Request for Judicial Review Granted; Election Cancellation and Ballot Nullification

[Thatpyrodude 2008]

Request for Judicial Review Granted; Election Cancellation and Ballot Nullification

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The request for judicial review by Mr. Samuel Savoyard has been granted. Furthermore, the Court is issuing a 24 hour injunction preventing the destruction of any and all votes and preventing voting from being resumed. The Supreme Court of Oren will thus be accepting Amicus briefs from the public for the next twelve saints hours. Any citizen, group or organization is permitted to submit an Amicus brief to the Court. After which, this Court shall review the original complaint, all briefs and any other relevant information to address the questions raised by Mr. Savoyard.

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[argonian 14254]

Amicus Brief

 

 

1. Elections occur automatically upon the summoning of the Diet by the Crown, with Civil Affairs only administering and not calling the election. As the Crown is a higher authority than the Secretary, the latter may not cancel an election that the former has called, nor call a new one.

 

 

Edict of Reform 1763:
‘The House of Commons, as the lower house of the Imperial Diet, shall be the chamber concerned with matters of active governance and shall sit when called to session by the Crown, through the expression of a national election, until such time as its dissolution by the Crown. It shall pass bills into acts by virtue of a simple majority.
…
The Crown, expressed in the person of His Imperial Majesty the Holy Orenian Emperor, is the linchpin of the reformed system. He shall call the Imperial Diet to session through a summons. In respect to the House of Commons, this is expressed through a national election.’

Amendment to the Edict of Reform 1773:
‘The House of Commons shall be comprised of twelve seats to be competed for in national elections when summoned by the Crown.’

Conventions on Government and the Legislature 1777:
‘Dissolution and summons 
It is the sole prerogative of the Emperor to dissolve the Imperial Diet and to summon a new one, both done through special public writs. There is no fixed time period for a Diet, which may last a varied amount of time depending on the particular needs of the legislature.

Elections 
National elections to the House of Commons are called when the Emperor summons a new Imperial Diet.’

The first two cited documents are edicts of the Crown, beyond any reproach by the Legislature, the Cabinet or any authority whatsoever beneath His or Her Imperial Majesties. The third, while not law, is an analysis of the Empire’s constitution as penned by the late Viscount Rillsworth with the approval of the late Emperor. All three documents make it clear that it is the Crown, not the Ministry of Civil Affairs, that calls the election. As the Crown is the highest authority in the land, its laws and actions may not be abrogated, cancelled or hindered by lower authorities. Note that while the Cabinet may at times act on behalf of the Crown, the law is explicit here that with regards to the calling of elections, the Crown is ‘expressed in the person of His Imperial Majesty’, i.e His or Her Majesty must personally do it(through their summons).

 

While the Secretary of Civil Affairs is tasked with the administration of elections once they have been called, the ability and duty to administer a thing does not imply the ability to cancel that thing at their discretion and postpone it for as long as one pleases. No one would consider it lawful for the Secretary to cancel the election indefinitely, or to cancel it last minute on a whim, and yet since the Secretary cited no legal source for His Excellency’s supposed right to cancel elections, and no legal limitations to its exercise, it could only be concluded that His Excellency can do just that, if this action under judicial review were lawful. 

 

Furthermore, when the Secretary closed the polling stations, indiscriminately threw out every cast ballot, and set a new election date, His Excellency effectively called a new election entirely. This is not a paused election re-starting, but an entirely new one. As the law establishes, only Their Imperial Majesties may call an election, and therefore this act was unlawful. 

 

For the reasons above, both the cancellation of the election and the calling for a new one were outside the lawful authority of the Secretary of Civil Affairs. Therefore, by virtue of the Leumont Principle, these acts must be considered to never have occurred.

 

 

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2. Valid ballots are legally binding documents and therefore the Secretary of Civil Affairs has no lawful authority whatsoever to throw them out.

