The General AssemblyRegulating Remote Election Administration
Category: Furtherment of Democracy
Strength: Mild
A resolution to increase democratic freedoms.
Proposed by Boston Castle
NS Forum ThreadWhereas issues regarding in-person voting are best left to individual member states and issues of remote voting are best addressed by uniform standards, be it enacted as follows:
1. In this resolution,
a. “election day” refers to the day in which voters are prescribed by law to vote in an election or election(s);
b. “absentee voter” refers to any voter who lives in their nation of citizenship who votes in advance of the date prescribed by law for an election;
c. “expatriate voter” refers to any voter who, while living in a nation they are not a citizen of, votes in their nation of citizenship;
d. “mail ballot” refers to a ballot which utilizes a postal service for the purpose of obtaining and returning a ballot;
e. “e-voting” refers to any method of voting which utilizes a technological interface by which a ballot is cast remotely.
2. All member nations are required to employ the same methods of counting for all ballots cast by absentee voters and expatriate voters.
a. Member nations may require that ballots cast by these voters be counted separately from ballots cast by voters who choose to not employ alternative methods or who vote on election day.
3. All member nations must make clear to its citizens who request to vote as expatriates or absentee what special requirements there are, if any, for their ballot to be counted.
4. Member nations are allowed to enact the following restrictions on absentee voters who utilize mail ballots:
a. witness of ballots by another person who can affix a mark to the ballot,
b. time restrictions on when ballots may be requested such that there may be a fixed date, communicated to absentee and expatriate voters, whereby ballots must be received, and
c. restrictions on who may vote remotely such as requiring military service or severe illness before a person can utilize a mail ballot.
5. The same restrictions which member nations are allowed to enact on absentee voters who utilize mail ballots may also be enacted on expatriate voters who utilize mail ballots.
6. Absentee and expatriate voters must receive a ballot that is compliant with their request and matches the election day ballot of the electoral division in which they are registered to vote.
7. The following provisions may be enacted in regards to expatriate voters:
a. Member nations may create an “overseas constituency” of all expatriate voters where their collated votes may count towards representation in a national assembly or otherwise.
b. Member nations may bar expatriate voters from participating in regional or local elections.
8. All member nations must make clear to its citizens who utilize e-voting what processes are used to ensure their vote’s anonymity and how their vote is counted.
9. Member nations are allowed to enact the following restrictions on those who choose to utilize e-voting:
a. use of a form of national identification in order to ensure that a person votes no more than once,
b. use of certain platforms that are not open for corruption or influence by malign actors, and
c. time restrictions on when one can access an electronic ballot.
Please vote below.
