NationStates Jolt Archive

Voting Optimization Act
A resolution to increase democratic freedoms.


Category: The Furtherment of Democracy
Strength: Significant
Proposed by: Great Plains

Description: It is recognized that votes take place amongst the world's various nations, in varying degrees of frequency and using various methods. However, it is also recognized that people may not understand their ballot, vote tallies can be miscounted, elections can be rigged, and voters may become so disgusted by the process that they choose to not vote at all.

Therefore, the following measures are to be implemented for every vote a member nation holds:

1. The United Nations will create a list of approved voting methods. Member nations are required to use only these methods when holding a vote. Any vote not using one of these methods will be automatically deemed fraudulent.

1a. Approved voting methods will include a verifiable tally in case a recount is needed. If ballots are used, approved voting methods will include a verifiable physical ballot directly accessible to the voter. This means that paper-less touch-screen ballots will not be approved, nor will any method in which the voter does not get to physically handle their ballot or ballot equivalent.
1b. Approved voting methods will be deemed by a committee to be sufficiently simple for the average voter to understand. Complex and/or confusing voting methods such as the butterfly ballot will not be approved.

2. Companies that supply voting machines and people that count the votes will be forbidden from contributing money to the political campaign or campaigns in which they are participating.

3. On the assumption that many people do not vote because the ubiquity of the campaign turns them off, strict campaign spending limits will be enforced. Funds will be allocated in a lump sum to all candidates at the beginning of a campaign, and when the money is gone, it's gone. The candidate must then either fund their campaign out-of-pocket or they can no longer campaign.

4. Election days will be deemed national holidays, so that voters will not be kept from the polling place due to work.

Approvals: 0

Status: Lacking Support (requires 128 more approvals)

Voting Ends: Sat Dec 31 2005

Question: If we accept dictatorships and other nondemocratic nations as legitimate members of the UN, what is wrong with a few rigged elections?

Even if this objection is answered, your proposal is going deep into micromanagement, forbidding technological improvements, etc. I don't like it.

you'll note the phrase 'if ballots are used' and 'ballot equivalent'. I left open the possibility that a country may use the same system it's used for thousands of years. (The ancient Greeks dropped black and white balls in a bowl- white was voting for, black was boting against. Hence the term 'blackball'.) Methods such as those could still be approved and used freely.

This means that paper-less touch-screen ballots will not be approved, nor will any method in which the voter does not get to physically handle their ballot or ballot equivalent.

I have to disagree with this part of the act. Naviblah has been using electronic voting systems(paperless) for my entire reign, I mean all of my elected terms.

Much like other acts, proposals, and such it is difficult to force such things on nations, that the UN doesn't really have much say in. There is no international trade, or international crime... perhaps internal crimes, but that is not the concern of the United Nations, but that of it's citizens, and leadership.

Much like other acts, proposals, and such it is difficult to force such things on nations, that the UN doesn't really have much say in. There is no international trade, or international crime... perhaps internal crimes, but that is not the concern of the United Nations, but that of it's citizens, and leadership.
You say that like it's a written rule.

Rose,
Acting Senior UN representative,
The Black New World

You've gotten the Empire of Quaons approval.

Much like other acts, proposals, and such it is difficult to force such things on nations, that the UN doesn't really have much say in. There is no international trade, or international crime... perhaps internal crimes, but that is not the concern of the United Nations, but that of it's citizens, and leadership.
Oh, but an election with disputed legitimacy can lead to violence that can very easily (and on occasion does) spill over into neighboring countries. NOW it's an international concern.

1. The United Nations will create a list of approved voting methods. Member nations are required to use only these methods when holding a vote. Any vote not using one of these methods will be automatically deemed fraudulent.
And what if my perfectly legitimate voting method is not on the list? The UN cannot possibly list all methods.

1a. Approved voting methods will include a verifiable tally in case a recount is needed. If ballots are used, approved voting methods will include a verifiable physical ballot directly accessible to the voter. This means that paper-less touch-screen ballots will not be approved, nor will any method in which the voter does not get to physically handle their ballot or ballot equivalent.

