Political Parties Act

The Political Parties Act was proposed by Tsunamy to codify political parties.

The original debate can be found here

The original vote can be found here

Table

A summary table is here for convenience:

Aye	Nay	Abstain
23	5	5

This General Law was passed with 69.70% saying "Aye", 15.15% saying "Nay", and 15.15% saying "Abstain".

The Present Political Parties Act

Political Parties Act

An act outlining political parties and their benefits.

1. Defining Political Parties

(1) A political party is any group of people in The South Pacific, counting at least as many members as senior Cabinet officials, who organize together in an official association for political or electoral purposes.

(2) Associations for purposes other than politics, including satirical, social, or casual groups, do not qualify as political parties under this Act.

2. Rights of Political Parties

(1) Political parties have the right to exist without undue government interference, per the freedom of assembly guaranteed in Article III of the Charter.

(2) Political parties have the right to engage in coordinated legislative and electoral efforts, without fear of reprisal from any government official.

(3) Political parties have the right to conduct business in private, without the arbitrary interference of the government or arbitrarily being compelled to publish private communications.

3. Benefits to Active Political Parties

(1) Political parties that maintain an accurate public membership roster, and field at least one member for public office in an election per year, qualify for a dedicated public and private subforum.

(2) Political parties may petition the Chair of the Assembly for approval for a subforum. The Chair of the Assembly will verify the qualifications of the party, and if the party meets those qualifications, notify the Off-Site Administration Team to create the party's dedicated subforums.

(3) Dedicated party subforums will consist of two parts--

• a. a public subforum, where the party must pin an up to date version of its membership roster;
• b. a password-protected subforum, which will have the necessary permissions to ensure non-members cannot read threads without authorization.

(4) All political party subforums are to be contained within a single catch-all forum designated for political parties in an appropriate forum section of the official offsite forums of The South Pacific.

(5) The subforums of political parties are to be sorted by order of registration.

4. Archival of Inactive Subforums

(1) The Off-Site Administration Team will non-destructively archive political party subforums if the requirements listed in Article 3 are no longer met.

(2) Inactive political parties may petition the Chair of the Assembly for revival of their archived subforums, under the same process outlined in Article 3.

The Original Political Parties Act

Political Parties Act

An act outlining political parties and their benefits.

1. Defining Political Parties

(1) Any group of people may form a political party in the region, subject to the constraints described herein. (2) All political parties must have enough legislative members to nominate a full slate during Cabinet elections.

2. Acceptance of Political Parties

(1) To be recognized as a political party, one member of the purposed party must provide a list of legislators to the Chair of the Assembly. (2) The Chair of the Assembly will be tasked with:

• a. Verifying the validity of party members.
• b. Approving the political party.
• c. Keeping a list of political parties and their members.
• d. Dissolving political parties when determined by law.

3. Rights of Political Parties

(1) Once approved, political parties will be afforded a public and private forum area that may be customized in conjunction with the forum administrators. (2) Parties may discuss potential legislation and lobby on behalf or against legislation. (3) Parties may nominate candidates for political office and lobby on behalf or against candidates.

4. Dissolution of Political Parties

(1) Political parties will be dissolved if

• a. The requirements as described herein are not met,
• b. No member runs for a political office in an entire calendar year, or
• c. Members vote to dissolve said party, in a vote held in conjunction with the Chair of the Assembly.

Amendments to the Political Parties Act

Amendment 1

The following amendment was passed on 2-8-2018.

3. Benefits to Active Political Parties

(1) Political parties that maintain an accurate public membership roster, and field at least one member for public office in an election per year, qualify for a dedicated public and private subforum.

(2) Political parties may petition the Chair of the Assembly for approval for a subforum. The Chair of the Assembly will verify the qualifications of the party, and if the party meets those qualifications, notify the Forum Administration to create the party's dedication dedicated subforums.

(3) Dedicated party subforums will consist of two parts--

• a. a public top-level subforum where the party must post pin an up to date version of its membership roster;
• b. a password-protected subforum, which will have the necessary permissions to ensure non-members cannot read threads without authorization.

(4) All political party subforums are to be contained within a single catch-all forum designated for political parties in an appropriate forum section of the official offsite forums of The South Pacific.

(5) The subforums of political parties are to be sorted by order of registration.

Amendment 2

Articles 3 and 4 of the Political Parties Act were amended on the 2-20-2020.

Political Parties Act

...

3. Benefits to Active Political Parties

...

(2) Political parties may petition the Chair of the Assembly for approval for a subforum. The Chair of the Assembly will verify the qualifications of the party, and if the party meets those qualifications, notify the ForumOff-Site Administration Team to create the party's dedicated subforums.

...

4. Archival of Inactive Subforums

(1) The ForumOff-Site Administration Team will non-destructively archive political party subforums if the requirements listed in Article 3 are no longer met.

Debate

The debate can be found here

Vote

The vote can be found here

Table

A summary table is here for convenience:

Aye	Nay	Abstain
32	4	10

This amendment was passed with 69.57% saying "Aye", 8.70% saying "Nay", and 21.74% saying "Abstain".