As we are now approaching the final Clark of the 59th Cosa, and pursuant to El Lex B.13.2., it falls to me as the Secretary of State to establish an Electoral Commission. The relevant portion of El. Lex is below:

QuoteThe Electoral Commission shall be comprised of one Uppermost Cort justice to be appointed by the Cort, one Senator whose term will not expire at the conclusion of the Cosa term to be appointed by the Mençei, and one member to be appointed by the King upon recommendation of the Seneschal, pursuant to the following subsections. The Secretary of State shall be a permanent ex officio member of the Commission, and shall not be entitled to a vote nor affect quorum.

Therefore, I ask @King John  in consultation with The Seneschal, @þerxh Sant-Enogat, the Mençei @Ian Plätschisch, and Chief Judge @Dame Litz Cjantscheir, UrN appoint their chosen member.

As the next General Election is quickly approaching, I will need to consult with the EC to establish the rules of the election as soon as I can.




Secretár d'Estat/Secretary of State

IF ANY OF THE INFORMATION BELOW IS INCORRECT, PLEASE NOTIFY ME ASAP.

Attention Citizens of Talossa!

The rules for the upcoming election are available here: http://www.talossa.ca/files/electionrules.php. These rules are an addition to Talossan law regarding elections, specifically OrgLaw Sections III,IV and V and Lexhatx title B. Be aware that not every detail of the law has been explicitly included in the rules so knowledge of the relevant laws might be useful.

The rules can also be found on the rules page of the database.

This thread serves to announce and inform Parties, Senatorial Candidates, King and Provinces about what needs to happen before the election and as a way for parties and candidates to register.




Secretár d'Estat/Secretary of State

1. Timetable (unless a month of recess is called in which case the dates shall be adjusted)
13 June, 2024 23:59 TST (-5 UTC) - Registration deadline Political Parties.
14 June, 2024 23:59 TST - Registration deadline Senatorial Candidates.
15 June, 2024, morning - Balloting Day, all citizens receive their ballots.
1 July, 2024 19:30 TST - Election deadline, results are announced.
14 July, 2024 - Certification deadline
30 July, 2024 - Party fee deadline to sit in the Cosa during the first Clark

2. Information for Parties
In the upcoming election the 200 seats of the 60th Cosa will be elected.

For a party to be able to obtain seats in the 60th Cosa two things need to happen.
1. You need to register with the Chancery. This needs to happen at least 24 hours before balloting day!

Registration should include:
* Full Party name
* Party Initials
* 50 word statement
* Party Leader(s)
* Candidate list (this is optional, but if no list is supplied only the party leader is allowed to receive seats (see Lex.b.2.3 for the full rules regarding party lists).
* Party platform URL (optional)

All of the above can be done by posting in this thread, sending me a pm or sending an email to talossachancery@gmail.com. (Information can be updated at any time before the deadline, but the initial registration needs to include at least all the mandatory parts).
Candidate lists and Platform URLs can still be provided/updated the day before balloting day.

The Chancery has a list of approximately 51 citizen email addresses that parties can only contact via the Chancery. The Chancery will send out a maximum of TWO emails per party. If you are a party leader, please email the Chancery at talossachancery@gmail.com EXACTLY what you want sent out. Please allow 48 hours notice. The Chancery will email exactly what you send (no editing). The Chancery will not target specific citizens and will not send out more than one email per party per week.

2. You need to pay a fee. This needs to happen before assigning cosa seats.
The fee is 6¤40 ($10 USD) and needs to be paid to the Bürgermeister of Inland Revenue, Sir X. Pol Briga. Contact him to find out more about the best way to pay the fee. Parties can appear on the ballot before the fee has been paid.

3. Information regarding referenda statements (King + existing parties)
In addition, parties that currently hold cosa seats may provide a statement of up to 50 words for each referendum either in favour or against the bill.

In addition, the King may provide a 150 word statement for each amendment that was passed after the Ziu overruled an earlier objection.

This can be done by posting in this thread, sending me a pm or sending an email to talossaChancery@gmail.com. Please do not wait until the last minute for this as they may have to be manually added to the ballot by the database admin


4. Information for Senatorial Candidates
Three Senate seats will be contested during the upcoming elections: Fîovâ (3 cosa terms), Benito (3 cosa terms), and Maritiimi-Maxhestic (3 cosa terms)
.
Some of these will be conducted by the provinces themselves. Others will be conducted by the Chancery. A list will be included in this post with the most up to date information about which elections are conducted by the Chancery.

