Separating the Department of Voter Registration from the Executive Act 2025

This matter has been repealed, voided, or is otherwise out of date

Repealed by the Voter Registry Act 2025

Separating the Department of Voter Registration from the Executive Act 2025

Passed by the Senate on 12 August 2025, vetoed by the President on 13 August 2025, and overrode by the Senate on 14 August 2025.

Note from the Archives

The veto override succeeded. This bill is law. Per Article 5§1, this bill has not taken effect. The Senate attempted to amend Article 5§1<ref name="amend" />, but that amendment was vetoed.

Luckily, it was later repealed.

Written by Muggy

Preamble

Whereas, the DVR being under the Executive Branch opens the door to tampering from the President of SimDemocracy.

Whereas, as the DVR is effectively the ’sister’ to the EC, they should both be independent.

Article 1: Repeals

§1. Article 5 of the Executive Departments Act 2025 is repealed in its entirety.

§2. The Voter Registration Act 2024 is repealed in its entirety.

Article 2: Establishment and Structure of the Department Voter Registration

§1. In pursuit of guaranteeing the rights of voters within SimDemocracy, ensuring that elections are free and fair, and having the ability to maintain the integrity of the institution of the Department of Voter Registration for the foreseeable future, the Department of Voter is established as an independent agency of SimDemocracy.

§2. The Department of Voter Registration shall consist of the Secretary of Voter Registration and personnel hired at their sole discretion.

Repealed<ref name="motion">Motion passed by the Senate on 15 August 2025. Vetoed by the President on 17 August 2025. The Senate overrode the veto on 18 August 2025.</ref>

§3. The Secretary of Voter Registration shall be appointed by the President of SimDemocracy, subject to a confirmation by two-thirds (⅔) of the Senate of SimDemocracy and simple majority in a public referendum.

<ref name="motion" />§3. The Secretary of Voter Registration shall be appointed by the Elections Supervisor of SimDemocracy, subject to a confirmation by two-thirds (⅔) of the Senate of SimDemocracy and simple majority in a public referendum.

§4. The Secretary of Voter Registration shall serve indefinitely until resignation, impeachment, or prolonged or indefinite incapacity which leads to the Department not being able to succinctly fulfill its duties.

§4.1. In the case of removal outside impeachment, the President may bring together a review board (that they themselves are not apart of) consisting of the Elections Supervisor (or another individual in the Election Commission of which this duty is delegated to), Chief Ombudsman, Chief Justice (or another justice of which this duty is delegated to), shall be made to review the Secretary of Voter Registration and weigh removal.

§4.1.1. A simple majority of these three (3) individuals must agree to the removal of the Secretary of Voter Registration in order for them to be successfully removed.

§5. The Secretary of Voter Registration cannot concurrently serve as President, Vice President, Senator, or an Executive Officer.

Article 3: Voter ID

§1. No individual shall be able to be denied a Voter ID without proper cause.

§1.1. Proper cause includes and is limited to:

(a) Failure to meet the standards of Article 3, §2.

(b) A standing and legal ban from r/SimDemocracy, excluding expired or revoked bans.

(c) The DVR choosing to contact the Reddit or Discord account on the Voter Registration Application and the account not being able to confirm they tried to register to vote.

(d) A court decision within the jurisdiction of SimDemocracy.

(e) Intentionally withholding or misrepresenting information on the application.

(f) The DVR choosing to contact the Reddit or Discord account on the Voter Registration Application (despite the account satisfying the requirements in Article 2, §2) and the account not being able to confirm with clear and convincing evidence that it is not an alternate account through activity in other locations or through other methods designated by the DVR.

(g) The DVR having clear and convincing evidence that an account is an alternate account.

§1.2. An account which does not respond to a query by the DVR within three (3) days of the direct message or message in a public channel designated for the DVR is said to “not be able to confirm” the query.

§2. To become a registered voter of r/SimDemocracy, a person must submit a voter ID application to the DVR and be in possession of one of the following items:

§2.1. A Discord Account older than three (3) months that is on the SimDemocracy Discord Server at the time of the application being checked.

§2.2. A Reddit Account older than three (3) months that is on the SimDemocracy subreddit and has commented on the SimDemocracy subreddit within a specific thread designated by the DVR by the time of the application being checked.

§3. No person shall have their voter ID revoked without due process.

§4. The SVR must file with the appropriate court of jurisdiction within SimDem to revoke a person’s voter ID, except for cases under §5.2 and §5.5.

§5. No person shall have their voter ID revoked, but for the following reasons:

§5.1. The discovery of false and intentionally misleading information, or an intentionally misleading lack of information, in a Voter ID Application or Voter ID Waiver form.

§5.1.1. The Voter ID Application, to avoid doubt, includes any post application process which the SVR may impose.

§5.2. An account found to be connected to the Voter ID (including alternate accounts) was sentenced to a ban for a duration longer than 90 days or summarily banned.

§5.3. The DVR contacting the Reddit or Discord account on the Voter Registration Application and the account not being able to confirm they registered to vote.

§5.4. The account is certified by a Judge to be an alternate account on the balance of probabilities.

§5.5. The account has –

(a) Registered a Discord account and no Reddit account on the Application without including a discord user ID; or,

(b) Registered a Discord account (with Reddit account) on the Application without including a discord user ID, and the Reddit account has not made any posts or comments on r/SimDemocracy for more than 90 days; and the SUIT has not voted in the most recent 5 elections or referendums.

§6. Registered voters and People without Voter ID's shall hold different Discord roles to indicate their status.

Article 4 - The Voter ID Registry

§1. The DVR shall maintain a registry (The Registered Voter Registry) of all registered voters of SimDemocracy and their SUITs.

§1.1 Successful voter ID Applications shall be placed on The Registered Voter Registry.

§1.2. No standing member of the Electoral Commission may have access to The Registered Voter Registry.

§1.2a. No person who has been a member of the Electoral Commission in the previous three (3) months may be granted access to the Registered Voter Registry.

§2. The Discord Supervisor, or an individual appointed by the SVR, shall maintain The Registered Voter Registry document, and shall ensure that the SVR and members of the DVR are able to access the document, as the SVR sees fit.

§2.1. If an individual who isn’t the Discord Supervisor is to maintain the Registered Voter Registry, they must be confirmed by a simple majority vote in the Senate.

§3. The Registered Voter Registry is, to avoid doubt, not an executive document within the meaning of the Securing Expanded Confidentiality in Reports Evidence and Transmissions Act, but may still be subpoenaed solely for the purposes of criminal investigation.

§4. After every election, the Electoral Commission shall provide a list of SUITs which voted in an election to the DVR, and the DVR shall verify and return to the Electoral Commission, a list of the SUITs which are valid.

Article 5: Implementation

§1. This bill shall go into effect upon passage in the Senate and signature from the President of SimDemocracy.<ref name="amend">SDVRE (Amendment) Act passed by the Senate on 17 August 2025 and vetoed by the President on 18 August 2025. It intended to remove the line requiring the signature of the President to go into effect.</ref>

References

<references />