 

 

Orenian Revised Code:
‘301.041 - Citizens of the nation shall maintain the right to suffrage in national elections.’
‘604.011 - All citizens of the Holy Orenian Empire over the age of 18 who are registered to an address have the right to vote in national elections in the province of their residence.’

 

All citizens of the Empire, provided they are over 18 and registered to an address, have a right to vote in national elections. The right to suffrage implies not only a right to vote, but also a right to have their vote counted. This lawful right cannot be dismissed or denied to a citizen except by due process in accordance with the law. Further, ballots are legally binding documents, and therefore cannot be revoked of their legally binding character except by a court of law. As the Secretary of Civil Affairs is not a court of law, and cannot simply discard votes as His Excellency's pleasure.

 

Now, one may be misled into believing Civil Affairs has this authority from their ability to discard fraudulent votes. However, this is because fraudulent ‘ballots’ are merely forgeries of legal documents, and are not legally binding themselves. The Secretary of Civil Affairs, per the Orenian Revised Code, has a duty to certify legal documents, and it is this duty that is exercised when fraudulent ballots are thrown out:

 

Orenian Revised Code:
‘601.099 - The power to approve or deny the certification of any binding legal documents within the Holy Orenian Empire.’

 

However, this is not what happened in the act under judicial review. The Secretary had already certified the ballots and determined which were authentic and which were not, and then His Excellency threw out all of them without regard for their authenticity. This means the Secretary threw out ballots that were already determined as legitimate, and therefore were legally binding. Throwing out certified ballots was outside of His Excellency’s authority with regards to certification(as that duty/power ends once the ballot is certified), and it was the unlawful destruction of legally binding documents.

 

Therefore, the discarding of valid ballots was outside of the Secretary’s legal authority and was also the unlawful destruction of legally binding ballots. Moreover, as these ballots are legally binding, it is required by law that the Secretary count them--something His Excellency has explicitly refused to do by discarding them. 

 

 

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3. Votes are contracts between the voter and Her Imperial Majesty’s Government, and may only be dismissed by a magistrate of the Emperor or mutual consent.

 

 

The distinction of a vote as a contract may be understood in greater detail by reading it off the face of existing Orenian legal doctrine and social convention. The vote, or the promise of a filled ballot to count towards the election of a candidate, intentionally invokes a social convention whose purpose is to cause the voter to expect the promised performance.

With the certification of a vote as valid by Civil Affairs, the Government incurs a contractual obligation to perform as they manifest for a promisee, the voter. This promise entails that the vote actually go towards the final results of the election, so that the voter’s say in it may be heard.

As per §305.01, the basis of the vote-as-contract is not the promise of a counted vote. The basis of the contract is the consent of both parties to engage in a transaction of services--the service of casting a ballot in exchange for said ballot to be counted toward election.

The contractual obligation of a vote is forward looking; the vote concerns realizing promised gains for the voter (in as much as representation in the Imperial Diet is a gain).

The Government as contractual promisor must not just avoid harming her promisee on account of his reliance on the promise implied through the receipt of his ballot, but they must affirmatively vindicate her promisee’s expectations of performance.

As per imperial law, these votes, as mutually and consensually engendered contracts between promisor and promisee, may only be nullified (that is, disregarded, invalidated, et al.) through the conventions stated in §305.05 - On Rescission and Nullity. That is, through mutual agreement of both parties or the decision of the Emperor and his magistrates of law.

Therefore the Secretary of Civil Affairs, as representative of the Government’s side of the contract, may not unilaterally nullify the contract. The contract of vote, unless nullified by the legal means described above, must be fulfilled and the gain(i.e that the vote goes towards the final tally in the election results) must be realised, or Her Imperial Majesty’s Government has reneged on its contractual promise. Discarding a vote prevents its realisation and is clearly a breach of contract.
 

As a final note, I reiterate that, according to the Leumont Principle: if any action of Civil Affairs is determined by the Court to have been unlawful, it must be considered to never have occurred at all.

