I don't know anything about soccer, but that's never stopped me before.

My stepmother's services are in a couple of days. Right now I'm helping my dad as much as I can. After that, on Thursday I'm headed home and I will take on the standards for political parties which is I think the last real stumbling block.

I may not be very available over this weekend; my stepmother has been moved to hospice care.  I'm just at that time of life, I guess.  I will be checking in if there's any major issues.

There's a time limit before such changes come into effect, which is already significant and which I'm not 100% happy about.  We worked really hard to get dozens and dozens of laws assembled into one legal code, and it took months, and it turned our laws from something impenetrable that only a few people knew their way around into something that was actually useful to people.  And it's still legalese, but it's relatively simple.

If we start making special categories of provisions inside of it... well, I'm a little nervous about where that can lead.  Regular Talossans (sometimes MLLs, sometimes not) still sometimes say to me that they don't understand how to read our laws very well.  "Make the laws simpler" is an explicit goal for my party, and there's a bill we'll be putting on the Sixth Clark which has some wording changes for just that purpose.  I'm uncomfortable making them less simple at the same time.

We can do a lot with "as guided by statute" and putting what we can into statute, so let me take a crack at this.

You can't really make a statutory provision that's especially difficult to change.  Any future Ziu will have equal power to this Ziu, and we can't "tie their hands."  I think the principle is called legislative sovereignty.

It occurred to me that we could make a provision of the OrgLaw saying "any change to statute that affects so-and-so must be agreed upon by a supermajority of the Cosa" or something like that.  But we've never done that before, and the immediate problem that presents is that it might make it really easy to impose new laws about that topic by just looping in something about that provision and then really hard to change them once they exist.  Plus it creates a new category of law, which makes me nervous after we spent so much trouble on going to a single legal code.

That said, I bet a lot of this can be put into statute or made so that statute can guide it or something.  I'll take a look.

Okay, whew!  You're better at math than me, I think, so you made me really nervous there that I'd just forgotten my order of operations or something!

Okay, the change sounds good to me.  I'll make it: "3. No person shall hold more seats in the Cosă than thirty times the total number of seats in the Cosă divided by two times the number of ballots cast for the Cosa in the most recent General Election, rounded up to the next integer."

One note is that this sort of thing could be really pivotal in how the entire election or legislature works, which is why we don't want it in statute.  We don't want a simple majority to be able to alter the system in their favor in the future, especially since this is a compromise approach that's not anyone's ideal.  This isn't specific to anyone -- I don't think you or Miestra are engaged in nefarious plotting to double-cross a good-faith compromise, since neither of you are that kind of person -- but it's just a generally good principle of legislating.

Maybe there is more of this that could go in statute, though... is that generally something you'd prefer that I should try to figure out?

It seems like this formula would just lead to a super-low cap?  3*20/2*100 is 3*20/200 is 60/200 is 0.3, right?  I feel like I must be missing something about the math here.

Later this week, we'll make one last appeal for people who might be interested in the award -- probably in an announcement that also loops in the TalossAssistant appeal -- and then we'll get these out to the people who have earned them.

Are you interested in helping out your country and making new friends in the process?  Are you a Talossan of good character who can chat with a new citizen?

Click here to volunteer as a TalossAssistant!

It's not a huge job -- just chatting with a new citizen and answering their questions -- but it makes a huge difference!  Volunteer here today, and join the ranks of the helpers!  After filling out this brief form, you'll be added to the list and assigned to a new citizen in the future, helping them along as they try to decide what they want to do in the country.  The personal connection you provide might make a big difference in their future as a Talossan!

Join today!

I thought about leaving more of it to statute, but the problem with a difficult compromise bill like this one is that we're each going to have parts that aren't our ideal, and it's important to put them out of reach of statute for it to be credible.

We also do big bills like this very regularly -- the OrgLaw just isn't that hard to modify if there's a real consensus behind the change.

