13th Senate Week in Review [96-4] | 10/01 - 10/08
Written by Kasa
Edited by Vor and SkyGreen
Edited by Vor and SkyGreen
Introduction
Welcome back to Senate Week in Review! This week is a bit of a special edition, as only one Act was on the debate floor, so the EBC will be taking a bit of a closer look at it and the history of the concept.
Elections Act (2024)
For the second time in recent memory, a bill introducing Approval Voting to Europeian elections was passed by the Senate. The Elections Act was narrowly approved this week in a 3-2 vote, with Senators Rand and Caldrasa as well as Speaker Cordova voting in favor, and Senators Lloenflys and Sopo voting against.
As a review, Approval Voting mandates that every candidate with above 50% of the vote is elected to the office. If there are a limited number of seats available, the seats are allocated to candidates starting with the candidate who received the most votes and proceeding down the list from there. This change primarily affects General Elections; Presidential and Presidential run-off elections are the same as before (as candidates are competing for one open position).
This bill was not the first attempt to reform elections along the lines of Approval Voting. In April of this year, Senator Rand introduced the Approval Voting Amendment Act (APVA) to the Senate. That Act included many of the changes that are present in the Elections Act, and was debated by the Senate until late June. The latter days of that debate, and the eventual veto of the bill, were actually covered in Week in Review.
The 94th Senate Passed the APVA 4-2. Three members of the current (96th) Senate voted at the time, those being Cordova, Rand, and Sopo. All three voted in favor. Interestingly, while Senators Cordova and Rand have maintained their stance and voted in favor again this time around, Senator Sopo voted against the more recent Elections Act. Ultimately, the APVA was vetoed by President UPC per then-Attorney General Calvin Coolidge's legislative assessment and recommendation. The Elections Act was introduced to the Senate on June 30th, eight days after the veto of the APVA.
Now that the Senate has voted in favor of introducing Approval Voting for a second time, the decision on whether or not to make it law will rest with the winner of the Presidential election. The bill was presented to the President on October 8th. As of October 11th, Attorney General Ellenburg has released a legislative assessment which found that the bill does not conflict with existing law. Because of the positive legislative assessment, it is unlikely to be vetoed.
Conclusion
All Senate activity this week was focused on the Elections Act, with a conclusion being reached just as the week ended. Now, there are no active bills remaining under consideration, though some may well be introduced soon. The region's attention is understandably focused on the imminent Presidential election, which is shaping up to be a close contest. Thanks for reading Senate Week in Review, and the EBC hopes to catch you next week with our 14th edition.