- Samuel T. Savoyard
 

[MCVDK 2854]

Judicial Review Response - Election Cancellation 

& Ballot Nullification  

10th of Sun’s Smile, 1795

THE COUNCIL OF STATE,

    Represented by BASILEIOS BALTHAZAR BAELIUS of THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE,

   

    DESIRES TO RESPOND TO THE FOLLOWING  JUDICIAL REVIEW;

                Election Cancellation and Ballot Nullification

ON THE GROUNDS OF THE FOLLOWING PRINCIPLE(S), DOCTRINE(S), EDICT(S) OR ARTICLES OF LAW:

202.091 - Where an individual intentionally assumes the identity of another individual for any purpose except the carrying out of high treason, this shall be impersonation in the second degree, an infraction. 

 

Oren Revised Code, CH202 ‘On Injury a the Person’

 

203.051 - Where an individual, with the intent to defraud, knowing that he or she has no authority to do so, signs the name of another person or of a fictitious person, this shall be forgery, an infraction 

 

Oren Revised Code, CH203 ‘On Injury against Property’

 

602.043 -  The Crown, expressed in the person of His Imperial Majesty the Holy Orenian Emperor, is the linchpin of the reformed system. He shall call the Imperial Diet to session through a summons. In respect to the House of Commons, this is expressed through a national election. In respect to the House of Lords, this is expressed through his appointees. As a session of the Imperial Diet draws to its conclusion for one reason or another, the Crown shall dissolve the Imperial Diet. When the Crown summons the Imperial Diet again, the process is repeated. A session of the legislature shall sit for an amount of time that is flexible. 

 

Oren Revised Code, CH602 ‘On the Imperial Diet’

 

604.011 - All citizens of the Holy Orenian Empire over the age of 18 who are registered to an address have the right to vote in national elections in the province of their residence. 

 

Oren Revised Code, CH604 ‘On Elections’

 

IN CONSIDERATION OF THE FOLLOWING:

Within the year of seventeen ninety-four, the election for the House of Commons were ordered to halt upon the verbal command of his Majesty, the Holy Orenian Emperor Joseph II, and executed into the elections of seventeen ninety-four. It was elected and ordered to halt the elections of seventeen ninety-four after the Chancellor of Elections, and her office, had found massive amounts of fraudulent votes within the ballots.

 

The Honorable, Mr. Samuel T. Savoyard, henceforth Mr. Savoyard, presents the argument before the Supreme Court, within his request for Judicial Review, that all forms of ballot nullification and election cancellation stands within breachment of the Oren Revised Code. The Honorable, Mr. Savoyard argues that all votes must be counted as per the statement of the following right within the following cite; 

 

 604.011 - All citizens of the Holy Orenian Empire over the age of 18 who are registered to an address have the right to vote in national elections in the province of their residence. [Oren Revised Code, CH604 ‘On Elections’]

 

As per any right granted to any individual within the Oren Revised Code, it is the opinion of the respondent, that such right comes within the boundaries of responsibility and any breachment of such responsible behaviour in relation to the noted right, such as the breachment of the Orenian Revised Code, specifically that of criminal notion, invalidates the ballot of the individual, which thereby nullifies the ballot of that individual. The Chancellor of Elections specifically notes the following breachments of the Oren Revised Code to be valid within the confirmation of fraudulent votes; 

   

202.091 - Where an individual intentionally assumes the identity of another individual for any purpose except the carrying out of high treason, this shall be impersonation in the second degree, an infraction. [Oren Revised Code, CH202 ‘On Injury a the Person’]

 

203.051 - Where an individual, with the intent to defraud, knowing that he or she has no authority to do so, signs the name of another person or of a fictitious person, this shall be forgery, an infraction [Oren Revised Code, CH203 ‘On Injury against Property’]

 

Both the above presents the direct breachment of the Oren Revised Code, both of which is involved within the Lex Criminalis, and therefore grounds themselves within the categorized aspect of fraudulent material as noted within the Oren Revised Code throughout multiple different aspects of the Code, specifically those involving contracts between people of the Empire. 