If elections are conducted by the Chancery, the election will use IRV and allow write-in candidates, but candidates do get the opportunity to be listed on the ballot. All you have to do to appear on the ballot is register with the Chancery. This can be done by posting in this thread, sending me a pm or sending an email to talossaChancery@gmail.com.

In order to appear on the ballot you have to register before the start of the elections.

5. Information for Provinces
The Chancery provides the option for provinces to have their Senate and Assembly elections conducted by the Chancery. Additionally in the case of assembly elections, provinces may provide supplementary instructions to the voters (this could be a description of the relevant provincial law, whether to vote for a party or person, a list of provincially registered parties, etc). The Chancery requests that provincial representatives supply this information (what elections should be conducted, voting instructions) to the Chancery. I will also look at relevant provincial law and post a thread in each province asking for details. If no information is provided by the province (in whatever form) the default option will be to include an option for a provincial assembly vote, but NOT to conduct the senatorial election, as this requires an explicit request from the province.

6. Assembly elections (Could be subject to change until balloting day.) -Pending confirmation by the provinces
Atatürk - Election conducted by the Chancery.
Benito - Election conducted by the Chancery. Instructions: "For the Benito Legislative Assembly, please vote for a party, or PRESENT if you wish to cast a null ballot."
Cézembre - Election conducted by the province.
Fîovâ - Election for the Prasidïeu conducted by the Chancery. Instructions: "Ranked choice voting, same as for Senators.
Florencia - Election conducted by the Chancery. Instructions: "Vote for a party or vote "present""
Maricopa - No election, all citizen can claim a seat in the Cabana.
Maritiimi Maxhestic - No election, all citizens can claim a seat in the Provincial assembly during the election.
Vuode - No election, all citizens can claim a seat in the Estats Xhenerais during the election..

7. Senate elections (Could be subject to change until balloting day.)
Fîovâ (3 cosa terms) - Election conducted by TBD.
Benito (3 cosa terms) - Election conducted by TBD.
Maritiimi-Maxhestic (3 cosa terms) - Election conducted by TBD.

Registration Status

Currently Declared Senate Candidates

• NAME, PROVINCE. Fee paid: No

Currently Registered Parties

• PARTY, party leader _____. Fee paid: No Cosa List: NO

IF ANY OF THE INFORMATION ABOVE IS INCORRECT, PLEASE NOTIFY ME ASAP.

Page updated 4/11/24 1:34 Pacific Time

The April 2024 Clark is now here.


www.talossa.ca/files/clark.php?cosa=59&clark=5

Or here: www.talossa.ca/files/print_clark.php (this is the printer friendly version)


In PDF Form (which was made from the print_clark.php page):

www.talossa.ca/files/clarks/April2024Clark.pdf

or can vote online here: www.talossa.ca/files/clark_vote.php

Or in this thread, until the 21st of the month, at 19h30 TST.

Senators are allowed to create a single thread in the Senate chamber to post all of the Senate Votes that are not cast in this thread. Any votes not posted either using the form above, the current thread or the Senate thread might be ignored and void. Please do not vote by email or private messages.

When you vote, do not indicate any conditions which may make it sound like this vote isn't final: you can always change your vote later.

Please do not vote by email: We've had problems with email votes being caught in the spam filter.

All nominated Cosa Members and Senators have been emailed.




Secretár d'Estat/Secretary of State

It is my pleasure to open call for bills of the April 2024 Clark.

Eventually, the clark can be viewed in real time here:

www.talossa.ca/files/cosa_vote_result.php?cosa=59&clark=5 (for the votes)

and here:

www.talossa.ca/files/clark.php?cosa=59&clark=5 (for the bills )

It is NOT too late to submit bills, of course, as you have OFFICIALLY until the morning of the 31st of this month, provided your bills have been in the Hopper before end of business day the 15th, of course. I will make the Clark on April 1st's morning and bills submitted up to a few hours before that will probably also be taken.

PLEASE note that in order to support a bill, you need to:

1 ) Be a Senator, the Secretary of State or the King
or
2 ) Have been nominated as a Cosa Member for the upcoming Clark BEFORE the 15th,

To vote on the Clark, you will once again have 2 options:

1 ) You will be able to vote in the Clark thread (which will be created later on the 1st of April), as usual. I will enter your votes in the DB.

