As the election has now concluded, newly elected senators are required to pay their fees in order to be seated.

@Gödafrïeu Válcadác'h, Fiova. Fee paid: No
@Ian Plätschisch, Maritiimi-Maxhestic. Fee paid: Yes
@Iason Taiwos, Belacosta. Fee paid: Yes

As the General Election has now ended, and while the Electoral Commission is certifying the results, each party that won seats in the 60th Cosa must pay their registration fees. Below is the status of each registration.

In addition, parties that DID NOT declare a candidate list may only seat their party leader (COFFEE and DIEN). The maximum number of seats any one person may hold is 25.

Currently Registered Parties

• Free Democrats of Talossa (FreeDems), party leader @Miestră Schivă, UrN. Fee paid: Yes Cosa List: Yes
• Civilian Outreach for Fun and Enjoyable Events (COFFEE), party leader @Bråneu Excelsio. Fee paid: Yes Cosa List: Yes
• The Independent Party (IND), party leader @Dame Litz Cjantscheir, UrN . Fee paid: No Cosa List: Yes
• The Progressive Alliance (PROG), party leader @þerxh Sant-Enogat . Fee paid: Yes Cosa List: Yes
• Open Society (OPEN), party leader @Breneir Tzaracomprada . Fee paid: Yes Cosa List: Yes
• Partì da Reformaziun (PdR), party leader @Mic'haglh Autófil . Fee paid: Yes Cosa List: Yes
• The Independent Monarchist (DIEN), party leader @Munditenens Tresplet. Fee paid: Yes Cosa List: No

Under the provisions of 59CL1, which states:

QuoteNominations for Premieir shall be opened by the current Premieir within one month of every National Election. Nomination periods shall be two weeks. The election for Premieir shall commence immediately upon the end of the nomination period. Elections for Premieir shall remain open for a period of two weeks.

FURTHERMORE, Should no candidate gain a majority of the votes, the current Premieir shall remain in office until the end of the Cosa term when new elections shall be called.

Nominations for Premieir shall remain open until 7:30PM TST on July 16, 2024.

As Premieir of Maricopa, I hereby open the call for seats in the Maricopa Cabana.

As a reminder, any citizen of Maricopa may claim a seat in the Cabana -- the hottest spot north of Havana!

Under Article III, Section 2, which states "all adult citizens of Vuode are eligible to be seated in the Estats Xhenerais," any citizen of Vuode who wishes to claim a seat shall do so by declaring the following:

"I, name, hereby claim my right to be seated in the next Grand Session of the Estats Xhenerais".

Without objection I will ask that those citizens of Vuode who wish to claim a seat do so before 7:30 TST on July 15, 2024.


Cunstaval da Vuode

Posted below are the unofficial results, which will become official once the Electoral Commission has certified the results.

Cosa Seats

FreeDems: 80
COFFEE: 20
IND: 25
PROG: 15
OPEN: 30
PdR: 10
DIEN: 20

RZ6 - Passed
RZ21 - Passed
RZ22 - Passed

Senäts
Fiova - Gödafrïeu Válcadác'h - elected
Maritiimi-Maxhestic - Ian Plätschisch - Elected
Benito - Iason Taiwos - Elected

Total # of votes cast: 95




Secretár d'Estat/Secretary of State

Turnout so far:

• Citizens allowed to vote: 136
• Citizens who voted: 76 (55.88%)
• Citizens who have not yet voted: 60 (44.12%)

Updated June 26, 2024 6:18 AM Pacific.

The June 2024 General Elections to elect the 60th Cosa, provincial assemblies and 3 senate seats in addition to the three referenda on amendments to the Organic Law is now active.

You can find the election rules here.

Ballots will be sent today. If you do not receive a ballot today, please send me a pm.

If you believe there is something wrong with the ballot, please contact me ASAP.



As per the Organic Law, all votes are final, and cannot be retracted, modified or altered in any way: if multiple votes are sent, only the first one is counted. The only exception is that if you vote on the Cosa part, but forgot to vote on the Senate part, you may add your Senate vote before the election deadline using voting method 1, 2, or 4* (see below). The database admin will then manually insert your Senate vote into the database.

