Article 17 of the Constitution of Mírnár

**Article 17**

**Election of Government**

Sub-Article 1(1) of 17

Whereas it is essential and for the good of a civilized nation to have a government to govern it and set up law and order, and progress and protect the nation,

Sub-Article 1(2) of 17

And whereas it is the *inalienable and fundamental\** right of the people to choose from their own number that aforesaid government,

Sub-Article 2 of 17

This shall be conducted by a free and fair process of nationwide election, held during any time of the Ruler's discretionary choice within a time period of 1051-1,750 days after the immediately previous election, described in the following clauses.

Sub-Article 3 of 17

Only fully healthy citizens of the Federated Union Republic of Mírnár of a mature age as defined elesewhere within this law may be permitted to participate in elections as candidates, and they must have resided for at least 5 years before the date of their contest in the province of the electoral division of their contestation.

Sub-Article 4 of 17

The electoral divisions from which representatives shall be elected shall be divided from within provinces by a committee of numbering 0.001 percent of the province's population*, for each province, rounded to the nearest integer\**. Three-fifths (3/5) of that number shall be taken from the already elected representatives of that province in correspondence to the partisan groups of those Parliamentary Representatives and their respective shares in the group of Parliamentary Representatives in the group of Parliamentary Representatives from that province in the National Chamber of Governing, rounded to the nearest 5 percentile. If a party has a share of the seats in that province below 5 percent of the total amount of seats in the group of Parliamentary Representatives from that province in the National Chamber of Governing, that party's representation in the committee will be reduced to zero representatives in the committee. If the total amount of representatives to be included in the committee exceeds their allotted representation as per this law, representation of partisan groups shall be rounded down to the closest 5 percentile below their percentage representation in the National Chamber of Governing, and if it still exceeds their allotted representation as per this law, it shall be rounded down to the closest 10 percentile below their percentage representation, and if it still exceeds, the Ruler's discretionary choice shall prevail. If the total amount of representatives to be included in the committee is lesser than their allotted representation as per this law, the remaining representatives shall be made up from the partisan group which currently holds the greatest number of representatives in the group of Parliamentary Representatives from that province in the National Chamber of Governing will make up for the remainder. The remaining two-fifths (2/5) for that committee shall be gathered from the population of that province by a wholly random and transparent process. This group is required to ordain and divide the land of that province fairly and justly with impartiality to partisan groups in accordance to natural, cultural, social, historical, and demographic boundaries, as given by the following examples, into electoral divisions for elections of the Chambers of Provinces, the National Chambers of Governing, and the Chamber of Higher Representation:

(Natural): Boundaries should not cut across mountain ranges, major rivers, or vast spreads of forests.

(Cultural and Social): Boundaries should not join together multiple distinctly different cultural groups of people which might clash. Equally, they should not divide arbitrarily small communities of cohesive people where it is possible.

(Historical): Historically very different neighborhoods should not be joined together.

(Demographic): The resulting electoral divisions cannot differ from each other by at least+-20 percent, or one-fifth, in population, and +-150 percent in area.

This committee shall be gathered a week after the population census is announced and declared before parliament, which is declared every ten years, and shall have two weeks of seven days to organize data and produce a full map of the electoral divisions in that province and submit it before the National Chamber of Governing on the morning of that day after the end of the second week. Different electoral maps are to be presented for the election of the National Chamber of Governing and the Chambers of Provinces, where the latter's electoral divisions are to be the smaller in both area and represented people in a approximate 1:3 ratio. The former electoral division is to represent between 85000 to 125000 residents, while the latter electoral division is to be solely within a single of the former electoral division, and is to represent 15000 to 25000 residents. The electoral maps will be reviewed by the Committee for Fair Electoral Apportionments, of which 20 individuals shall be appointed by the Ruler of previous government service background, and the remainder, up to 15 individuals from the Administrative Office for Parliamentary and Governmental Conduct.

