The Articles of Organization

a proposed constitution for STF.

Article V, Crises, Amendments, and Elections.

Section A, The Judicial Council.
Because of the importance of the Presidency in STF, it is necessary to have a judicial body to act as a check against the possibility of a bad President ruining STF. The Judicial Council is that body.
p1. Independence and Emergency-Based Nature of the Judicial Council.
The Judicial Council (JC) is totally independent of the main branch of STF's government. Any move by the President or Vice-President to unduly influence the JC is unlawful. The JC exists to check the President and only meets when one of the laws in this document has been violated by the Prez.
p2. Membership of the JC
The JC consists of one Representative Justice (RJ) from each ship, plus the Presiding Justice (PJ). Each XO and BXO in STF appoints the RJ from his ship. The CO or BCO, however, must be consulted before the (B)XO can appoint himself as RJ. No member of STF may serve as RJ from more than one ship. No member of STF may be picked as RJ for his ship against his will. The PJ is the most-senior member of STF who is not the President or Vice-President and who wants the job. The PJ may be removed by unanimous vote of all of the RJs; the succession then follows the same rules as if the most-senior member had turned down the position. Ship RJs may be removed by joint decision of the XO and CO of the ship.

What that bit about the "most-senior member" means is that if the senior member doesn't want the job of PJ, the second-most-senior member gets it, and if he passes, the third-most-senior -- and so on.

p3. Duty of the JC
The JC interprets this document with regards to Presidential actions. If a President is found guilty of acting unconstitutionally, the JC has the power to call for new elections.
p4. Procedure for JC Judgement
There is a strict procedure for calling for new elections:
  1. Someone notices that the President is behaving unconstitutionally. This person then tells the President about it, giving him time to correct his actions.
  2. If the Prez continues to act unconstitutionally even after being warned, the offended person notifies the Presiding Justice.
  3. If the PJ decides that there may be a case against the President -- the PJ does not need to be convinced, he must only be suspicious -- the PJ calls for a meeting of the JC.
  4. After discussion moderated by the PJ, who makes sure that both sides are heard (only the President, the PJ, and the RJs may make statements within the RC chambers), a no-confidence vote is called.
  5. If two thirds or more of the JC vote against the President, new elections are called. The PJ appoints an Election Coordinator (it could be himself) and the Monday after the next Friday is "Day One" on the Election calendar. If the two-thirds mark is not reached, the proposition dies.
p5. Location of the JC.
The JC meets in whatever OOC area of the club is most accessible to the PJ and the majority of the RJs.
Section B, Succession.
Unfortunately, it is sometimes necessary for a member to leave Command under less-than-perfect circumstances. This section outlines the procedures for succession.
p1. If the President resigns or goes AWOL.
If the President leaves the club for any reason, the Vice-President becomes President and he (the new President/Ex-Vice-President) appoints a new Vice-President.
p2. If the Vice-President or any Cabinet member resigns or goes AWOL.
If any Cabinet office is vacated, the President appoints a new person to fill the empty position(s).
p3. If the President and the Vice-President resign or go AWOL.
If both the President and the Vice-President leave at the same time, the most senior member of STF (the PJ) becomes acting President and immediately calls new elections. If a Cabinet member has also resigned at this time, the acting President (aPrez) appoints a new person to the empty position.
p4. If a Cabinet Member's Assistant resigns or goes AWOL.
If any position appointed by a member of the Cabinet leaves the club, his immediate superior appoints a new person to fill the role (e.g. if the AEDir goes AWOL, the EDir appoints a new one; If AFComm-1 resigns, FComm-1 chooses a new assistant, etc.).
p5. STF's Most Senior Officer.
The recognition of Most Senior Officer -- that which determines the PJ -- goes to the STFer who holds the highest nonelected rank and has held it for the longest time.
p6. Vacancies in Roleplaying Positions.
Vacancies in role-playing positions are handled by the club's Personnel Department, as outlined in Article II of this document.
Section C, Elections.
STF, being a democratic club, chooses its leader by plebiscite -- that is, by election. This section provides a framework in which to elect our leader.
p1. Length of the President's Term.
The President shall hold office in terms a maximum of 8 months long, though they could be shorter if the AC calls for elections under its Article V, Section A authority. There are no term limits; the President may serve for as many consecutive terms as the voters will allow. At the beginning of the last month of the 8-month term, the call for new elections is automatically made and the PJ appoints a new Election Coordinator (EC) from the pool of STFers who are not running for any office. Terms are rounded to the nearest month -- all "regular" (non-crisis-based) elections are carried out in such a manner as the President is installed in the first week of a calendar month.