I'm not sure we'd want to block someone from doing that, though, especially considering the exact circumstances you're referencing: people conflicted out of their secretarial positions who are being returned to those positions.

As to 62RZ25, the Freedom of Conscience Act, I vote a sad contra, since it's basically a good bill.  Throughout the drafting process, I objected to the fact that it seems to be unintentionally insulting His Majesty the King. I hope to see a new version that doesn't have this flaw.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC on June 03, 2026, 01:41:03 AMThis looks like good work. Only quibble here is:

Quote2. Each party shall receive a percentage of party seats as equal as possible to its percentage of the popular vote, but each party shall receive a whole number of seats, and in turn, the Secretary of State shall assign these seats to a numerically-ordered list of candidates nominated by that party. The Secretary of State shall assign seats by assigning a seat to the first person on a party's list. If the party won more than one seat, then the Secretary of State will assign a seat to the next person on their list, and so on until the end of the party's list. The Secretary of State will then return to the top of the list, and continue in the same manner until all of the party's seats have been assigned.

The party list being ranked is a pretty important detail. Consequent amendment to El Lexh 2.3 also:

Quote2.3 The ballot must also include, for each party contesting the election, a 50-word (or less) statement of the general aims and views of the party, and a list in numerical order of citizens to whom the party intends to award Cosa seats. If a party does not submit a candidate list to the Secretary of State before the election, the party leader is assigned all seats won, and seats which cannot be held by the Party Leader are forfeited.

Thank you!  It was a lot of work, since this change touches on a lot of things.

I have made the suggested changes, as well as adding the notations for any bit of statute being changed to make it easier to read.

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC on June 03, 2026, 01:41:03 AMFinally, is there any appetite for adding something to El Lexh 2.3.2 which states that a party's internal processes for naming their candidates must allow and reflect the democratic input of members, and members have standing to sue in default of this?

I think that makes sense, but I just haven't had a chance to even begin to think about that.  I think it might surprisingly be one of the trickier things to do.  It's probably going to need to be an Organic change, since if we give free leave for laws that govern how parties work, then we'll need it to not be subject to easy change (since that would effectively make it a lot easier for a majority party to mess with their competition).  Maybe a specific list of standards that are necessary in party processes?

Yes, and I pinged the MinTech to see if he could help.  Thank you, Your Majesty.

Catching back up on this, we've had no successful applications recently!  Some of this is probably the two week gap when the immigration form wasn't working, but also we're seeing a huge number of people who just aren't proceeding on to making an account on Wittenberg, as well as people who have not made posts once they get here.  What the numbers suggest to me are a lower level of engagement generally, which maybe has to do with the fact that we have done almost no promotion during April or May.

My prediction is that we're going to see that change over the next month again.  We'll see: either I'll be right and we'll do a lot better, or I'm going to be eating a lot of crow as my hypothesis falls flat!  Copy this down and remember it, to hold me accountable, folks!

For period: 1 April 2026 to 31 May 2026
----
Incomplete: 6
No Wittenberg: 33
No post: 5
In progress: 11
No petition: 0
Successful: 0
Total applications: 55

'Incomplete' refers to those applications which were not filled out correctly or completely, and which were returned with an explanation. 'No Wittenberg' refers to those applications which were complete, but in which the applicant did not go on to make an account on Wittenberg. 'No post' refers to those applications from the period in which the prospective never made a post and so the process has been terminated.  'In progress' refers to those applications from the period which were complete and in which the applicant is still being considered. 'No petition' refers to those applications which were complete and considered, but for which no petition was received. 'Successful' refers to naturalizations completed.

Let me begin on a pleasant note by just thanking the MC and his party for the deal struck with the Government to help keep things running.  Having a significantly larger margin for error when it comes to confidence votes has been a boon just in terms of my own stress.  I'm also just glad in a broader way that we were able to prove that everyone can work together productively.

