[DRAFT] Updated Protocols of the Ecclesia

Ecclesia Drafts
1

Protocols of the Ecclesia

Chapter I. Operations

  1. The scheduling, opening, closing, and counting of votes shall be executed by the Citizen-Speaker.
    1. The Citizen-Speaker may authorize Citizen-Clerks to perform a part of the whole of these duties.
  2. The Monarch or a Senator may perform these duties should neither the Citizen-Speaker nor any Clerk be available.
  3. A person shall be unavailable if they should recuse themselves because the vote is to remove them from office or otherwise directly affect a person’s status as the holder of an office or position.
  4. A person may be found unavailable if they have not been online in 72 hours or have declared an absence.
  5. The Citizen-Speaker may provide further policies on Ecclesia administration to expand on this Act.

Chapter II. Clerks

1. The Citizen-Speaker may appoint any Citizen who is not the Monarch as a Citizen-Clerk.
2. Citizen-Clerks shall end their service when they resign, are dismissed by the Citizen-Speaker or a new Citizen-Speaker is elected.

Chapter III. Votes

  1. Votes shall last at least seventy-two (72) hours.
    1. Votes shall include at least one weekend day (24h) and weekday (24h).
  2. The length of a vote shall be determined in advance and announced with the opening of the vote.
    1. Voting may be extended (by no more than an additional 7 days) by the Citizen-Speaker to allow for a more accurate representation of the Ecclesia’s will.
  3. The Citizen-Speaker may, at least 24 hours after a vote has been opened, declare a state of unanimous consent on the matter at vote if all votes cast so far have been identical and affirmative.
    1. Citizen-Speaker may not make a declaration of unanimous consent if a majority of votes cast so far object to such a declaration.
    2. During a state of unanimous consent, the matter at vote shall be assumed to have received the necessary support to be ratified by the Ecclesia.
    3. The Citizen-Speaker may retract the state of unanimous consent at any time after it has been declared. However, it may not be re-declared on the same vote.
    4. After the vote has been closed, the final results shall determine the passage of the matter at vote, ending the state of unanimous consent.
  4. Should a vote end in a tie, the matter at vote shall fail.
    1. Proposals to the Ecclesia failing in such a manner are exempt from any restrictions placed on failed proposals in this Act, and shall be brought to the floor with the same urgency as a unique proposal.
  5. A matter currently at vote may be retracted by the Citizen-Speaker with the author’s consent.
    1. If the matter does not have an explicit author, the Citizen-Speaker may retract the vote with the consent of the citizen who originally motioned for a vote.
    2. If the Citizen-Speaker put the matter to vote without a motion to do so from another citizen, or if consent for a retraction is completely impossible to achieve in good faith, the Citizen-Speaker may retract the vote without need for consent from another citizen.

Chapter IV. Motions

  1. Any citizen may motion to vote on anything the Ecclesia may vote on.
  2. No proposal may come to a vote without the consent of the author.
  3. When a motion is made and seconded, and the consent of the author is present, a vote shall be scheduled.
    1. The Citizen-Speaker may ignore such a motion if the proposal is functionally identical with minimal revision or otherwise unusually similar to a matter brought to vote before failing to pass the Ecclesia in the previous 2 weeks.
    2. Such a vote shall be put on the floor no later than the third day that no vote remains open.

Chapter V. Implementation

  1. It is the duty of the Citizen-Speaker (or another Citizen handling Ecclesia operations) to adhere to this Act in good faith.
    1. Should an objection to an ongoing vote be lodged, the Citizen-Speaker (or another Citizen handling Ecclesia operations) may immediately retract the matter at a vote to ensure its adherence to this Act.
  2. It is the duty of all Citizens to object to a vote, bill, or law that was handled in violation of this Act.
  3. Should a previous vote, bill, or law be believed to have violated this Act, any Citizen may motion for a revote. If Citizen-Speaker, Monarch, or the Senate affirm such a motion within 30 days of the matter’s passage by the Ecclesia, the matter shall be put on the floor for revote immediately.
    1. The matter shall continue to remain in force unless repealed or otherwise invalidated by the Ecclesia.
  4. Any matter declared passed by the Citizen-Speaker or other authorized person (as detailed in Chapter 1 of this Act) not on the floor for a revote (as detailed in section 4 of this chapter) shall have the support the Ecclesia even if it is later found to have passed in violation of this Act.

Chapter VI. Precedence

  1. Special voting procedure may provided for by law to replace a part or the whole of this Act in specific circumstances.
    1. Any changes made by a special voting procedure shall take precedence over this Act when the Citizen-Speaker determines that the specific circumstances are met.