 

As precedent has been set throughout the national elections for the twenty-one Diet, as of the creation of this document, all votes found within breachment of the Oren Revised Code, and thereby deemed fraudulent, is nullified through the election process. The Respondent argues that such is permitted to happen as the direct breachment of the Oren Revised Code overrules the notion above within the CH604 of the Oren Revised Code, meaning that the right to vote is nullified due to the breachment of the Oren Revised Code. Such exception is noted within the Oren Revised Code within the right to life, as written by Joseph I, whereas any individual of the Empire contains the right to life, except in the scenario where the individual is found guilty of treason, whereas the Courts of the Empire are permitted to execute the individual as that breachment of lawful behaviour has occurred. The scenario of breachment stands similar within fraudulent votes wherein the Office of the Chancellor of Elections is permitted to nullify ballots in breachment with the Oren Revised Code. 

 

Furthermore, to permit the proper procedure of the elections to occur, the Crown is explicitly given direct control over the Diets summon process, therein the national elections, and is thereby allowed to execute orders in relation to the election. Within the following cite is found the explicit control of the Diets summon, therein the national elections; 

 

602.043 -  The Crown, expressed in the person of His Imperial Majesty the Holy Orenian Emperor, is the linchpin of the reformed system. He shall call the Imperial Diet to session through a summons. In respect to the House of Commons, this is expressed through a national election. In respect to the House of Lords, this is expressed through his appointees. As a session of the Imperial Diet draws to its conclusion for one reason or another, the Crown shall dissolve the Imperial Diet. When the Crown summons the Imperial Diet again, the process is repeated. A session of the legislature shall sit for an amount of time that is flexible. [Oren Revised Code, CH602 ‘On the Imperial Diet’]

 

Upon the report of the Chancellor of the Elections to his Majesty, the Holy Orenian Empire Joseph II, wherein the Chancellor verbally reported an amount of fraudulent votes of an amount upwards of twenty-five percent, found throughout the process noted above, were present within the elections of seventeen ninety-four, the Holy Orenian Emperor elected to utilize the rights of the above denotion from the Oren Revised Code to halt the entirety of the election. Wherein such pause of the election would permit the Ministry of Civil Affairs, in cooperation with his Majesty, the Holy Orenian Emperor Joseph II, and the Chancellor of Elections to find further ways to improve the safety of the elections of seventeen ninety-four prior to moving forward with the elections itself and thereby ensure the truthful will and voice of the people are heard prior to calling the results of the election of seventeen ninety-four.     

 

IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE THE FOLLOWING:

The Respondent notes the importance of permitting the Imperial Government and election official of the Empire to perform their duties within the national elections, wherein their expertise is utilized to permit absolute certainty and correctness upon release of the results of the election of seventeen ninety-four. 

 

The Respondent seeks to conclude the Judicial Review in relation to the cancellation of elections, as well as nullification of votes, to further permit the Chancellor of Elections, in cooperation with his Majesty, the Holy Orenian Emperor Joseph II, to further secure the situation, wherein the amount of fraudulent votes are not permitted to determine the result of the national elections themselves. 

 

Therefore, the Respondent sees the Judicial Review invalid, as none of the above legal codes of the Oren Revised Code has been breached throughout the electoral process and standard electoral precedent has been followed with utmost concentration and import. 

 

The Respondent further denotes the confirmation of proper fraudulent votes to be given to the Supreme Court in the scenario that such is deemed necessary by the Court. However refreigns from including the votes within the above document as non-fraudulent votes are included within the count, which per precedent of the national elections are to be kept within the borders of the Ministry of Civil Affairs beneath the Office of the Chancellor of Elections. 

YOURS HUMBLY,

    HIS EXCELLENCY, BASILEIOS BALTHAZAR BAELIUS on behalf of THE CROWN,

    THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE, PONTIAN PLACE 7, HELENA

    [[MCVDK#9258]]