This wasn't a foregone conclusion, and a lot of credit is due to Dame Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC for never closing the door and being willing to keep lines of communication open.  While we've been fortunate in the immigration of the fine MC who has asked these many questions, there's something to be said for established relationships -- even if they are rivalrous!

So I'd like to thank the URL again for that, and offer my hopes we keep moving forward so productively.


We have not yet offered any Prime Minister's Patriotic Awards.  We sent out a bulletin to all citizens about the improved new El List near the end of February, and I want to send one out about the PMPA too.  But I don't want to spam people, so I wanted to let some time go by before we did that.  I'll probably ask the Chancery to send one out in the next couple of weeks.



I'm pretty proud of the PMPA.  While I didn't learn how to do 3-D design specifically for this, it's always fun to tackle little challenges on behalf of Talossa.  I've often said that this is one of the best things about our country: it prompts you to try all sorts of things, if you're bold enough to give it a try.

So we will wait to send them out a little longer until I feel like we've had a chance to notify everyone of their availability.  I don't know if we'll get a flood of new claimants, but it seems like the fair thing to do.


On immigration, the New Citizen's Guide will be made prominently available to all new citizens.  We're just in a lull in that regard.  It's quite worrying, actually: it's been two months with no new immigrants, and that's a problem.  Some of it has to do with the transition to the new immigration system.  For almost two weeks, no applications were possible.

Yes, it's a good thing that we closed the massive security vulnerabilities that existed before, with the personal information of hundreds of people exposed to anyone who gained access to any existing edit-approved accounts on the national website.  And yes, it's a good thing that we can now readily track all kinds of factors when it comes to the immigration process, giving us clues about what is working and what isn't.  But one typo bit us in the butt during the process, and so the process was broken for two weeks.  I guess that can happen with any big technical transition, but it was still regrettable.

One bit of good news is that this strongly supports the notion that active promotional efforts do seem to be effective: we had a sharp spike in successful immigration following a promo video and some Reddit advertisements, and we've had a sharp slump now that we haven't done any.

We're actually a little bit ahead of you when it comes to worrying about this, because I do think it's a problem.  That's why just last week the Minister of Propaganda posted a new promotional video, and we'll be doing more things like that to address the issue.  If you haven't had a chance to see it yet, here it is!


Now, it's possible that this won't have much effect and we won't see any kind of bump, but I'm betting that we will. 

I am very grateful to the member for his inquiry, and I eagerly await any follow-ups.  As the member can tell, we're very proud of our work and happy to discuss it.

Here's an updated version of the bill, incorporating Tafi's notes.  Interested also to hear from Miestra or Mic'haglh.



Whereas the Ziu believes in further perfecting our democracy, and accordingly wishes to better establish its belief that the outcome of a vote should match the will of the voters as much as possible, and that the people should be in charge of that outcome and not party bosses, and that there is room for parties of every size,

---

Part I: Ironclad Party Lists

THEREFORE, the second section of Article IV of the Organic Law, which currently reads:

QuoteBased on the final results of the General Election, the Secretary of State shall calculate the apportionment of seats among the parties, hereinafter referred to as "party seats".
    1. The party seats shall total 200, or another number which may be set by law, with the provisos that any such change will not take effect until the next election following the passage of a calendar year; and that this number may never be less than twice the number of Senators minus one.
    2. Each party shall receive a percentage of party seats as equal as possible to its percentage of the popular vote, but each party shall receive a whole number of seats, and in turn, each party shall assign these seats to individuals, in accordance with law. The Secretary of State shall employ whatever mathematical formulae and calculations in the apportionment of seats as are set by law, or, in the absence of such law, as will best reflect the intentions of this Organic Law. The Uppermost Cort shall be the final judge in case of mathematical disputes.
    3. Only registered political parties may obtain party seats. Parties which win votes but are not registered may not assume their seats in the Cosa until they register. The process to register a party shall be defined by law. The Secretary of State may request from all parties a registration fee, to be set by law, to cover the cost of the election. This fee shall be uniform for all parties.