2 ) You will be able to vote directly in the database, using your usernumber and DB password (which you can retrieve at: www.talossa.ca/files/login.php using the PSC of the election) or by login via Facebook (which retrieve manual activation on my part).




Secretár d'Estat/Secretary of State

The March 2024 Clark is now here.


www.talossa.ca/files/clark.php?cosa=59&clark=4

Or here: www.talossa.ca/files/print_clark.php (this is the printer friendly version)


In PDF Form (which was made from the print_clark.php page):

www.talossa.ca/files/clarks/March2024Clark.pdf

or can vote online here: www.talossa.ca/files/clark_vote.php

Or in this thread, until the 21st of the month, at 19h30 TST.

Senators are allowed to create a single thread in the Senate chamber to post all of the Senate Votes that are not cast in this thread. Any votes not posted either using the form above, the current thread or the Senate thread might be ignored and void. Please do not vote by email or private messages.

When you vote, do not indicate any conditions which may make it sound like this vote isn't final: you can always change your vote later.

Please do not vote by email: We've had problems with email votes being caught in the spam filter.




Secretár d'Estat/Secretary of State

It is my pleasure to open call for bills of the March 2024 Clark.

Eventually, the clark can be viewed in real time here:

www.talossa.ca/files/cosa_vote_result.php?cosa=59&clark=4 (for the votes)

and here:

www.talossa.ca/files/clark.php?cosa=59&clark=4 (for the bills )

It is NOT too late to submit bills, of course, as you have OFFICIALLY until the morning of the 29th of this month, provided your bills have been in the Hopper before end of business day the 15th, of course. I will make the Clark on March 1st's morning and bills submitted up to a few hours before that will probably also be taken.

PLEASE note that in order to support a bill, you need to:

1 ) Be a Senator, the Secretary of State or the King
or
2 ) Have been nominated as a Cosa Member for the upcoming Clark BEFORE the 15th,

To vote on the Clark, you will once again have 2 options:

1 ) You will be able to vote in the Clark thread (which will be created later on the 1st of March), as usual. I will enter your votes in the DB.

2 ) You will be able to vote directly in the database, using your usernumber and DB password (which you can retrieve at: www.talossa.ca/files/login.php using the PSC of the election) or by login via Facebook (which retrieve manual activation on my part).




Secretár d'Estat/Secretary of State

The February 2024 Clark is now here.


www.talossa.ca/files/clark.php?cosa=59&clark=3

Or here: www.talossa.ca/files/print_clark.php (this is the printer friendly version)


In PDF Form (which was made from the print_clark.php page):

www.talossa.ca/files/clarks/February2024Clark.pdf

or can vote online here: www.talossa.ca/files/clark_vote.php

Or in this thread, until the 21st of the month, at 19h30 TST.

Senators are allowed to create a single thread in the Senate chamber to post all of the Senate Votes that are not cast in this thread. Any votes not posted either using the form above, the current thread or the Senate thread might be ignored and void. Please do not vote by email or private messages.

When you vote, do not indicate any conditions which may make it sound like this vote isn't final: you can always change your vote later.

Please do not vote by email: We've had problems with email votes being caught in the spam filter.




Secretár d'Estat/Secretary of State

It is my pleasure to open call for bills of the February 2024 Clark.

Eventually, the clark can be viewed in real time here:

www.talossa.ca/files/cosa_vote_result.php?cosa=59&clark=3 (for the votes)

and here:

www.talossa.ca/files/clark.php?cosa=59&clark=3 (for the bills )

It is NOT too late to submit bills, of course, as you have OFFICIALLY until the morning of the 31st of this month, provided your bills have been in the Hopper before end of business day the 15th, of course. I will make the Clark on February 1st's morning and bills submitted up to a few hours before that will probably also be taken.

PLEASE note that in order to support a bill, you need to:

1 ) Be a Senator, the Secretary of State or the King
or
2 ) Have been nominated as a Cosa Member for the upcoming Clark BEFORE the 15th,

To vote on the Clark, you will once again have 2 options:

1 ) You will be able to vote in the Clark thread (which will be created later on the 1st of February), as usual. I will enter your votes in the DB.

2 ) You will be able to vote directly in the database, using your usernumber and DB password (which you can retrieve at: www.talossa.ca/files/login.php using the PSC of the election) or by login via Facebook (which retrieve manual activation on my part).




