Article 3: Election Process
A census shall be conducted every twelve years to determine as accurately as possible the total number of Free Citizens and other people living within the territorial bounds of [COUNTRY], but no one may be compelled to take part in the census, or to answer any questions therein that they may find objectionable, against their consent.
The State will be divided into twelve voting districts, according to the twelfth-parts distribution of its Free Citizens; and notice shall be given to all those affected by redistricting.
Each district shall have two Senators for every hundred-thousand people living there - as determined by the last census - to serve as their representatives for a period of six years, with each district having at least two Senators, and all Senators being apportioned as uniformly as possible across the districts.
To ensure fair distribution of the Senators within each district, a non-political commission shall be established for the sole purpose of dividing the voting districts according to a shortest-split line method, their formula for which shall be made publicly available; and they shall be entitled to compensation for their services as determined by law, but no increase in their compensation shall take effect until after a period of at least four years from the time of its enactment; and the corruption or undue manipulation of any member of this commission shall constitute a felony and, if the perpetrator be a public officer, grounds for impeachment.
The various political parties within [COUNTRY] may each pick their preferred candidates from among those Free Citizens eligible to hold office, and they may determine their qualifications and ranking within the party according to their own internal rules, which lists they shall finalize and make public before the appointed election date.
In any election for President, the process shall be as follows:
On the appointed date, those Free Citizens eligible to vote within each district may cast a ballot for all eligible candidates they favor, ranking their preferences in order of most favorable to least favorable, and they may abstain from voting for any candidate they find objectionable.
The election staff shall make a list of all the persons voted for and of the number of votes for each person and their relative rankings among the voters, which list they shall sign and certify and make public.
In each case, if a candidate receives more than half the popular vote, he shall win. If no candidate receives at least half of the popular vote and there are only two candidates in the running, whoever holds a majority of the popular vote shall win. If no candidate receives more than half the vote and there are at least three candidates in the running, then the candidate with the least number of votes will be eliminated; and the election staff shall recalculate the votes for those that remain, using the aforementioned method, and repeating this process until a winner is determined. If there is a tie for the least number of votes, then the candidate with more votes of lower rank shall be eliminated.
After the President has been chosen, his name may be removed from the lists and the same method shall be used in determining the Vice-President from those votes already cast, the result being that the most favored candidate shall be the President and the next-most favored candidate shall be the Vice-President.
In any election for Senate, the election process shall be as follows:
On the appointed date, those Free Citizens eligible to vote within each district may cast a ballot ranking the candidates they prefer - as in the vote for President - as well as a single vote for their preferred political party, or they may abstain in either case.
The election staff shall make a list of all the persons voted for and of the number of votes for each person and the proportions of those political parties preferred by voters, which list they shall sign and certify and make public.
For every two available positions in the same district, one Senate seat will be decided by direct popular vote, and the other will be decided by indirect party vote. For each available seat decided by direct popular vote, the method shall be the same as in the voting for President wherein each ballot may have several selections ranked in order of preference.
Of those seats that remain, each will be given in turn to the political party most favored by voters that is also most underrepresented, as measured against the list of proportions tallied by the election staff, until all remaining positions have been distributed. Any political party controlling a seat shall then fill the vacancy with their next highest-ranking candidate available, according to those lists they will have submitted prior to the election.
So as to prevent fraud in the election of any Senator, President, or Vice-President, the names of the election staff and their methods for tallying the votes shall be made publicly available, and they shall be under oath or affirmation to faithfully perform their duties; and the corruption or undue manipulation of any member of the election staff shall constitute a felony and, if the perpetrator be a public officer, grounds for impeachment.
In the event of any tie in any election for Senator, President, or Vice-President, the results will be determined by lot.
In the case of any vacancy of the office of President between the time of their election and the start of their term, the Vice-President shall hold the office; and in the case of any vacancy of the office of Vice-President within that same period, the person having the next-most votes among the eligible candidates shall hold the office. And in all other cases of vacancy occurring after the election, or during a term of office, the position shall be filled according to appropriations made by the Senate.
The first elections for Senate and President of [COUNTRY] shall take place on the fifth of November in the year [20XX]. Once the first Senate has been elected, they shall have power to change the dates and times of subsequent elections if they so choose, but they shall not change their apportionment among the voting districts.