How Edan Works: Voting, Sessions, and the Government's Calendar

This 'nuts and bolts' discussion is a deeper dive into how elections work and the calendar of the government. 

  The Kingdom of Edan uses Greenwich Mean Time for all governmental purposes although local time is usually also included for ease of understanding.
  General elections for the Senate are held every two years and are overseen by the Ministry of State. Voting begins at 1 minutes after Midnight on the 1st of March and ends 1 minute before midnight on the 2nd of March, giving citizens just under 48 hours to cast their votes. In general it is believed that voting will be permitted by electronic communications as well as in person.
  In certain cases a special election will be needed. Special elections are scheduled and announced by the Ministry of State and the voting period lasts for 72 hours.
  All senate elections use the single transferable vote proportional representation system with voting groups decided by the Ministry of State as needed. It is expected that citizens will be divided into groups that select between 4 and 8 senators, probably based upon fiefdoms.
  All votes will be tallied and a complete count will be done at least twice. If more than 7 counts are required the Ministry of Justice shall assist with counts and in the unlikely event of a tie a run-off elections will be held until elections are complete.
  The Assembly (which is the Senate and the Council) has 1 session each year; a session is the period when the legislature is available to performs its duty. Each year's session lasts from March 8th and ends on October 31st unless one or both days fall upon a Sunday - if that happens the date is delayed until the following Monday.
  The session is divided into conclaves of eight weeks each with a recess of 2 weeks in between. The conclaves are periods of active legislation while the recesses are for discussion, time with citizens, relaxation, etc. The period of a session contains enough time for 3 conclaves plus an addition 4 weeks; the extra time is in case the budget process is delayed, to accommodate government holidays (which do not count as part of the time of a conclave!), or if there is a need for a special election.
  The First Senator may request a null conclave - this is, essentially, a conclave where no work is done. The First Senator may ask once per session and the King may refuse the request.
  The grand conclave is held each year on the 15th of November. On that day the tax schedule for the upcoming year is published and the King makes his address to the people on the state of the kingdom and the upcoming year.
  Members of the Council may assign a proxy to serve in their stead (usually due to illness or military service).A council member who fails in their duties to the legislature (not attending and not assigning a proxy) by lose their noble status.
  Senators must vote on each proposed law introduced during a conclave, Failure to vote in 3 consecutive conclaves means they are removed from the Senate. In an exception, once per term a senator may request a leave of absence of up to two conclaves.
  The High Tribunal meets in session from the first Monday in February until the first Monday in November. The High Tribunal may take two recesses per year, each lasting a month and each separated by at least 2 months.
  On to more direct information.
  In general the royal and noble governments do no non-essential business on Sundays or Holy Days of Obligation. Emergency services will, of course, always be available.
  King Richard has created a list of days in which the government is restricted to essential work only;
  Fixed:
  January 1st - the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
  January 6th - the Epiphany
  March 19th - the Solemnity of St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
  April 1st - Constitution Day
  June 29th - the Solemnity of the Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
  August 15th - the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
  August 19th - the King's Birthday
  August 25th - the Feast of St. Louis IX
  September 22nd - the Feast of St. Maurice
  November 1st - All Saints' Day
  December 8th - the Feast of Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
  December 24th through December 31st - The Nativity of the Lord and the beginning of Christmastide

  Movable:
  Ash Wednesday
  Holy Week and Easter Monday
  The Ascension
  Whit Monday
  The Feast of Corpus Christi

  Local nobles may set their own holidays, of course.

Discussion of the First Draft of the Constitution, part 8

Article 28 Sessions and Conclaves
This explains when the Assembly works. 'Session' means 'period between elections' and 'Conclave' means 'periods when the Assembly actually works'. While this was meant to clearly delineate when Assemblymen worked and allow time for campaigning and meeting citizens, the result is that the Assembly can work as little as 4 months out of the year in 2 two month segments and there is no mechanism for emergency Conclaves!

Article 29 Votes of Confidence
If you thought the budget was a potential nightmare! The way that votes of confidence are formatted in the first draft means that each year there are as many as 9 chances to dissolve the Assembly - without any form of extraordinary review, no triggering events, and no repercussions! This might need review.

Discussion of the First Draft of the Constitution, part 7

Article 25 Richts of the Members of the Assembly
This discusses the limited legal immunity of Senators and Councilors as well as how and when the Assembly can change its own pay.

Article 26 The Legislative Process
A general discussion of how to introduce legislation, how it is approved, the Sovereign's line-item veto, and the process of veto override.

Article 27 Expenditures
This description of how budgets are proposed and passed ended up being a nightmare. By both demanding that the budget be the First and Only Order of Business Until Passed and setting triggers that prolonged debate could A) last months and B) result in the dissolution of government and special elections, we soon realized that even a few disgruntled people could force the Kingdom to do nothing but debate the budget and hold special elections indefinately!