth III
Introduced by	Sir Elio A. Somerset MP (BRP) Rt Hon Cameron Romefeller MP (BFL)
Amends
None
Repealing legislation
Elections Act, 2021
Status: In force

Content of the Act

Article I || Titles

1.00 || This Act may be cited and referred to in short as the Elections Act 2023. 1.01 || This Act may be referred to in full as An Act to Govern Elections in the Empire.

Article II || Definitions

2.01 || A "general election" is any election during which all Members of Parliament are elected and any general election legislative referenda are considered. 2.02 || A "by-election" is any election for a Members of Parliament outside of a general or runoff election. 2.03 || A "runoff" election is any election whereby a seat is vacant after a final round of voting, and a second round has to be held between the remaining candidates. 2.04 ||The "managing authority" is the official or commission administering a particular election. 2.05 || "Eligible Citizens" is defined as Citizens who meet the eligibility criteria defined by Article VI.

Article III || General Elections

3.01 || During each general election, Eligible Citizens shall vote to elect Members of Parliament. 3.02 || The Sovereign shall, prior to the issuance of a writ of general election, determine the number of seats to be elected in the House of Commons at that general election. 3.03 || To stand as a candidate for an elected office, eligible citizens must fill out an application providing the following information: 3.03a || Name 3.03b || Party Affiliation, if any 3.03c || The name of the constituency the candidate wishes to represent, if elected. Candidates may name their own constituency to represent, so long as the constituency does not overlap with or exist within a constituency claimed by another candidate. I. If more than one Candidate uses the same constituency for the purpose of registration, the registrant who claimed it first shall take precedence. 3.04 || All Candidates must post a campaign prior to the ballot opening. If a Candidate does not post a campaign, their name shall be stricken from the ballot by the Election Commission. 3.05 || All candidates for each separate elected position or group of positions shall stand on one ballot. The ballot shall be governed by the STV system, as outlined in Article IV. 3.06 || General election registration shall open within one (1) hour of the issuance of a writ of general election and shall last for forty-eight (48) hours thereafter. Polls shall open twenty-four (24) hours after the closure of registration, and shall remain open for twenty-four (24) hours thereafter. 3.06a || Given the inability of conducting this mandate with absolute precision, results of an election shall be considered valid so long as a good faith effort has been made toward compliance with the mandated timing, subject to review by the Judicial Authority. 3.07 || Parliament may designate, by a simple majority, that a legislative item's passage should be determined in a legislative referendum to be held during the next general election. 3.07a || Each legislative referendum shall be considered on its own ballot item, with the options of "Aye", "Nay", or "Abstain" regarding its passage. A legislative referendum must receive a simple majority of votes in favour.