shall be amended to read:

QuoteBased on the final results of the General Election, the Secretary of State shall calculate the apportionment of seats among the parties, hereinafter referred to as "party seats".
    1. The party seats shall total 200, or another number which may be set by law, with the provisos that any such change will not take effect until the next election following the passage of a calendar year; and that this number may never be less than twice the number of Senators minus one.
    2. Each party shall receive a percentage of party seats as equal as possible to its percentage of the popular vote, but each party shall receive a whole number of seats, and in turn, the Secretary of State shall assign these seats to a numerically-ordered list of candidates nominated by that party. The Secretary of State shall assign seats by assigning a seat to the first person on a party's list. If the party won more than one seat, then the Secretary of State will assign a seat to the next person on their list, and so on until the end of the party's list. The Secretary of State will then return to the top of the list, and continue in the same manner until all of the party's seats have been assigned.
    3. No person shall hold more seats in the Cosă than thirty times the total number of seats in the Cosă divided by two times the number of ballots cast for the Cosa in the most recent General Election, rounded up to the next integer.
    4. Any seats which cannot be assigned under the procedure described in this section may be filled by the King according to his own best judgment, or left vacant.
    5. The Secretary of State shall employ whatever mathematical formulae and calculations in the apportionment of seats as are set by law, or, in the absence of such law, as will best reflect the intentions of this Organic Law. The Uppermost Cort shall be the final judge in case of mathematical disputes.
    6. Only registered political parties may obtain party seats. Parties which win votes but are not registered may not assume their seats in the Cosa until they register. The process to register a party shall be defined by law. The Secretary of State may request from all parties a registration fee, to be set by law, to cover the cost of the election. This fee shall be uniform for all parties.

FURTHERMORE, the third section of Article IV of the Organic Law, which currently reads:

QuoteIn the case of vacant party seats occurring between elections, the Secretary of State shall inform the King and the leader of whatever party held the vacant seat. The King shall appoint a replacement to each vacancy. If the seat belonged to a party with a functioning party leader, the King must appoint as a replacement whichever person shall be so designated by that party's leader. If there is no functioning party leader, or if the party leader refuses to designate a replacement, the King shall appoint the replacement according to his own best judgment.

shall be amended to read:

QuoteIn the case of vacant party seats occurring between elections, the Secretary of State shall inform the King and the leader of whatever party held the vacant seat. The Secretary of State shall redistribute all of that party's seats among the remaining eligible candidates on that party's list in the same manner described in the second section, above. If no eligible candidate remains on that party's list, whether by vacation, ineligibility, or the operation of the maximum seats provision, the King may assign the seat according to his own best judgment, or leave it vacant.

FURTHERMORE, there shall be a new second subsubsection of the third subsection of the second section of Title B of El Lexhatx, B.2.3.2, which shall read:

Quote2.3.2. The Secretary of State shall confirm to their satisfaction that all citizens appearing on a party list consent to do so, prior to the printing or publication of the ballot. Only citizens so consenting shall be recognized as being on a party's list for the purposes of Lexh.B.2.3, and only said citizens will appear on the party's list as shown on the ballot.

FURTHERMORE, the first subsection of the fourth section of Title H of El Lexhatx, H.4.1, which currently reads

Quote4.1. No person shall hold more seats in the Cosa than ten times the total number of seats in the Cosa divided by the number of ballots cast for the Cosa in the most recent General Election, rounded up to the next integer.
4.1.1. The total number of party seats is twenty.

shall be amended to read

Quote4.1. The total number of party seats is twenty.