Again. Ceorana is a direct democracy. We don't have ballots. We do all voting electronically, like in the RL United States Senate, and we often hold 10 votes each day. If we had to have paper ballots for every one, and recounts, how would we get anything done, and how would we get enough paper? Votes are simply tallied for all to see, and if anyone notices a problem, they ask for a recount.

1b. Approved voting methods will be deemed by a committee to be sufficiently simple for the average voter to understand. Complex and/or confusing voting methods such as the butterfly ballot will not be approved.

2. Companies that supply voting machines and people that count the votes will be forbidden from contributing money to the political campaign or campaigns in which they are participating.

How about just having people from each side watch? If those people were forbidden from donating, who would want to count votes?

3. On the assumption that many people do not vote because the ubiquity of the campaign turns them off, strict campaign spending limits will be enforced. Funds will be allocated in a lump sum to all candidates at the beginning of a campaign, and when the money is gone, it's gone. The candidate must then either fund their campaign out-of-pocket or they can no longer campaign.
This is a violation of national sovereignity, and does nothing to help voters be able to vote. We believe that people can spend their money how they like, and people should not be restricted in their speech.

4. Election days will be deemed national holidays, so that voters will not be kept from the polling place due to work.
Voters: YAY! NO WORK! WE HAVE ELECTIONS EVERY DAY! :p

I think that a good proposal like this could be drafted, but it needs a lot less micromanagement.

This is a violation of national sovereignity, and does nothing to help voters be able to vote. We believe that people can spend their money how they like, and people should not be restricted in their speech.


I agree. This seems to be outside of the intentions of this legislation, and would represent a gross abuse by the UN- dictating campaign finance reform is NOT a goal essential to world peace and cooperation. This really does nothing to advance the intentions of the resolution which is to facilitate voting and decrease fraudulent elections. I would support this if Part 3 were removed and the acceptable voting methods were more clearly defined.

Your title seems off, this isn't optimizing voting, namely because you've included rules against campaigning. The other points seem to make this more of a resolution for standardizing voting. Although we do not hold elections in our nation, many of our allies are much more democratic and have no problems when holding elections and I see why a few problems with countries cannot be dealt with on an indivdual basis, leaving those who have legitimate elections alone. I am also wondering what power the UN has against an election they "fraudulent", other than just stating that fact. All in all, I wouldn't vote for this just on the premise of changing voting laws, but doubly so in regards to this exact proposal.

Okay. If your voting method hasn't been approved or disapproved yet, you could always, you know, ask for a review. I don't think it would take THAT long to figure out if it's kosher or not. And as for...

Again. Ceorana is a direct democracy. We don't have ballots. We do all voting electronically, like in the RL United States Senate, and we often hold 10 votes each day. If we had to have paper ballots for every one, and recounts, how would we get anything done, and how would we get enough paper? Votes are simply tallied for all to see, and if anyone notices a problem, they ask for a recount.

First, you mean the US House of Representatives. The Senate goes by voice vote. (Which I believe would be approved as long as the votes were recorded by audio. You have a problem then and you need a recount, just rewind the tape and play it back.) And the language of the proposal specifically states 'if ballots are used', you have to have the physical evidence. The way the House does it is not a ballot system as far as I'm concerned- they have a couple electronic thingamabobs that signal yes, no or 'present'. With the votes 'tallied for all to see' and with recounts easily available, I see no reason your current system wouldn't be approved as well.

As for having no work because you vote THAT often, well, I guess that's your problem.

The Nation of Venerable Libertarians deems this to be totally irrelevant. We are a Constitutional Monarchy. (A nice way to say Dictatorship) We see this proposal as a waste of our members time and energies as was decreed by his Majesty, King Byron, to us to do so.
In effect there are many thousands of UN Member nations and regulating their voting systems would be tantamount to direct Dictate from the UN.
We will not support this proposal.

As for having no work because you vote THAT often, well, I guess that's your problem.
So the UN has the right to completely destroy Ceorana's economy by keeping our workers from working?

The nation of Northern Sushi sees no reason why the UN has the right to determine our national holidays, unless of course they want world holidays, which we will never support anyways.