Constitution of the Urban Republic of Dinasia

The Constitution of the Urban Republic of Dinasia consists of six articles plus an extra set aside for future amendments. Each article goes over a key feature about the government, from the legislature to the different rights and freedoms citizens have.

Preamble

The Preamble of the Dinasian Constitution consists of one single sentence:

We the people of Dinasia, in an effort to establish a city-state and preserve a peaceful and prosperous society, do hereby enact this constitution.

Article I. The Legislative Branch

Article 1 details the Council of Dinasia, the nation's legislative body. It consists of four sections.

Section 1. Composition

The Council shall be made up of 3 representatives elected by the entire nation, as well as 5 representatives per district elected by the people of that district. The 3 nationally-elected representatives shall be referred to as the National Councillors, while the representatives from all the districts will be referred to as the District Councillors.

Here it is detailed that a total of 43 representatives shall compose the Council, consisting of three which are elected by the nation and five elected by each district. These are referred to as the National Councillors and District Councillors respectively.

Subsection a. Requirements

Anybody who wants to be a Councillor must be at least 20 years old, be a citizen of Dinasia for at least 5 years, and, if running as a District Councillor, be a resident of the district they're representing.

This subsection indicates the requirements to be a candidate for the office of Councillor.

A prospective Councillor must be at least 20 years old.
A prospective Councillor must be a citizen of Dinasia for at least 5 years.

In addition, a prospective District Councillor must also be a resident of the district they wish to represent.

Subsection b. Compensation

This subsection is simply one sentence dictating that a Councillor's compensation cannot change during their term - if they want a pay raise, they have to get re-elected.

Section 2. Duties and Responsibilities

The entirety of the Council acts as a jury in the case of an impeachment trial.

Subsection a. National Councillors

The 3 National Councilors shall be responsible for holding all Council meetings (including determining speaking time limits to avoid filibustering), and are only allowed to vote in the case of a tie.

This subsection speaks for itself - National Councillors set the rules for and hold Council meetings, and they only vote if there is a tie between the 40 District Councillors.

Subsection b. District Councillors

District Councillors vote on all laws going through the Council, and are put in committees to draft laws on specific subjects. In addition, District Councillors are responsible for drafting bylaws for their specific district (See Article V for more information).

Again, this speaks for itself. District Councillors both draft and vote on the laws. They also draft district bylaws.

Section 3. Election

This section details how Councillors are elected. These are done every four years (same term length as the US), and it is done using a Single Transferable Vote (STV) system.

Subsection a. Voting

When electing councillors, voters rank the candidates from who they want to be elected the most to who they want to be elected the least. Not all candidates need to be ranked, but [a voter] must indicate at least one candidate to give [their] vote to. An improperly filled ballot is considered invalid and indicates that a voter is not happy with any of the candidates.

To summarize:

Candidates are ranked on the ballot from 1 (I want this person to be elected the most) to n (I want this person to be elected the most), with n being the number of candidates.
Not all candidates need to be ranked, so the amount of candidates ranked can be less than n.
One must vote for at least one candidate however.
Improperly filled ballots are considered invalid and indicate a voter who is not happy with any of the candidates.

Subsection b. Quota

Once all votes have been given, the total amount of valid votes are plugged into the Droop quota equation, (v/(s+1))+1, where v is the amount of valid votes and s is the number of open seats (3 when voting for a National Councillor, 5 when voting for a District Councillor). This equation returns the amount of votes needed to be elected (the quota).

The Droop quota is used over the Hare quota as Hare has strange results when it comes to giving out the final seat. The Droop quota is just dividing the number of votes by one more than the number of available seats, then adding one to that.

Subsection c. Getting Results

This is the part where everything gets complicated.

Firstly, if anyone has crossed the calculated quota, they are elected into office. If they have any excess votes, they are given to the voter's secondary choice, if any. If nobody else has crossed the quota, the candidate with the fewest votes is struck from the election and their votes are given to the voter's secondary choice, if any. Note that, if a vote needs to be given to a secondary, tertiary, or so on choice, and said choice does not exist, the vote is discarded. This loops until all seats are filled, or until the number of candidates equals the number of open seats (in which case the remaining candidates are elected).

In summary:

If any candidate has met or exceeded the quota, they are elected and any excess votes they have are given to their voters' next choices if they have one.
If not, the candidate with the lowest amount of votes is eliminated and their votes are given to their voters' next choices if they have one.
If a voter does not have a next choice, their vote will be discarded as it doesn't have anywhere else to go.
These steps loop until all the seats are filled, or if the number of candidates matches the number of seats (which automatically elects all remaining candidates).

Section 4. Term Limit

Any individual may be Councillor for up to four consecutive terms (with one term being four years, the time between elections), provided they are re-elected, and may serve up to sixteen terms total. Once someone serves four consecutive terms as Councillor, they must wait at least one term before being allowed to run for the office of Councillor again. Once someone serves sixteen total terms, they will not be allowed to run for the office of Councillor again.