FURTHERMORE, the first subsubsubsection of the first subsubsection of the third subsection of the second section of Title B of El Lexhatx, B.2.3.1.1, which currently reads

Quote2.3.1.1. The party leader may assign seats to any eligible citizen(s) they see fit, so long as the following criteria are met:
2.3.1.1.1. The party's internal procedures are followed
2.3.1.1.2. No one who was not named on the list is assigned more seats than any eligible citizen who was named on the list
2.3.1.1.3. The total number of seats awarded to those not on the list does not exceed 1/3 of all seats won by the party
2.3.1.1.4. No person occupies more than the maximum legal number of seats.

shall be deleted in its entirety.

FURTHERMORE, the third subsection of the second section of Title B of El Lexhatx, B.2.3, which currently reads,

Quote2.3 The ballot must also include, for each party contesting the election, a 50-word (or less) statement of the general aims and views of the party, and a list of citizens to whom the party intends to award Cosa seats. If a party does not submit a candidate list to the Secretary of State before the election, the party leader is assigned all seats won, and seats which cannot be held by the Party Leader are forfeited.

shall be amended to read

Quote2.3 The ballot must also include, for each party contesting the election, a 50-word (or less) statement of the general aims and views of the party, and a list in numerical order of citizens to whom the party intends to award Cosa seats. If a party does not submit a candidate list to the Secretary of State before the election, the party leader is assigned all seats won, and any seats which cannot be held by the Party Leader may be filled by the King according to his own best judgment, or left vacant.

FURTHERMORE, the third subsection of the second section of Title B of El Lexhatx, B.2.3.1, which currently reads

Quote2.3.1. Before the conclusion of the first Clark, each party leader must submit to the Secretary of State a report containing the distribution of the seats won in the election.

shall be amended to read

Quote2.3.1. Before the conclusion of the first Clark, the Secretary of State shall publish the distribution of seats among the candidates of each party, as calculated under the procedure described in Article IV of the Organic Law.

FURTHERMORE, subsection 2.3.1.2 of the third subsection of the second section of Title B of El Lexhatx, B.2.3.1.2, which currently reads

Quote2.3.1.2. Any person assigned a seat as above may decline to take their seats in which case they will be reallocated according to the criteria of B.2.3.1.1.

shall be amended to read

Quote2.3.1.2. Any person assigned a seat may decline to take their seats, in which case the Secretary of State shall redistribute that party's seats among the remaining candidates on the party's list in the manner described in the Organic Law.

FURTHERMORE, subsection 2.3.1.3 of the third subsection of the second section of Title B of El Lexhatx, B.2.3.1.3, which currently reads

Quote2.3.1.3. If a party cannot assign all of their seats under the criteria of B.2.3.1.1., the additional seats are forfeited.

shall be deleted in its entirety.

---

Part II: Standards of the Cosa

FURTHERMORE, the fourth section of Article IV of the Organic Law, which currently reads:

Quote1. In addition to the seats apportioned between parties after a General Election, the Secretary of State shall assign one Cosa seat to any citizen who becomes eligible to vote after the most recent Election Deadline but before the dissolution of the Cosa, upon the request of such citizen, up to a maximum number as this Organic Law might provide. Any additional seat so assigned shall cease to exist should its holder vacate or be removed from the seat and shall not be subject to the procedures for filling vacancies in the Cosa, and shall also cease to exist upon the dissolution of the Cosa.
2. The maximum number of seats that may be assigned to new citizens between general elections shall be 7.5% of the seats apportioned between parties, rounded up to a whole number of seats.

shall be amended to read

QuoteThe Cosa may impeach any of its members from the Chamber with a two-thirds majority vote and with the approval of the King. Following impeachment, a replacement will be chosen according to the third section of this article, and the impeached member shall not be eligible for reassignment of seats under the terms of this article. Following a failed impeachment, the accused Member of the Cosa may not again be impeached for the same offence, pursuant to the Seventh Covenant of the Covenant of Rights and Freedoms. The former Member of the Cosa is not barred from running for office in future elections as long as the former Member of the Cosa maintains citizenship.

if and only if the vote for ratification of the referendum for 62RZ14 - The Broosking Swing Mitigation Amendment (Reconsideration) fails.  Should the referendum for 62RZ14 - The Broosking Swing Mitigation Amendment (Reconsideration) succeed in ratification by the people, then the new text shall be added to the end of the article as a new section, instead.