Secretár d'Estat/Secretary of State

Good morning fellow Talossans,

I want to make sure everyone is aware that I will be traveling over the next several days and as such may not have access to the internet. I am aware that the second Clark is ending next week and I should be home by then. In case I am not, I will adjust any votes that need to be adjusted at my earliest convenience and update the results accordingly.

Thank you
Sir Txec

The December 2023 Clark is now here.


www.talossa.ca/files/clark.php?cosa=59&clark=2

Or here: www.talossa.ca/files/print_clark.php (this is the printer friendly version)


In PDF Form (which was made from the print_clark.php page):

www.talossa.ca/files/clarks/December2023Clark.pdf

or can vote online here: www.talossa.ca/files/clark_vote.php

Or in this thread, until the 21st of the month, at 19h30 TST.

Senators are allowed to create a single thread in the Senate chamber to post all of the Senate Votes that are not cast in this thread. Any votes not posted either using the form above, the current thread or the Senate thread might be ignored and void. Please do not vote by email or private messages.

When you vote, do not indicate any conditions which may make it sound like this vote isn't final: you can always change your vote later.

Please do not vote by email: We've had problems with email votes being caught in the spam filter.




Secretár d'Estat/Secretary of State

It is my pleasure to open call for bills of the December 2023 Clark.

Eventually, the clark can be viewed in real time here:

www.talossa.ca/files/cosa_vote_result.php?cosa=59&clark=2 (for the votes)

and here:

www.talossa.ca/files/clark.php?cosa=59&clark=2 (for the bills )

It is NOT too late to submit bills, of course, as you have OFFICIALLY until the morning of the 30th of this month, provided your bills have been in the Hopper before end of business day the 15th, of course. I will make the Clark on December 1st's morning and bills submitted up to a few hours before that will probably also be taken.

PLEASE note that in order to support a bill, you need to:

1 ) Be a Senator, the Secretary of State or the King
or
2 ) Have been nominated as a Cosa Member for the upcoming Clark BEFORE the 15th,

To vote on the Clark, you will once again have 2 options:

1 ) You will be able to vote in the Clark thread (which will be created later on the 1st of December), as usual. I will enter your votes in the DB.

2 ) You will be able to vote directly in the database, using your usernumber and DB password (which you can retrieve at: www.talossa.ca/files/login.php using the PSC of the election) or by login via Facebook (which retrieve manual activation on my part).




Secretár d'Estat/Secretary of State

So we've been asked to identify a landmark that lies within our borders. I'm thinking for sure the stadium for the Maricopa Brewers would be one example. Other ideas? Maybe it's time we designate a capital building as well!

I've moved all items in the hopper older than May 2023 to a new Hopper Archive (a sub-board of the Hopper). This is more of a clerical/organizational thing than actually removing items from the Hopper. Any item in the archive can still be revived by creating a new entry in the Hopper.

The archive also includes all previously Clarked bills for historical context as well. I will be doing the same thing with the CRL board in order to clean it up a bit.

As ordered by the Cort, I am directed to break the tie to resolve the recent Senate election.

I propose the following tie-breaker. First, I will use a virtual spinning wheel on the site https://wheelofnames.com/ to determine a winner. Each candidate will be on the wheel 3 times, in alphabetical order. The winner will be named Senator:



I will post a screenshot showing the results. This seems like the most fair way to do it. What are your thoughts @Carlüs Éovart Vilaçafat and @Þon Txoteu É. Davinescu, O.SPM? If you agree, please indicate that in this thread.

The November 2023 Clark is now here.


www.talossa.ca/files/clark.php?cosa=59&clark=1

Or here: www.talossa.ca/files/print_clark.php (this is the printer friendly version)


In PDF Form (which was made from the print_clark.php page):

www.talossa.ca/files/clarks/November2023Clark.pdf

or can vote online here: www.talossa.ca/files/clark_vote.php

Or in this thread, until the 21st of the month, at 19h30 TST.

Senators are allowed to create a single thread in the Senate chamber to post all of the Senate Votes that are not cast in this thread. Any votes not posted either using the form above, the current thread or the Senate thread might be ignored and void. Please do not vote by email or private messages.

When you vote, do not indicate any conditions which may make it sound like this vote isn't final: you can always change your vote later.

Please do not vote by email: We've had problems with email votes being caught in the spam filter.

All nominated Cosa Members and Senators have been emailed.




