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Proportional Countbacks Amendment

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Proportional Countbacks Amendment

Ratified on July 20th 2025

Whereas By-elections with votes weighted based on current representation in the Senate have proven unpopular.

Whereas The manner in which vacancies are filled should maintain the proportionality of the Senate as much as is possible.

Part 1 Countback Method

§1. The Appendix §2 of the Constitution shall be amended to the following:

§2. Vacancies in the Senate shall be filled using a proportional countback variant of the TEA (Threshold Equal Approval) voting method.

§2.1. Initialization will proceed as follows, where the Senators referenced in this section are those who were members of the Senate immediately after this vacancy arose, along with any Senators who both were elected during a countback that was performed prior to the initiation of this countback and did not leave the Senate prior to the opening of this vacancy.
§2.1.1. Initialize the virtual threshold to a score of 5. Initialize each ballot’s weight to 1. Initialize the quota to match the quota used in the most recent Senate election.
§2.1.2. Determine which Senators are scored at or above the virtual threshold on ballots with a total weight of at least a quota. If there are no such Senators, go to step §2.1.4. Otherwise, for each such Senator and the set of ballots that scored that Senator at or above the virtual threshold, calculate the value n such that the sum of min(w, n) for all ballots in the set is equal to one quota, where w is the weight of each ballot. Identify the Senator with the least value of n, and reduce the weight of each ballot in that Senator’s set by min(w, n).
§2.1.3. If any Senators have not yet been identified, go to step §2.1.2. Otherwise, go to step §2.1.7.
§2.1.4. If the virtual threshold is greater than 1, then reduce it by 1 and go to step §2.1.2.
§2.1.5. Identify the Senator with the greatest sum of ballot weights across all ballots that give them a positive score. Set the weight of each ballot that gives them a positive score to 0.
§2.1.6. If any Senators have not yet been identified, go to step §2.1.5.
§2.1.7. Initialize the threshold to a score of 5.
§2.2. After initialization, tabulation will proceed as follows.
§2.2.1. Determine which eligible candidates are scored at or above the threshold on ballots with a total weight of at least a quota. If there are no such candidates, go to step §2.2.2. Otherwise, for each such candidate and the set of ballots that scored that candidate at or above the threshold, calculate the value n such that the sum of min(w, n) for all ballots in the set is equal to one quota, where w is the weight of each ballot. Elect the candidate with the least value of n. Tabulation is complete.
§2.2.2. If the threshold is greater than 1, then reduce it by 1 and go to step §2.2.1.
§2.2.3. Elect the eligible candidate with the greatest sum of ballot weights across all ballots that give them a positive score. Tabulation is complete.
§2.3. Ties at any point in the election calculations shall be broken using the process specified in the Appendix §1.2, with all tied Senators treated as the tied candidates if the tie occurs during §2.1.

Part 2 Replacing By-Elections

§1. Article 3 §4 of the Constitution shall be amended to the following:

§4. In the event that a Senate seat becomes vacant, the countback method specified in the Appendix §2 shall be used to fill the seat for the remainder of the term, barring resignation or impeachment.

§4.1. The Supervisor of Elections, in conjunction with the Electoral Commission, shall perform the countback.
§4.2. If multiple countbacks are required, they must be performed in the order that the vacancies arose in.
§4.3. In order to be an eligible candidate for a countback, a candidate must have run in the most recent Senate election and must not have previously been a Senator during the current Senate term.

§4.4. If no candidates are eligible, the President may appoint an interim Senator for the remainder of the term, barring resignation or impeachment, with the approval of the Senate.