FURTHERMORE, the fifth section of Article IV of the Organic Law, which currently reads:

QuoteEach person holding one or more seats is a representative known as a "Member of the Cosa" (MC). MCs may not be removed from office except by a two-thirds vote by the Cosa and approval by the King. An MC vacates his seats if he fails to vote on two consecutive Clarks, or if he resigns from office or dies. The seats of any MC who is removed or vacates shall be reassigned according to Section 4, above.

shall be amended to read

QuoteEach person holding one or more seats is a representative known as a "Member of the Cosa" (MC). An MC vacates his seats if they fail to vote on two consecutive Clarks, if they resign from office, or if they die. The seats of any MC who is removed or vacates shall be re-assigned according to the third section, above.

What kind of feedback were you looking for?  Should a bunch of us try it out?

Quote from: Françal I. Lux on June 01, 2026, 03:57:15 PMI will also continue to advocate for a candidate-based voting system. As I've state before, I believe it would solve a lot of the issues we're having to grapple with in the current system. I am still uncomfortable with party lists on principle and would prefer political parties to be decentralized enough to let individual candidates take the lead in their own campaigns.

I also don't buy the argument that it's too hard so we shouldn't bother with it. If the right solution is a little bit more complicated than the current flawed system but actually solves a lot of the issues we all know exist, we shouldn't be afraid to implement it regardless of how it would impact us politically or ideologically because it's what's right for the nation in the long-term. It's also on us as elected officials to explain to the public thoroughly the change and why it's necessary. I believe our citizens are sophisticated enough to understand and would appreciate reforms that would actually empower them at the ballot box.

I'm a little skeptical we could get that written in the time remaining to us, but we could at least start something in terms of getting some text down.  Education is going to be key, and so will ballot design, and the language needs to be careful.  As I have found, there's a lot of places where statutes touch on this... my bill will clean up a lot of those, at least, and make way for a candidate-based system (maybe in the next term?)

Quote from: Miestră Schivă, UrN-GC on June 01, 2026, 04:15:52 PMI haven't had a chance to look at the Baron's bill closely yet, but I'm not 100% convinced we need to push on to a Sixth Clark bill. I reiterate my preference for a minimal OrgLaw amendment which would (a) clarify that only candidates on the ballot get to sit in the Cosa - in exchange for the excellent compromise of a 33% increase in seat limits - and that includes filling vacancies; (b) verbiage that allows either a closed-list or open-list system, details to be worked out by statute law in the 63rd Cosa.

I think we have time to get this done if we keep cracking at it.

My bill is fairly minimal -- a lot of the changes are just fixing all the little bits and bobs about party leaders getting to change things.  I used your language on a lot of it, adding on a bit where problems became obvious (like to prevent another problem like we just had, with different appointment methods at different times).  I think I found all of the references to leaders getting to appoint people at will and things associated with that.

Quote from: King Txec on June 01, 2026, 12:54:19 PM

Quote from: Baron Alexandreu Davinescu on April 12, 2026, 10:45:59 AMOkay, the Minister of Technology has set up a tweak on the current user structure and implemented the opposition email account.  I have set up the immigration system to automatically mirror applications directly to it, and I'll monitor it for a week to make sure it's working correctly.  Once we're confident, I'll hand off the account to you, Your Majesty, and you can change the password and share the info with the Leader of the Opposition.

Just as an update here, I have been unable to provide login credentials to the Leader of the Opposition as I am unable to change the password. There is no setting in the email system used in order to accomplish this.

-Txec R

Was the Minister of Technology able to help you?  @Danihel Txechescu ?