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Referendums in Nouvelle Alexandrie

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Referendums in Nouvelle Alexandrie are national votes in which the citizens of Nouvelle Alexandrie decide a single question directly. Under the Federal Elections Act, 1700, a question goes to the country when at least one-third of the deputies of the Federal Assembly sign a request for it. The request is lodged with the Federal Elections Commission,[1] and a simple majority of the valid votes cast decides the question.[2] The result is binding. A Yes on a question of policy takes effect once the Commission certifies the result, while a proposed amendment to the Proclamation of Punta Santiago still needs two-thirds of the votes cast in the Assembly even after a Yes vote.[3][4]

The first referendums, held between 1689 AN and 1693 AN, predate the Act. Its power was used in 1723 AN to postpone that year's general election and then went unused for thirty-four years, until the campaign for a permanent disaster reserve after the 1757 Cajamarca micrasquake revived it. Two more referendums followed in 1758 AN and 1761 AN. A review of the system that Vice-Premier Fred Strong demanded in 1758 AN has yet to report.[4][5]

Legal basis

The Proclamation of Punta Santiago, the Federation's constitution, does not mention referendums. Under Article 56, amendments to it may be proposed by the King or by the Federal Assembly, and either route needs two-thirds of the votes cast in the Assembly. The procedure cannot be started or pursued while the Federation or its territorial integrity is under attack, and neither the form of government nor the establishment of the Federation is open to revision.[3]

Elections and referendums are governed by the Proclamation together with the Federal Elections Act, whose long title charges election commissions with the "Fair Management of Elections and Referenda".[6][7] That Act gives a minority of the Federal Assembly the right to refer a question to a binding national vote. Each poll is administered by the Federal Elections Commission under the national electoral system.[4] Supplemented and amended by the Federal Election Modernization and Technological Upgrades Act, 1749, the 1700 AN Act remains the main electoral statute.[8]

Calling a referendum

A national referendum is called by a written request signed by at least one-third of the members of the Federal Assembly. The 14th Cortes Federales has 801 deputies, so the threshold is 267 signatures.[9] The threshold is slightly lower than the 35 percent of deputies whose endorsement the Standing Orders require for a private member's bill to take the weekly private member's slot.[10] The request sets out the question and is lodged with the Federal Elections Commission, which checks the signatures, vets the question for clear and neutral wording, and fixes the date of the poll. The right belongs to the deputies who sign: no vote of the Assembly is needed, and the government cannot block a request that meets the threshold. A request may not concern the annual budget, taxation, or the Federation's treaty obligations, and a question that would amend the Proclamation is also bound by the limits of Article 56.

Leader of the Opposition José Manuel Montero lodged the request for the national service referendum with the Commission on behalf of the Federal Humanist Party on 20.I.1761 AN.[1] The party's 293 deputies met the threshold on their own.[9]

Citizens cannot call a national referendum themselves. Under the Civic Participation and Engagement Act, 1743, citizens and recognized organizations may petition the Cortes Federales with proposed legislation, which receives precedence in committee but does not go to a national vote. Citizens' initiatives that lead to a referendum operate at regional, city, and municipal level, where they need 2,000, 1,000, and 100 signatures respectively, verified by the Federal Elections Commission.[11] Citizens may sign initiative and referendum petitions with their digital identity under the Digital Government Act, 1750.[12]

Voting

Each referendum puts one question to the country, answered Yes or No. The vote is open to the citizens of the Federation under the national electoral system.[4] A simple majority decides it.[2]

Effect of the result

A referendum result is binding rather than advisory, though its effect depends on the question.[2]

On a question of policy, a Yes majority needs no confirming vote in the Cortes Federales.[2] It binds the government once the Federal Elections Commission certifies the result, and the Cortes then legislates the details. The 1757 AN vote established the National Resilience Fund in principle,[2] and the Cortes then passed the National Resilience Fund Establishment Act, 1758 to provide for its capitalization, ceiling, governance, and disbursement.[13]

A Yes that would amend the Proclamation obliges the Federal Assembly to vote on the amendment under Article 56, where it takes effect only with a two-thirds majority and otherwise fails.[3][4] This rule would have applied to the 1758 AN question on premiership term limits had it passed.[4]

A No majority leaves the law unchanged and requires no further vote.[4]

History

The Federation's first referendums predate the Federal Elections Act.