Article IV || Single Transferable Vote (STV) System

4.00 || The STV System is specified as follows: 4.00a || All candidates for election run in a singular cohort for the same Office, which will have a number of different vacancies. 4.00b || Electors have a single vote, which is expressed via preference ranking, to choose their preferred Candidate. Voters label the candidates 1 through x, with x being the number of Candidates standing in the Election - 1 being their most preferred candidate, and x being their least preferred. Electors do not have to use all their preferences, and can only select 1, if they choose. 4.00c || In order to be elected, Candidates have to meet a Vote Quota, in the first instance. This Quota is defined as the following formula: I || (Total Valid Votes / (Number of Seats + 1)) + 1 - rounded to the nearest integer. II || This example is given for ease. In an election with 7 seats and 100 votes, the calculation would be ((100 / (7 + 1)) + 1 = 13.5, rounded to 14. Candidates would therefore need to achieve equal to or more than 14 votes in the first instance to be elected. 4.00d || The process for Counting an STV Election is defined as follows: I || First Round 1 || The total number of votes is counted, minus any spoiled/ineligible ballots, to determined the Total Valid Votes. 2 || The Vote Quota is determined via the formula in 4.00c. 3 || Each Candidates' First Preference Votes (that is, the number of times where they were the First Choice (1) on a Valid Ballot Paper) are tallied. 4 || Any Candidate whose First Preference Votes equal or exceed the Quota are Elected. II || Subsequent Rounds 1 || Each Round after the first will involve a transfer of Surplus Votes, or the exclusion of one or more Candidates. 2 || Surplus Votes are defined as follows: following the conclusion of a Round, when a Candidate is Elected, the number of their votes that were Over the Quota amount. (E.g. If the Quota for election was 120 votes and the successful Candidate had 150, their Surplus would be 30. Therefore, 30 of that Candidate's ballots are selected.) These ballots shall be any ballot cast on First Preference for the winning candidate after the threshold is met. The second-preference votes on these ballots are redistributed, and act as if they were First Preference Votes for the selected candidate, 3 || After the Surplus Votes are redistributed, any Candidate whose Votes equal or exceed the Quota are Elected. If, after surpluses have been transferred, all positions are filled, the election ends. If not, the Candidate with the fewest Votes at this stage is eliminated. 4 || Once a Candidate is eliminated, their Second Preference Votes (and, if they've previously been allocated prior Votes, the next Preference along on those votes) are redistributed according to the next sequential Preference along. After these Votes are redistributed, any Candidate whose Votes equal or exceed the Quota are Elected. 5 || The previous steps repeat until either all positions are filled via the Quota being equaled or exceeded, OR the total number of Candidates left in the race is equal to the total number of remaining positions to be filled. In the latter case, these Candidates are Elected. 4.00e || In the event of a tie between Candidates (where two or more have the same number of votes, and there are not sufficient places left for them all), the Candidate to be Elected shall be selected by Instant Runoff, where the Candidate with the most number of votes (First Past The Post) will prevail. In this Instant Runoff, each Voter will have a single vote, and select only their preferred Candidate, with no other preferences expressed. The Elected Candidate(s) will be those with the highest number of votes.

Article V || By Elections

5.01 || Whenever a vacancy shall occur for any seat in the House of Commons more than seven days before the next general election for that position, a by-election shall be called for that position. 5.01a The provisions of Articles III and IV shall govern this by-election.

Article VI: Voter & Candidate Eligibility

6.01 || Only Citizens who have held citizenship for 10 days prior to the writ of election shall be eligible to stand or vote in said election. 6.01a || A temporary masking shall be created for those who hold valid citizenship otherwise but are ineligible to vote. 6.02 || Non-Citizens, regardless of type or origin, may not be granted any masking which permits their access to ballots. 6.03 || No Citizen may stand for more than one position on any one ballot within the election.

Article VII: Election Commission

7.01 || The Election Commission shall oversee all Elections in the Empire. 7.01a || The Election Commission shall be comprised of the Sovereign and at least one other Election Commissioner, appointed by the Sovereign and confirmed by the House of Lords. 7.01b || No person shall serve on the Election Commission without resigning from all elected positions and political parties.

7.02 || The Election Commission shall be responsible for overseeing registration, polling, and certification of results, and shall have the power to execute the provisions of this act and to resolve ambiguities regarding its applications. 7.03 || The Judicial Authority shall serve as the chief arbiter of any accusations of unethical or unlawful behaviour in the course of or relating to any campaign or election activity under this act, which may be prosecuted as a crime by HM Government or, should HM Government waive said right, by any citizen who was eligible to vote at the time said unethical or unlawful behaviour occurred. Such prosecution shall occur under either the crime of electoral fraud and/or other charges as the actions may warrant.

Article VIII || Political Parties

8.01 || A political party may be formed by any citizen by making a public application to the Election Commission. 8.01a || Any citizen who has made a successful application to form a political party shall not be able to form a new political party for fourteen (14) days. 8.02 || No Candidate for office may run under the banner of a political party not recognized by the Election Commission. 8.02a || This does not preclude the right of Candidates to run as Independents. 8.03 || Political parties which do not stand a Candidate in two consecutive general elections more than thirty (30) days apart shall be closed and archived by the Election Commission. 8.04 || Political parties may determine their own internal regulations and leadership. Any conflicts over party leadership or policy must be settled internally.

8.05 || Political parties may determine which candidates can run under their banner, and have the right to disclaim candidates from running under their banner by the Party Leader making a public request to the Election Commission. 8.06 || No political party shall limit membership based upon any discriminatory factor.

Article IX || Repeal

9.01 || Upon the passage of this Act, the Elections Act 2021 is fully repealed.

Article X || Ratification

10.00 || This Standard Act shall come into effect upon passage by both Houses of Parliament with a simple majority and assent by the Sovereign.