NOTE: it's supposed to say [Proposal], not [Vote].

I've turned the proposal about diplomats, initiatives and citizenship into a more formal document, that we can transfer straight into law. There have been a few tweaks where people made good suggestions, but other than that it's largely the same.

If there are any big problems with the text please let me know so I can fix it in time for a vote tomorrow. However, what I would like to say is that it doesn't need to be absolutely perfect at this stage. The most important thing is getting a formal system into place, especially if we're going public. Once it is in place we'll be able to pass amendments whenever we want to fix all the obvious problems, but if we try and make it absolutely perfect now we're probably never going to get anywhere (like we had on 3.0).

Last point: I'll have this transferred into a proper document on Google Docs in time for tomorrow. I just ran out of time today, but it should be a relatively simple copy-and-paste job. The only thing that will change is it will be a bit easier to read and look at.

Article I: Community Positions

A: Diplomats

i. Role of Diplomats

a. Ensure good relations with the United Province's neighbours, wherever reasonably possible.

b. Represent the United Provinces, and act as a point of contact for foreign parties.

d. Coordinate the construction of the United Provinces' embassies abroad and the construction of foreign powers' embassies within the United Provinces.

e. Organise or oversee elections, popular initiatives and the citizenship process in accordance with the relevant rules.

g. Diplomats will serve one month terms, but without a term limit.

h. There will always be two diplomats, unless a recall election creates a temporary vacancy.

ii. Election of Diplomats

a. At least five days before the end of each month a serving diplomat must open a candidacy declaration post on the United Provinces' subreddit.

b. 48 hours after opening the candidacy declaration post, the candidacy declaration post must be closed by diplomat and an election post must be opened, on the same subreddit.

c. The election post must name each standing candidate, and registered voters will have until the closure of the post to vote.

d. Participating voters must rank the candidates from their most preferred to their least preferred, starting with the most preferred candidate as number one.

e. 48 hours after the opening of the election post, a serving diplomat should close it and count the votes.

f. On the final day of the month a diplomat ought to create a results post on the subreddit, with the results of the election detailed in full. The new diplomats will be the two candidates with the most votes (using an order-of-preference electoral system).

g. The winning candidates will assume their positions at 00:00 on the first day of the new month, in a peaceful transfer in responsibilities from the previous diplomats (should one or both be standing down).

h. The first diplomats to serve will be given extra-long terms, running from the 15th August 2017 to the 30th September 2017. After this, ordinary procedure will take over.

iii. Recall of Diplomats

a. A registered voter wishing to recall a diplomat may do so through the creation of a post on the United Provinces' subreddit, tagged with [Recall], naming the diplomat they wish to recall and explaining why they wish to recall them.

b. After 48 hours they may open a binary vote on recalling the relevant diplomat, which any registered voter may participate in.

d. 48 hours after the opening of the vote, it must be closed by the relevant registered voter. They are then to count the votes and announce the results in a results post. A turnout of at least 50% must be met for the recall to be valid.

e. If a diplomat has successfully been recalled within 10 days of the end of the month the remaining diplomat will be responsible for deciding whether to hold an emergency election to fill the position, following standard election rules. Otherwise, an emergency election must be called immediately, but it should still be organised by the diplomat using the standard election rules.

iv. Eligibility for Diplomats

a. In order to become a candidate for diplomat, and by extension become a diplomat, one must be a registered voter of the United Provinces.

Article II: Legislation

A: Popular Initiatives

i. Functions of Popular Initiatives

a. Popular initiatives are the system used by the United Provinces for introducing, amending and repealing legislation.

ii. Voting process

a. Any registered voter wishing to enact a law or amend or repeal an existing law must outline their suggestion in a post tagged [Proposal] on the relevant United Provinces subreddit. Other citizens or registered voters, and non-citizens, should be given time to discuss the suggestions in the post.

b. After at least 48 hours the relevant registered voter may open another post on the subreddit tagged [Vote], allowing registered voters to vote on the suggestion previously outlined. The proposal should, by the the time of the vote, be sufficiently detailed, and it cannot be edited whilst voting is underway.