(What the first bit here means is that if President Frederick J. Foobar serves 2 months before being called out for incompetance by the JC, but wins the subsequent election anyway, the next automatic election is another 8 months away, not 6.)

p2. The Election Coordinator (EC).
If the JC finds it necessary to call for elections (and has verified the need with a vote, as described in Article V, Section A), or if an automatic call has gone out, the PJ appoints an Election Coordinator. The EC is responsible for setting an election timetable and enforcing the Election Rules. He is also in charge of tabulating the votes and announcing a winner.
p3. The Election Rules.
All STF Presidential candidates must abide by the following rules:
  1. Each candidate is allowed to set up one "campaign headquarters" in each STF club OOC area (this means one per medium . . . not one per ship). All campaign propoganda are posted there, and nowhere else.
  2. Each candidate is allowed to attach one "bumpersticker" slogan, no more than ten words, to his signoff (e.g. "Lt. Frederick Foobar, Building A Better STF"). This slogan is expected, of course, to disappear after election season is over.
  3. No mudslinging: No character attacks, no politically-charged arguments outside of the political headquarters, and no dirty tricks.
  4. The candidates may NOT post "hey, go check out my campaign HQ" notes in RPG or OOC areas, but may make references to the campaign HQ in casual conversation in OOC areas.
  5. Candidates may provide opposing viewpoints or questions in their opponents' campaign headquarters, but they are not allowed to post entire ticket manifestoes except in their own HQs.
p4. The Election Timetables.
The Monday nearest to the first day of the 8th month of a Presidential term, or the Monday after the first Friday after the appointment of the Election Coordinator in the case of an JC-instigated election, marks the beginning of Election Season. This day is referred to as Day One.
  1. On Day 1 both Nominations and Campaigns begin. This day is the first day that Presidential candidates are allowed to set up campaign headquarters, and the first day that nominations are accepted. A member may not nominate himself. As soon as the member has accepted the nomination, he may begin campaigning.
  2. On Day 8, one week later, is the Nomination Deadline. No new nominations are accepted at this point, nor are nomination acceptances. Campaigning continues.
  3. On Day 15, a week from then, Voting begins. Voting is by secret, Email ballot, collected by the Election Coordinator and cross-checked against the latest Personnel Department report. One vote is allowed per member, no matter how many characters that member has.
  4. On Day 29, two weeks from then, both Voting and Campaigning end. Election month is over. The Election Coordinator counts the votes and announces the victor within the week.
Section D, Amendments to and Ratification of this Charter.
In the future new problems may arise for STF that these articles are not currently prepared to address, and in that eventuality the membership needs to be able to modify this document. Amendments provide a mechanism for doing so.
p1. Validity of Current STF Law.
All former Presidential Edicts that are not contradicted by more recent Edicts or this document are valid statutes of STF law.
p2. Origin of Amendments.
All amendment-candidates must first be discussed in the President's Office with the President, who must approve of the Amendment.
p3. Procedure for Voting Amendments.
Amendment-candidates must be sent to plebiscite. The PJ shall appoint an EC to supervise the referendum on the amendment; A 4/5 majority of voting STFers must ratify it, including at least 3/5 of the voting members of each fleet.
p4. Placement of Amendments in this Document.
New amendments shall be added as new Sections to Article VI ("Amendments").
p5. Ratification.
A plebiscite shall be held, with an EC appointed by the President, to ratify this document as the Charter of STF. This document must recieve a 4/5 majority of voting STFers, including 3/5 from each fleet, in order to be ratified.
The Articles of Organization
[Introduction|Article I, Role-Playing|Article II, Positions]
[Article III, Ranks & Roleplaying|Article IV, Club Government]
Click here for all 5 Articles on one page.
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Page Created on 25 October 1997 -- Last Updated on 12 February 1998
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