40. How do General Assembly elections work?
General Assembly elections are held every twelve weeks RT, concurrently with the executive elections, and use a proportional representation system. In essence, each citizen casts a vote for the party of their choice, and parties receive a number of seats in the General Assembly identical with their percentage of votes. These seats are filled by the party as it sees fit. There are 100 seats in the General Assembly but, as noted below, the majority of those seats are filled by NPC back-benchers controlled (for the most part) by PC legislators. All seats are “at-large” seats, and are not tied to particular locations.
This is how things are described and handled in-game. In reality, things are a bit more complicated. A party is required to have a minimum of two members to run for the legislature; without two members, they will not be certified by the CRO. Provided this minimum threshold is met, any clear statement made to the CRO indicating that the party will run for the legislature will be considered sufficient to put that party on the ballot. Legislative elections are conducted in the same way as executive elections – players cast a ballot voting for single party for the legislature, and the GMs cast a number of votes equivalent to the total votes cast by the players.
If the party wins any seats in the legislature, they are required to produce at least one PC legislator. This “senior legislator,” and any other PC legislators, can be replaced by the party leader at any time. All other legislative seats filled by a party are NPCs. Usually, these NPC “back-benchers” will follow the PC senior legislator’s lead. Each party’s senior legislator therefore controls a bloc consisting of all of the party’s other legislators. On occasion, the GMs may have some or all of a party’s NPC legislators break ranks. Reasons may include parochial interests, an intended PC vote that seems to oppose party principles, political unpopularity of the position taken by the senior legislator, or any other situational factor that might arise. Each party should maintain a Caucus thread where PC legislators can indicate their intended vote on legislation and hear feedback or protests from NPC legislators.
Parties are not limited to a single senior legislator; as many other PCs as desired may represent each party as “junior legislators.” These PCs may represent a certain faction within the party if they desire. For example, in a conservative party, one legislator might represent fiscal conservatives, another religious conservatives, and a third monarchists. These junior legislators will then begin to attract their own blocs, which may, in time, become larger and more powerful than that of the senior legislator. Generally, however, these blocs will start small. A player who wishes to join the legislature on behalf of their party should petition the party leader, and should indicate if they intend to represent a certain portion of the party; the GMs will then determine what level of support that legislator receives.
Since it is important for the functioning of each party's legislative contingent that there always be a senior legislator, and the party chairperson is the only person who can replace the senior (or any other) legislator at will, the senior legislator and the party chairperson cannot be the same character -- this prevents a party's legislators from sitting idle while the party selects a new chairperson. However, the party chairperson may be a junior legislator if he or she so desires. In addition, no member of the executive may simultaneously serve as a legislator, senior or junior.
General Assembly elections are held every twelve weeks RT, concurrently with the executive elections, and use a proportional representation system. In essence, each citizen casts a vote for the party of their choice, and parties receive a number of seats in the General Assembly identical with their percentage of votes. These seats are filled by the party as it sees fit. There are 100 seats in the General Assembly but, as noted below, the majority of those seats are filled by NPC back-benchers controlled (for the most part) by PC legislators. All seats are “at-large” seats, and are not tied to particular locations.
This is how things are described and handled in-game. In reality, things are a bit more complicated. A party is required to have a minimum of two members to run for the legislature; without two members, they will not be certified by the CRO. Provided this minimum threshold is met, any clear statement made to the CRO indicating that the party will run for the legislature will be considered sufficient to put that party on the ballot. Legislative elections are conducted in the same way as executive elections – players cast a ballot voting for single party for the legislature, and the GMs cast a number of votes equivalent to the total votes cast by the players.
If the party wins any seats in the legislature, they are required to produce at least one PC legislator. This “senior legislator,” and any other PC legislators, can be replaced by the party leader at any time. All other legislative seats filled by a party are NPCs. Usually, these NPC “back-benchers” will follow the PC senior legislator’s lead. Each party’s senior legislator therefore controls a bloc consisting of all of the party’s other legislators. On occasion, the GMs may have some or all of a party’s NPC legislators break ranks. Reasons may include parochial interests, an intended PC vote that seems to oppose party principles, political unpopularity of the position taken by the senior legislator, or any other situational factor that might arise. Each party should maintain a Caucus thread where PC legislators can indicate their intended vote on legislation and hear feedback or protests from NPC legislators.
Parties are not limited to a single senior legislator; as many other PCs as desired may represent each party as “junior legislators.” These PCs may represent a certain faction within the party if they desire. For example, in a conservative party, one legislator might represent fiscal conservatives, another religious conservatives, and a third monarchists. These junior legislators will then begin to attract their own blocs, which may, in time, become larger and more powerful than that of the senior legislator. Generally, however, these blocs will start small. A player who wishes to join the legislature on behalf of their party should petition the party leader, and should indicate if they intend to represent a certain portion of the party; the GMs will then determine what level of support that legislator receives.
Since it is important for the functioning of each party's legislative contingent that there always be a senior legislator, and the party chairperson is the only person who can replace the senior (or any other) legislator at will, the senior legislator and the party chairperson cannot be the same character -- this prevents a party's legislators from sitting idle while the party selects a new chairperson. However, the party chairperson may be a junior legislator if he or she so desires. In addition, no member of the executive may simultaneously serve as a legislator, senior or junior.
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