Sub-Article 5 of 17

At the times declared by the Ruler defined in Sub-Article 2 of 17, an election shall be held in all parts and territories of the country, for both the Chambers of Provinces and the National Chamber of Governing simultaneously where it is possible, a month after the Ruler announces it. Candidates for electoral divisions must register themselves for election 12 hours after the Ruler's announcement at a centralized location for the entire province. Two candidates from the same partisan group there must not be for the same electoral division. Then, the election shall be held as per stated earlier for 50 hours, and voters for that electoral division can vote anytime during the 50 hours, but only in the centralized voting centre for that province. All citizens of the Federated Union Republic of Mírnár of mature age as stipulated in the law are required to vote unless they are sufficiently ill, abroad, do not live in the territories of the Federated Union Republic of Mírnár, have are in prison for crime, have a sufficiently contagious and deadly disease identified under the laws, or any other valid reason given, or else they will not be able to vote in the subsequent election, but can vote in the election subsequent to that they were barred from voting. If any of the reasons for not voting are present, that voter would not be able to cast vote for that election. Voters shall present their personalized citizenship card to the officials administering the voting centre along with their personalized identity stamp, and the official shall stamp to indicate that they have voted. Voting is secret and shall be done behind a enclosed space with opaque barriers on all sides, and they shall put their vote into a box. If they do not mark one cross legibly on the red-inked portion of the vote slip adjacent to that portion which shows the candidate's name, partisan group with logo if applicable, and candidate's face, that vote will be disqualified and regarded as the person voted, but did not vote for any candidate. Two preferences each voter shall have, the first marked with a red cross with a circle and the second with a black cross. Votes shall be counted at the voting centres immediately after the 50 hours of the election, and the candidate with the greatest number of first-choice votes among all the candidates will be declared the Parliamentary Representative for that electoral division for the National Chamber of Governing and the Chambers of Provinces, depending on which election it is for. If no candidate has a majority of the total sum of votes for that electoral division, the votes from the candidates who have received less than 10% of the total amount of votes will be transferred to the candidates represented by the second-choices indicated on the voting slips, until one candidate receives a majority. If no candidate receives a majority even after this step, the candidates with the least number of votes will be eliminated and their votes transferred to the candidates represented by the second-choices indicated on the voting slips, until one candidate receives a majority.

Sub-Article 6 of 17

For the National Chamber of Governing, the partisan group making up the greatest number of elected representatives in that chamber will form the government for the nation, and for the Chambers of Provinces, the partisan group making up the greatest number of elected representatives in that chamber will form the government for the province.

Sub-Article 7 of 17

None are allowed to tamper with the process of elections in the territories of the Federated Union Republic of Mírnár, for which the highest regard, importance, respect, and priority is given, which for the purposes of this Law are given as:

(1): Altering the set records of the election without proper authorization by both the Minister (or Acting Minister) of Governmental Conduct and the Ruler's approval, and without a proper reason, which is only that the votes counted previously were inaccurate.

(2): Removing or adding vote papers into the ballot box beyond the stipulated amount of votes one may cast (one for applicable Mírnár citizens and zero for others), unless one be an authorized official counting the votes in a proper manner.

(3): Recording false records into the record of votes tallied, unless by accidental chance, which is to be rectified immediately if so.

(4): Threatening, whether verbal, in word, or by physical action, or bribing, defined as offering money, or material goods (this does not include pamphlets or written copies to encourage voters of their campaign), to make voters vote for a certain candidate.

This will be punished by the person in violation of the offense, if he/she is a candidate in the present election, will be removed from the election, and regardless if he/she is a candidate in the present election, will be punished with a prison term from 1 month to 5 years, depending on the judge's deeming of the severity of the offense.

Sub-Article 8 of 17

During the period of election, defined for the purposes of this sub-article as the period from when the Ruler announces the election to the time the new government elected from the results of the election is inaugurated, a caretaker government will be appointed with all the powers of the government detailed in Article 18. That will be the previous representatives of both the National Chamber of Governing of their various partisan groups and affiliations, the National Chamber for Higher Representation of their various partisan groups and affiliations, and the group of Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and Secretaries appointed to the various Administrative Offices, but the Chambers of Provinces will be disbanded and their powers likewise. This is to ensure should any contingency arise within the period of the election, decisive action can be taken. However, this government must not delay to transfer its offices and powers to the new government elected in the election within a week of the finalization and public announcement of election results, and may not pass any law to circumvent this article, or alter this article within the period of the election. A maximum delay of three months may be allowed if both the caretaker government and the government elected in the recent election to be inaugurated agree to it. For these purposes 'government' refers to the majority consensus of the members of that group, treated separately for each Parliamentary Chamber.

Sub-Article 9 of 17

An election for single constituencies will be held at the time of the Ruler's discretionary choice within three weeks of any/multiple/all the above reasons becoming valid and discovered:

(1): The elected representative changes his affiliation of partisan group, and/or

(2): The elected representative commits a crime that by law is severe enough to terminate the person's office, and/or

(3): The elected representative dies, by pestilence or old age, and/or

(4): The elected representative is no longer in full health and is unable to represent the constituency's population and/or

(5): The elected representative resigns.

In any of these events, an election for that constituency will be held of a campaigning period of three weeks (21 days) from the Ruler's announcement. Any persons allowed by Sub-Article 3 of 17 will be allowed to participate as candidates in that election, save for the previous elected representative meant by the text of the reasons above. During the period of that election, no elected representative from that constituency shall attend sittings of Parliament, but willing elected representatives of immediately adjacent constituencies approved by the Ruler may manage the affairs of that constituency during the election period of that constituency.