c. Initiatives may have more than two voting options, if appropriate. Where this is the case voting should be done in the form of ranking the options from most preferred to least preferred.

d. Voting is non-compulsory, and registered voters may choose to abstain. However, should turnout fail to reach 50% the initiative will be declared null and no change will be effected.

e. After 48 hours the vote must be closed, and the relevant registered voter needs to count the votes and declare the results within 24 hours in a post tagged [Results].

f. Foreign diplomats should monitor proposals and votes to ensure compliance with the relevant rules.

g. If a vote is successful the foreign diplomats must execute the proposal immediately, writing it into the Constitution if necessary. If a vote is unsuccessful the status quo will continue.

Article III: Citizenship and Voter Registration

A: Obtaining and Maintaining Citizenship and Voter Registration

i. Rights and Privileges of Citizens and Registered Voters

a. Citizens have the right to build.

b. Citizens have the right to access the subreddit and Discord.

c. Citizens have the right to public citadel groups.

d. Registered voters have the right to vote in elections.

e. Registered voters have the right to organise and vote in popular initiatives.

f. Registered voters have the right to run for, and serve in, any community position.

g. Registered voters may partake in Community Vetoes and Community Authorisations.

ii. Obtaining Citizenship

a. A player must own or rent property within the United Provinces for at least 10 consecutive days.

b. They must not be banned from the server.

c. They must not be charged with a crime by the United Provinces, or currently be serving punishment for a crime in the United Provinces.

d. Upon meeting these prerequisites, they are automatically granted citizenship by the community once a diplomat can verify they have met them.

iii. Obtaining Voter Registration

a. Once becoming a citizen, a prospective voter should upload an image of their avatar with an up-to-date eligibility sign, with their debug screen shown. The image must be uploaded to an official citizenship/voter registration post, managed by the diplomats.

b. One week after posting the first image, a prospective registered voter must upload a second image with an eligibility sign and their debug screen. Once this second image is verified by a diplomat they are automatically granted voter registration by the community.

c. Diplomats should keep an up-to-date, publicly-available record of citizens and registered voters.

d. All residents in the United Provinces at the time of the passage of this bill will be granted automatic citizenship and voter registration until the 1st November at 00:00, after which time normal procedure will take over.

iv. Maintaining Citizenship and Voter Registration

a. Once citizenship and voter registration are obtained they are valid for two months, starting on the day they were granted. Once voter registration is granted it is combined with citizenship, bringing the day citizenship was granted in line with the day voter registration was granted.

b. At the end of these two months a citizen or registered voter must upload an image of themselves with an eligibility sign and their debug screen to the relevant citizenship/voter registration post.

c. Diplomats, who are responsible for keeping a list of citizens and registered voters, should keep track of when a player's citizenship or voter registration is coming up for renewal. They should notify the player at the appropriate time.

v. Community Veto and Community Authorisation

a. Should a registered voter wish to strip another player of their citizenship or voter registration, they should open a post tagged [Veto] on the United Provinces subreddit. In this post they must explain why they wish to strip a player of citizenship or voter registration.

b. At least 48 hours after making the first post, the player may open a vote on whether to remove a player's citizenship or voter registration. All registered voters are allowed to vote if they wish.

c. 48 hours after opening that post, it must be closed again by the relevant registered voter. They then have 24 hours to count the votes and make a results post.

d. Should the community vote to remove a player of their citizenship or voter registration they are to lose it with immediate effect. Should the community vote again removing a player of their citizenship or voter registration then the status quo will continue, and the citizen who attempted to organise a veto becomes prohibited from making a second attempt on the same citizen/registered voter for 28 days.

e. The same process may be followed in reverse to give, or extend, a player's citizenship or voter registration, called Community Authorisation. This grants citizenship or voter registration to a player for two months, and at the end of the two months a further authorisation may be given.

f. For both a Community Veto and Community Authorisation to be valid, a 50% turnout threshold must be met.

vi. Eligibility Sign

a. An eligibility sign is a sign placed on a plinth somewhere in the United Provinces, showing the date at the time of placement. Every two weeks the date should be updated by a diplomat, and its location should be made public knowledge.