*In this case, make a new separate post, do not alter your original post.

There are five ways to vote:

• You can reply to their Ballot email with your vote, provided the PSC code is in the email. Those votes will be entered manually into the Database system.
• You can write a different email (to talossachancery@gmail.com), provided the PSC code is in it. Those votes will be entered manually into the Database system.
• You can vote using the online form: www.talossa.ca/files/vote.php using only your citizen number (available online and in the email) and the PSC code from the email. Those votes will be entered automatically into the Database system.
• Voters will be able to vote on Wittenberg publicly A single vote thread (THIS THREAD) will be created for casting votes on Wittenberg. If you have received your vote code (PSC), you are requested to cast your vote in that thread. It is suggested that for privacy purposes you send a PM with your PSC but not post it in the public forum. A vote without PSC will be validated provided the account clearly belongs to a single eligible voter.
• You can print the ballot located here at www.talossa.ca/files/votebymail.php and mail it to the address located at the bottom of the ballot. Keep in mind that votes need to arrive before the election deadline to be valid and voting by mail might take long, especially from a location outside western Europe. (NOTICE: the vote by mail ballot is not fully updated yet.  When voting by mail please keep in mind the instructions on the email ballot or here.)

Especially when voting using a different method than the database, keep in mind the following:

• Part 3: Cosa Election
• Part 5: Referendum
• Part 6: Senate Election
• Part 7: Provincial Election

• Specify which part you are voting for. Unspecified party votes will only count towards the Cosa election.
• Write-in parties for the Cosa elections cannot receive votes. A write-in vote has the same effect as Present/Invalid.
• For the Senate part, rank as many eligible candidates as you want in order of preference. Do not include one candidate multiple times. Please include a candidate's full name or citizen number. Ambiguous votes may be rejected. Write-In votes for eligible citizens are allowed.
• Party votes do not count in any way for Senate elections.
• As per the Organic Law, all votes are final, and cannot be retracted, modified or altered in any way: if multiple votes are sent, only the first one is counted. The only exception is that if you vote on the Cosa part, but forgot to vote on the Senate part, you may add your Senate vote before the election deadline using voting method 1, 2, or 4* (see above). The database admin will then manually insert your Senate vote into the database.
• DO NOTE ALTER your original post. ALWAYS create a new post.

If you vote on Wittenberg, please include the following parts: (On Wittenberg your vote will always be public.)

For the Cosa, please vote for the party you want to vote for.

Seven parties have registered:

• Free Democrats of Talossa (FreeDems)
• Civilian Outreach for Fun and Enjoyable Events (COFFEE)
• The Independent Party (IND)
• The Progressive Alliance (PROG)
• Open Society (OPEN)
• Partì da Reformaziun (PdR)
• The Independent Monarchist (DIEN)

More information about these parties (50 word statements, leaders, link to party platform, etc) can be found on your ballot, on the online voting form and on the election rules page.

If you do not wish to vote for a party you can also indicate "PRESENT" for the Party Vote. This counts as vote in regards to keeping your citizenship.
(You risk losing your citizenship if you did not vote or take part in a census during the last two years.)


There are three referendums this year:

• RZ6 - The Hand of the King Needs No Glove Puppet Amendment
• RZ21 - The 9 to 5 Amendment
• RZ22 - The Succession Amendment

You may vote Për (in favour), Contrâ (against), or Abstain on these amendments.
The full texts can be found by clicking the links.


Please include your vote for Senator if you are a citizen of any of the following provinces:

• Fiova
• Benito
• Maritiimi-Maxhestic

To vote for Senate, list 1 or more (the database ballot accepts up to 5) eligible citizens of your province in order of preference!

If you leave this empty your vote will count as abstain and your vote for the other parts will still be valid.
Important: votes for a party do NOT count here. You will need to vote for an individual candidate.

The following candidates have registered for senate seats:
Fiova: Gödafrïeu Válcadác'h
Benito: Iason Taiwos
Maritiimi-Maxhestic: Ian Plätschisch
Write-in votes for Senate are also allowed

Here you can vote for whichever party you wish to represent you in your provincial assembly. The provincial assembly elections of the following provinces are conducted by the chancery:

- Atatürk

- Benito
(For the Benito Legislative Assembly, please vote for a party, or PRESENT if you wish to cast a null ballot.)