Early referendums

In 1689 AN the finished text of the Proclamation of Punta Santiago was sent to the voters, who ratified it,[3] and further national referendums followed in 1691 AN, 1692 AN, and 1693 AN.[6]

In 1723 AN voters were asked to postpone the general election. After the discovery of the Lost Archives of Nouvelle Alexandrie, the Federal Humanist Party called for the election to be postponed so that the archives could be studied. Voters approved the postponement with 89 percent in favor, and the general election moved to 1724 AN.[14]

Revival

After the Cajamarca micrasquake of 1757 AN and the contested passage of the Cajamarca Reconstruction Act, 1757, calls grew across the Cortes Federales for a permanent disaster reserve,[15] and the question was put to the country as a binding referendum.[16] Voters approved the National Resilience Fund referendum on 24.XII.1757 AN, 51.4 percent to 48.6 percent. The result obliged the government of Premier José Manuel Montero, which had opposed the Fund, to establish it.[17] A year later, the term limits question was also put to a binding referendum.[5]

That question had stalled in the Cortes. A constitutional amendment to limit the Premier's terms, introduced in 1750 AN, did not advance beyond the Committee on Constitutional Affairs during the 12th Cortes Federales. Near the end of Montero's second term as Premier, the question was revived and put directly to the citizens.[18] The premiership term limits referendum of 1.XII.1758 AN failed, 64.0 percent to 36.0 percent.[19]

The third question since the revival came from the opposition. The Federal Humanist Party had opposed both earlier questions while Montero was Premier,[1] and in 1761 AN, with Montero as Leader of the Opposition, its deputies requested a vote on whether every citizen should complete one year of national service between the ages of 18 and 25. Voting in the national service referendum ran from 22.II to 1.III.1761 AN, and the question was rejected in all thirteen Regions, by 78.0 percent to 22.0 on a turnout of 41.5 percent.[20]

Criticism and review

Fred Strong had campaigned openly against the Fund from within Montero's government in 1757 AN,[21] and in 1758 AN he turned to the procedure itself. As Vice-Premier, he condemned as "manifest lunacy" the initiation of constitutionally consequential questions by simple-majority referendum, and called for the entire legislative basis for binding referendums to be reviewed by the Federal Assembly.[4][19] He asked what use a government's costed program was when a referendum could be used to "hijack the ship of state".[4]

The review was still before the chamber as the 13th Cortes Federales approached the 1759 general election,[4][5] and it had not reported by 1761 AN.

List of national referendums

Year Referendum Question Result
1689 AN Constitutional referendum Ratify the Proclamation of Punta Santiago[3] Ratified
1691 AN National referendum
1692 AN National referendum
1693 AN National referendum
1723 AN National referendum Postpone the 1723 AN general election to 1724 AN Approved, 89 percent in favor
1757 AN National Resilience Fund referendum Establish a permanent National Resilience Fund Approved, 51.4 to 48.6 percent
1758 AN Premiership term limits referendum Limit service as Premier to two terms Rejected, 64.0 to 36.0 percent
1761 AN National service referendum Require one year of national service for every citizen between 18 and 25 Rejected, 78.0 to 22.0 percent

The Oportian integration referendum, 1755 was held in Oportia before it joined the Federation, under an Act of the Federal Congress of Oportia, and is not included in this list.[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Montero puts a year of national service for every citizen to a binding vote", NBC Newsfeed, 20.I.1761 AN.
  2. ^ a b c d e New Alexandrian National Resilience Fund referendum, 1757
  3. ^ a b c d e Proclamation of Punta Santiago
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j New Alexandrian premiership term limits referendum, 1758
  5. ^ a b c New Alexandrian general election, 1759
  6. ^ a b Elections and referenda in Nouvelle Alexandrie
  7. ^ Laws of Nouvelle Alexandrie
  8. ^ Federal Election Modernization and Technological Upgrades Act, 1749
  9. ^ a b 14th Cortes Federales
  10. ^ Standing Orders of the Federal Assembly of Nouvelle Alexandrie
  11. ^ Civic Participation and Engagement Act, 1743
  12. ^ Digital Government Act, 1750
  13. ^ National Resilience Fund Establishment Act, 1758
  14. ^ New Alexandrian national referendum, 1723
  15. ^ "After the Cajamarca fight, a push to never have it again", NBC Newsfeed, 9.VII.1757 AN.
  16. ^ "The Resilience Fund goes to the nation", NBC Newsfeed, 4.VIII.1757 AN.
  17. ^ "The National Resilience Fund carries, 51.4 to 48.6", NBC Newsfeed, 24.XII.1757 AN.
  18. ^ Presidential Term Limits Constitutional Amendment, 1750
  19. ^ a b "Premiership term limits rejected, 64 to 36", NBC Newsfeed, 1.XII.1758 AN.
  20. ^ New Alexandrian national service referendum, 1761
  21. ^ Fred Strong
  22. ^ Oportian integration referendum, 1755
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