Present Elections Act

1. Election Commission

(1) An Election Commissioner will be appointed by the Council on Regional Security to administer all forum elections.

(2) The Commissioner will be responsible for the creation of election notices, the organization of election forums, the verification of candidate eligibility, the distribution and collection of ballots, and counting and verifying cast ballots.

(3) The Commissioner may not run for office or hold the office of Delegate, Prime Minister, or Cabinet Minister, during their tenure as Commissioner.

• a. This does not prohibit the Commissioner from resigning to seek office via an election or finding an accepted surrogate to oversee the election in their place.

(4) The Commissioner will be a permanent position and shall be replaced as needed due to inactivity or ineligibility by the Council on Regional Security. The Assembly may remove, by a majority vote, a Commissioner for abuse of power or neglect of responsibilities.

(5) Any election-related disputes will be arbitrated by the Commissioner; should the dispute be on a matter of law, the Commissioner shall refer it to the High Court. The Commissioner will not finalize any election until all disputes have been settled.

2. Electoral System

(1) Unless otherwise stated, elections held on the regional forums will be conducted via Instant Runoff Voting (IRV).

• a. The form of IRV used must be Optional Preferential Voting (OPV); voters may vote for one or multiple candidates in descending order of preference.
• b. Should no candidate have an absolute majority once all votes have been counted then the candidate with the least number of votes shall be eliminated from the election. Should more than one candidate have the least number of votes, the candidate with the least number of votes on the next order of preference shall be eliminated. If their numbers of votes are still equal, both shall be eliminated.
• c. The votes of those voting for the eliminated candidate(s) will be reallocated based upon the expressed preferences, or discounted if no further preferences are expressed.
• d. This process will continue until a candidate has an absolute majority. Should the final candidates have an equal number of votes when all have been allocated, the Elections Committee will select a method of arbitration. If the method chosen involves chance, then an unaffiliated Discord bot in a public channel will be used to generate a result randomly using a coin toss or some similar set of pre-defined outcomes.

(2) The option to Re-Open Nominations must be included as a "candidate". If elected, the election process for that office shall restart at the nomination phase.

(3) Voters will have the option to cast their vote using a secret ballot. The method of private voting will be selected by the Election Commission. The method must utilize an unaffiliated account or server, with the method and all votes remaining available for audit. Named ballots are not to be released under any circumstances.

(4) To be eligible to be included in a voting ballot, any candidate must post a campaign in an area designated by the Election Commission. The campaign must prominently include a truthful declaration of all potential conflicts of interest the candidate may have within and outside of the South Pacific.

3. Office of the Delegate

(1) The Delegate will be elected in a two-step process, with the Assembly voting on a slate of nominees on the forums, and the top two candidates in that process being voted on by regional poll on-site.

(2) On the first of every January and July, the Assembly will convene for the first round of Delegate elections.

• a. Any eligible legislator wishing to run for Delegate may declare their candidacy, and the Assembly will debate the merits of their platform. Any player who has been banned from World Assembly membership will be considered ineligible and any candidate who is later discovered to be banned from World Assembly membership will be immediately disqualified.
• b. The campaign and debate period will last one week, after which the Assembly will vote for 3 days.
• c. This round of voting for delegate will be conducted using Approval Voting.
• d. The two candidates with the highest number of approvals will move to a second round of voting conducted via a poll of Native World Assembly members.
• e. Should the voting result in a tie, more than two nations may move onto the second round of voting.
• f. If an advancing candidate receive less than 50% approval, the option to Re-Open Nominations will be "approved", and the process for that slot shall begin again at the campaign and debate period.

(3) After receiving the top candidates in the forum election, an Election Commissioner will create a week-long regional poll accessible to Native World Assembly members, instructing them to vote for their preferred candidate.

• a. A Dispatch containing the campaigns of all candidates will be created to aid voters in their choice.
• b. Members of the South Pacific Special Forces who are on deployment for the whole duration of the regional poll are eligible to cast a vote. The Minister of Military Affairs shall provide a list of deployed personnel to the Election Commissioner. Members on the list who send the Commissioner their vote through a telegram and a public post on the Regional Message Board which tags the Election Commissioner and notes who their vote goes towards shall have it added to the final tally.
• c. The candidate who wins a majority of the votes will be declared the Delegate-elect.
• d. If no candidate wins a majority of votes, the top two candidates will be placed in a runoff election, mimicking the previous round of voting.

(4) The incumbent Delegate will coordinate with the Delegate-elect in transitioning the seat, along with cooperation from the Council on Regional Security. Until the Delegate-elect achieves the most endorsements, the incumbent Delegate will still be responsible for all responsibilities that involve use of Delegate-restricted regional controls.

4. Offices of the Cabinet

(1) On the first of every February, June and October, the Assembly will convene to elect the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.

• a. For the first 6 days of the election period, legislators may declare their candidacy for only one position.
• b. After 3 days, a campaign period of one week will start, where candidates may campaign and the Assembly will debate the merits of their platforms.
• c. After the week-long campaign period, a voting period of 3 days will start. Legislators will cast their ballots for each position. Legislators may choose to abstain from voting on any or all positions.

(2) The candidate for each position with the most votes will be declared the Minister-elect by the Election Commission.

(3) The terms for the incoming Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers will begin the week after elections, during which any and all election-related disputes must be settled. The outgoing Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers will maintain their offices until then.

5. Office of the Chair

(1) Eight days before the end of a Chair's term, the Assembly will convene to elect the Chair of the Assembly.

• a. Any legislator wishing to run for Chair may declare their candidacy, and the Assembly will debate the merits of their platform.
• b. The campaign and debate period will last 5 days, after which the Assembly will vote for 3 days.

(2) The voting for the Chair will be conducted using Approval Voting.

• a. Voters may vote for as many candidates as they approve of, or vote for none by voting to Re-Open Nominations. [
• b. The candidate with the highest percentage of approval will be elected.
• c. If the winning candidate received less than 50% approval, the option to Re-Open Nominations will be "elected".

(3) The term for the incoming Chair will begin immediately following the conclusion of the election.

6. Vacancies of Office

(1) A special election will be held for vacancies arising within the Cabinet, if more than half of the term remains. If less than half of the term remains, or the position is vacant due to nobody running in its election, the Cabinet may appoint a replacement until the next regularly scheduled election.

(2) A special election will be held for vacancies arising within the Local Council, if more than half of the term remains. If less than half of the term remains, or the position is vacant due to nobody running in its election, the Delegate may appoint a replacement until the next regularly scheduled election.

(3) Should the office of Delegate become vacant, the next person in the line of succession will become interim Delegate until the next regularly scheduled election. If no person qualifies for the office, then a special election will be held.

7. Separation of Powers

(1) Offices of the Coalition are the Delegate, the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers, the Chair of the Assembly, Local Councillors, the Chief Justice, and any of their appointed deputies.

(2) It is not permitted for any individual to hold more than one office within the Coalition's government.

(3) It is permitted to seek election or appointment to a new office while holding an existing office.

(4) Election or appointment to a new office constitutes explicit resignation of an existing office.

(5) No person holding a Cabinet office or the office of the Delegate may hold any equivalent office in a foreign region or organisation.

8. Constitutional Law

(1) The Election Act is a constitutional law, and further amendments to it must meet constitutional amendment requirements.