- Florencia
(Vote for a party or vote "present")

- Fiova
Ranked choice voting, same as for Senators

If you leave this empty your vote will count as abstain and your vote for the other parts will still be valid.


Any time between the morning of 15 June, 2024 and 1 July, 2024 19:30 TST (UTC-5) (This corresponds to 19:30 in Milwaukee (WI), USA)


PS for those interested: here you can find who have and have not voted yet.
Current turnout: 45 (33.09%)

Also,  here is a list of citizen numbers of citizens who are at risk of losing their citizenship at the end of the election: Erschéveþ (Ely) da Schir and Enríc Cjaçifiçeir.

Lastly, please just use this thread for voting. For questions, concerns, etc you can use this thread. Additionally, this thread should be treated as a polling station. This is not the place for campaigning or political arguments.

53RZ23 established a database of name, province and email address of all citizens who opt-in, available to every citizen. This has not been automated yet. If you wish to be included in this database please contact the Secretary of State on Witt or send an email to talossachancery@gmail.com stating that you wish to be included in the database for all citizens.

The May 2024 Clark is now here.


www.talossa.ca/files/clark.php?cosa=59&clark=6

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/May2024Clark.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 May 2024 Clark.

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

www.talossa.ca/files/cosa_vote_result.php?cosa=59&clark=6 (for the votes)

and here:

www.talossa.ca/files/clark.php?cosa=59&clark=6 (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 May 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 May), 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

Azul leaders of Maritiimi-Maxhestic,

The Chancery is preparing the 59th Cosa election and needs to confirm details regarding your upcoming Senate election. The Chancery has details that the election for senator is NOT run by the Chancery, is this correct or should the province conduct the election?

Regards
Sir Txec dal Nordselvâ
Secretary of State

Azul leaders of Benito,

The Chancery is preparing the 60th Cosa election and needs to confirm details regarding your upcoming Senate election. The Chancery has details that the election for senator is run by the Chancery, is this correct or should the province conduct the election?

Regards
Sir Txec dal Nordselvâ
Secretary of State

Azul leaders of Fiova,

The Chancery is preparing the 60th Cosa election and needs to confirm details regarding your upcoming Senate election. The Chancery has details that the election for senator is run by the Chancery, is this correct or should the province conduct the election?

Regards
Sir Txec dal Nordselvâ
Secretary of State

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 (a month of recess has already been called so the below timetable will not change)

• 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

Current Referenda

• RZ6 - The Hand of the King Needs No Glove Puppet Amendment
• RZ21 - The 9 to 5 Amendment
• RZ22 - The Succession Amendment

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 the Chancery.
  
• Benito (3 cosa terms) - Election conducted by the Chancery.
  
• Maritiimi-Maxhestic (3 cosa terms) - Election conducted by the Chancery.

Registration Status

Currently Declared Senate Candidates

• Gödafrïeu Válcadác'h, Fiova. Fee paid: No
• Ian Plätschisch, Maritiimi-Maxhestic. Fee paid: No
• Iason Taiwos, Benito. Fee paid: No

Currently Registered Parties

• Free Democrats of Talossa (FreeDems), party leader @Miestră Schivă, UrN. Fee paid: No Cosa List: Yes
• Civilian Outreach for Fun and Enjoyable Events (COFFEE), party leader @Bråneu Excelsio. Fee paid: No Cosa List: No
• The Independent Party (IND), party leader @Dame Litz Cjantscheir, UrN . Fee paid: No Cosa List: Yes
• The Progressive Alliance (PROG), party leader @þerxh Sant-Enogat . Fee paid: No Cosa List: Yes
• Open Society (OPEN), party leader @Breneir Tzaracomprada . Fee paid: No Cosa List: Yes
• Partì da Reformaziun (PdR), party leader @Mic'haglh Autófil . Fee paid: No Cosa List: Yes
• The Independent Monarchist (DIEN), party leader @Munditenens Tresplet. Fee paid: No Cosa List: No

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

Page updated 6/11/24 7:20 AM 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