General Election IFV [September 2024]
Inform your vote here! What policy impacts might you have?
Written by Vor
Hello Europeians! As you know, the Senate elections are coming very soon; this Friday, in fact! For our democracy to properly function and to assure the best governance for our region, it's important that you make an informed choice when voting candidates into office. As the premier reporting agency and information distributor, we from the Europeian Broadcasting Corporation feel a strong responsibility to assist you in gathering information and forming your opinion on the election and its candidates. In this article, we'll be going through the current discussion topics in Senatorial affairs, and looking at how they are represented in the candidate platforms. After reading this article, we hope you'll be more informed and ready to head to the polls tomorrow to cast your vote and elect a new slate of Senators to represent Europeia!
For the reader's awareness, the current six (6) candidates that have released a platform for the next Senate election are: Prov, GraVandius, Caldrasa, Rand, Cordova I, and Lloenflys. Cyborg has stood, but has not released a platform as of now, and thus will not be discussed.
The Hot Topics
So, what are the Senator candidates currently considering as most pertinent to the region's legislative situation? Let's take a look at a few important topics that have seen the light in Senate activity this past term and remain relevant today:
Empowering the Speakership Amendment (2024)
The ESA has been a topic of reporting in the EBC recently, discussed in detail in an article by author Evelyn. Be sure to check out the article for a more in-depth analysis! Evelyn describes the amendment as follows: "Senator Cordova's amendment would give the Speaker "power of the docket", meaning that they will be able to remove bills from consideration or prevent them from passing a specific reading. This increase of power intends to make the Speaker a more political figure by encouraging them to use their power over the docket to prevent bills from passing that are unfavourable to their political aims." This bill has since unanimously passed the Senate, with 5 Aye votes from Senators Cordova I, Rand, Eldorin, Sopo, and Calvin Coolidge. The amendment might face resistance from the President, however, given the Attorney General's recommendation to veto the bill.
It also faces strong opposition from two candidates: Lloenflys and GraVandius, while the other candidates are either supportive (Prov, Cal, and Cord) or ambivalent (Rand). Lloenflys's platform is focussed on straightforward opposition to the bill, stating: "I don't think it benefits the region, and in fact I think it actively undercuts the idea of giving minority voices the opportunity to be heard in the Senate by making it easier to just dismiss their concerns. I ask again here what I've asked elsewhere - to what end? Why are we doing this?" and "If it is passed, I'm hoping the President vetoes it. And if it is vetoed, I hope to be in the Senate when it comes back so I can avoid having it passed again. Further, if it does become law, I want to be in a position to serve in the Senate so that I can vote against the Speaker anytime such powers are used."
Now, let's look at GraV's thoughts on the bill. GraV is against its current state, but proposes an alternative to empowering the Speaker which would grant the Speaker two votes, double the votes of a regular Senator. His platform goes into more detail, but GraV's argument for this proposal is chiefly based on two factors: injecting political opinions and creating intrigue concerning the Speaker selection process, and adding something new to the "age old system" without impeding discussion and debate.
Abolishment of the Circuit Court
Some Europeians not familiar with our judicial system can find clarification on what the Circuit Court is through a passage from the Handbook:
The Senate makes law for Europeia, the Executive approves it and implements it in policy, and the Circuit Court and High Court of Europeia are where the law is interpreted and used to settle disputes between various parties.
Judges of the Circuit Court are selected to hear cases on a case-by-case basis from members of the Bar Association. The Bar Association is a body made up of Europeia's trusted legal minds to ensure good legal practice and to oversee legal education; any citizen can become a member by demonstrating their knowledge to the Board of Bar Examiners.
The High Court consists of the Chief Justice and two Associate Justices. They are appointed by the President to terms of a maximum of 120 days, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
The Circuit Court is where cases are heard for the first time. If one side in the case wants to challenge the decision of the Circuit Court, the matter is heard again by the High Court, subject to the High Court's discretion.
Judges of the Circuit Court are selected to hear cases on a case-by-case basis from members of the Bar Association. The Bar Association is a body made up of Europeia's trusted legal minds to ensure good legal practice and to oversee legal education; any citizen can become a member by demonstrating their knowledge to the Board of Bar Examiners.
The High Court consists of the Chief Justice and two Associate Justices. They are appointed by the President to terms of a maximum of 120 days, subject to confirmation by the Senate.
The Circuit Court is where cases are heard for the first time. If one side in the case wants to challenge the decision of the Circuit Court, the matter is heard again by the High Court, subject to the High Court's discretion.
This proposal sees much indecisiveness from the cast of candidates. Exceptions are: Lloenflys, who is supportive; and Rand, who is strongly opposed. Rand describes the Circuit Court as "one of the only meaningful changes we've seen to this region's constitution in years. I believe strongly in the two-way door philosophy, let's try this out. It's not hurting anyone. People are more excited about legal education than I've seen them in a long time, even if it's still quite dull. That's fine, that's by design."
Lloenflys disagrees, stating that: "The Venerable Rand has done significant work in modifying our legal system, but it may be a bit too complicated for what we can sustain at the moment and doing some tinkering to simplify things a bit is appropriate."
The other candidates either want more information or await the addition of promised additions to the bill; either way, they have not yet expressed a clear stance. Therefore, besides Lloenflys and Rand, this topic has relatively little value in reliably informing your vote in terms of policy prediction.
Elections Act (2024)
This proposal concerns a rewrite of the Elections Act to clean up language and more importantly introduce approval voting which on its first introduction attempt was struck down by veto of President UPC in June. This proposal finds support from two candidates: Prov for at least a "test run", and Cordova I more generally. Most of the others have not declared a clear stance (Lloen, Caldrasa, GraV) in their platforms, while Rand, the original drafter of the proposal, has indicated he intends to table it, stating: "I'm sort of exhausted by the current discourse on the Act."
Inform Yourself!
With the above information, the EBC hopes you will be able to inform your vote better on the expected introduction of policies based on who enters the Senate this coming term. To learn more about the personal philosophies and discover more nuance on the candidates' viewpoints, the EBC highly recommends you check out their platforms. This article is meant to serve as a supplementary and summarising piece, not a replacement for reading platforms. Make sure you vote in the upcoming general election on Friday, September 6!
