Library:Senate Procedures Act

1. Speaker of the Senate

1.1. At the beginning of a senate session a Speaker must be selected. A candidate for Speaker must be publicly nominated by another Senator, and the nominee must publicly accept the nomination. A majority vote of the Senate shall elect the Speaker of the Senate. In the event of there only being one nominee, the vote is considered unnecessary.

1.2. Once elected, the Speaker shall choose an Acting Speaker. The Acting Speaker shall assume all duties of the Speaker if the Speaker takes a leave of absence, or is absent for more than 7 days without a leave of absence.

1.3. The Acting Speaker shall call for nominations to elect a new Speaker of the Senate if the Speaker is not re-elected, unable to complete the session, or absent for more than 21 days.

1.3.1. Any Senator may call for nominations for Speaker if the Speaker and Acting Speaker are not re-elected, unable to complete the session, or jointly absent for more than 21 days.

2. Presenting Discussions

2.1. Senators may start a new discussion in the Committee Room or Senate Hall. Senators shall consult the New Republic Intelligence Service (NRI) when starting a discussion that may contain sensitive material.

2.2. Any proposal must be clear and understandable. Any completely new laws must be presented in the following format before voting is allowed:

Title:
Author:
Presented by:
Cosponsors:
Date:
Description:
Special Action:
Introduction and Summary:

Bill Text:

3. Moving Discussions

3.1. The Speaker may move a public Senate discussion to the Senate Chamber if a motion and second are made.
3.1.1. NRI may move a public Senate discussion to the Senate Chamber at any time for security reasons.

3.2. The Speaker may not move a discussion from the Senate Chamber or its archives unless approved by NRI.
3.2.1. NRI shall review the discussion when a motion and second are made.
3.2.2. NRI may request that a discussion not be released to the public, and the Senate may approve this request if a motion and second are made. Otherwise, NRI shall remove any sensitive material from the discussion and transfer an unedited copy of the discussion to the Senate Chamber Archives.

4. Voting

4.1. The Speaker of the Senate shall call votes of the Senate when a motion and second are made. A vote is called by the creation of a poll.

4.2.1. Senators shall vote by declaring their vote in the discussion and voting in the poll. However, the poll is a visual aid only and is not the official vote.
4.2.2. Senators may change their vote until the Speaker announces that voting has ended, but must declare that they have changed their vote.

4.3. Votes on proposals will have the following options:
4.3.1. Aye: a vote in favor of the proposal
4.3.2. Nay: a vote not in favor of the proposal
4.3.3. Abstain: a null vote

4.4 Voting that is governed by other legislative items shall be performed as prescribed therein.

4.5. Voting shall continue until all votes have been cast unless altered by the following motions:
4.5.1. Table the vote: once per vote, the Speaker may suspend voting for 7 days, for further discussion or to make any changes to the proposal. Voting is tabled when a motion and second to table are made.
4.5.2. Count the uncast votes as abstains: uncast votes may be counted as abstains in polls that have been open for at least 7 days. Uncast votes are counted as abstains and voting ends when a motion and second are made.
4.5.3. Expedite the vote: for time-sensitive matters, expedited votes pass or fail and automatically end when they receive enough votes to pass or fail, and any uncast votes are counted as abstains. Voting may be expedited when a motion and second are made.

5. Closing and Archiving Discussions

5.1. Discussions with completed votes may be closed and archived at the Speaker’s discretion. The Speaker may close and archive any other discussion at their discretion only after a motion and second have been made.
5.1.1. Closed discussions that were in the Senate Hall shall be moved to Public Releases.
5.1.2. Closed discussions that were in the Senate Chamber shall be moved to the Senate Chamber Archive.

6. End of Session

6.1. Any open discussion shall remain open for the following session. However, voting shall reset for any discussion with incomplete votes.
6.2. At the end of a session, all discussions in Senate Chamber Archives from the current Senate session shall be reviewed by NRI according to 3.2.2.

Updated on Year 17 Day 147.