Secretár d'Estat/Secretary of State

I have been trying to make modifications to some pages on the Wiki and for some reason I cannot save in "edit source" mode. I can use the newer edit (WYSIWYG) editor but I often prefer to source edit. Pressing "save changes" in source edit does nothing whatsoever. Can anyone help me with this? It is a bug?

As the First Clark is quickly approaching, party leaders @Miestră Schivă, UrN, @þerxh Sant-Enogat, and @Munditenens Tresplet should post their nominations for Seneschal. The First Clark begins on November 1, 2023, so the deadline for nominations is October 31, 2023.




Secretár d'Estat/Secretary of State

It is my pleasure to open call for bills of the November 2023 Clark.

Eventually, the clark can be viewed in real time here:

www.talossa.ca/files/cosa_vote_result.php?cosa=59&clark=1 (for the votes)

and here:

www.talossa.ca/files/clark.php?cosa=59&clark=1 (for the bills )

It is NOT too late to submit bills, of course, as you have OFFICIALLY until the morning of the 31st of this month, provided your bills have been in the Hopper before end of business day the 21st, of course. I will make the Clark on November 1st's morning and bills submitted up to a few hours before that will probably also be taken.

PLEASE note that in order to support a bill, you need to:

1 ) Be a Senator, the Secretary of State or the King
or
2 ) Have been nominated as a Cosa Member for the upcoming Clark BEFORE the 21st,

To vote on the Clark, you will once again have 2 options:

1 ) You will be able to vote in the Clark thread (which will be created later on the 1st of November), as usual. I will enter your votes in the DB.

2 ) You will be able to vote directly in the database, using your usernumber and DB password (which you can retrieve at: www.talossa.ca/files/login.php using the PSC of the election) or by login via Facebook (which retrieve manual activation on my part).




Secretár d'Estat/Secretary of State

Whereas Article X, Section 4 of Organic Law states, "Talossans may voluntarily renounce their own citizenship. This may be done by publicly issuing a written Declaration of Renunciation. It shall take immediate effect upon its acknowledgement by the Secretary of State through issuance of a Writ of Termination of Citizenship," it is with a heavy heart that the Chancery accepts his renunciation, effective this 20th day of October, 2023.




Secretár d'Estat/Secretary of State

 

- Under the provisions of Organic Law Article VI Section 2, should a Seneschal not be appointed prior to the first day of the first Clark, a Ranked Choice Vote to select the Seneschal shall appear on the First Clark.
- As the database is not currently equipped for this purpose, voting for Seneschal shall occur in a thread on Wittenberg concurrently with the First Clark.
- Only MC's may vote for a Seneschal. Senators have no vote.
- As Organic Law is relatively thin on the provisions of ranked choice voting for a Seneschal, the Chancery hereby proposes the following rules for voting:
- Votes shall be weighted by the number of seats assigned to each MC.
- Each party represented in the Cosa shall nominate one candidate for Seneschal prior to the posting of voting on Wittenberg. This should be done even if a Seneschal is elected prior to voting to ensure enough time for the actual vote.
- On the voting thread, there should be NO discussion or comments other than ranked choices.
- MC's will rank the candidates for Seneschal by preference (i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) MC's should rank all candidates to avoid their ballots becoming exhausted.
- Should an MC rank the same candidate more than once, only the first appearance of that candidate on their ballot shall be counted.
- Failing to vote in the Seneschal election by an MC shall not count as a missed Clark unless that MC also fails to vote on the Clark itself.
- If a Seneschal candidate wins an outright majority of first-preference votes (50 percent plus 1) he or she will be declared the winner.
- If no Seneschal candidate wins an outright majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated.
- All first-preference votes for the failed candidate are eliminated. Second preference choices on these ballots are then elevated to first-preference.
- A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won an outright majority of the adjusted votes.
- The process is repeated until either a candidate wins a majority of votes cast or a tie exists.
- If there's a tie after preferences, then we revert to the result of the previous round (which, in the case of only 3 candidates, would be the plurality result, i.e. just whoever gets the most first preferences). Only if it's still a tie then should we go for a revote on the second Clark.

As far as the required Vote of Confidence on each Clark, as there would be no new government in place should this election occur, the Chancery believes that the VoC would apply to the existing Seneschal and his Cabinet that was appointed during the 58th Cosa. However, should the VoC fail, a new election would need to be called.

Discussion should be by MCs only. I don't want this thread to become a free-for-all as it is vital that we have rules in place before the first Clark.

updated to include Miestra's proposed change to the tie-breaker.