24RZ43 - The Fairness and Accountability in Immigration Act

WHEREAS a "secret vote" on immigration makes Talossa look like a cabal of insiders in a smoke-filled room, plotting the fates of others; and
WHEREAS a "secret vote" on immigration merely encourages needless speculation and the questioning of character which is detrimental to a healthy society; and
WHEREAS a "secret vote" on immigration also encourages public figures to lie about their votes, and can create a dishonest situation where someone claims to be anti-immigration in public, but votes pro-immigration in secret, and vice versa; and
WHEREAS a "secret vote" on immigration puts the Secretary of State in a difficult position as the bearer of "secret information," a position which could conceivably be abused by an unscrupulous holder of that officE; and
WHEREAS a "secret vote" on immigration is almost impossible to conduct among off-line Members of the Ziu, who must pass their votes to a third party in order to register them with the Secretary of State; and
WHEREAS a "secret vote" on immigration in the Ziu is morally incompatible with the public vote on immigration already cast by the Justices of the Uppermost Cort, who themselves must take a public position on incoming citizens; and
WHEREAS a healthy democracy demands public accountability for all the official acts of all its public servants, so that the Talossan people may know whether their elected officials are actually representing the public will, and working for the public good;
THEREFORE the Ziu hereby authorizes a public referendum to amend Article XVII, Section 7 of the Organic Law, to delete the sentence "The votes shall be secret and the Secretary of State shall report the citizenship as having passed or failed, but he shall not make public who voted either way, nor what the vote totals were.". The effect of this change shall be to make citizenship votes public, like all other votes on all other matters in the Ziu.

Noi urent q'estadra så,
Ben Madison (PC-Vuode)
Sir Tamorán dal Navă (PC-Maritiimi-Maxhestic)