Elections Act of 3015

The Elections Act of 3015 is legislation passed by the Wiltshire Assembly on June 5, 3015 and is a one of the pieces of legislation that make up the core aspects of the constitution. The Act outlines the processes for the planning and holding of General Elections and the parliamentary processes that come along with that.

The most notable change that this act brought in was the term length limit of 3 months. In addition, the act made it more difficult for a general election to be held. The Act introduced three new standing orders and was introduced by AM Ludwig Kohl.

The Elections Act of 3015 was made invalid by the passing of the Elections Act of 3019 (Wiltshire).

Reasons for law

The legislation was introduced due to the following key issues;

The Second Loynd Ministry had just been formed as a minority government and Prime Minister David Loynd wanted to reduce the possibility of his government collapsing - as he had little support outside of the Conservative Party in the Assembly.
Former Prime Ministers Martin Banks and Edward Jellico were both criticised for holding elections too far apart. Banks had the second longest gap (11 months) and Jellico had the longest (15 months). Many saw this as undemocratic and so demanded a change in the law.
The Assembly Act of 3009 had been repealed in 3011 and so there was no formal legislation on the matter.
The Liberal Alliance demanded reform in exchange for keeping a Socialist government from forming.

Provisions

The term of the National Assembly of Wiltshire shall be 3 months at maximum.
Elections for the National Assembly of Wiltshire shall be held one week following the dissolution of the National Assembly of Wiltshire.
Elections for the National Assembly of Wiltshire shall be conducted by the Wiltshire Elections Authority.
Standing Order 29 shall call for the early dissolution of the National Assembly of Wiltshire and can only be initiated by a two-thirds majority vote of the whole National Assembly.

"That this Assembly shall be dissolved in preparation for a General Election to be held one-week from the dissolution of this Assembly."

Standing Order 30 shall bring down the government due to the National Assembly no longer commanding confidence in the government. This motion can only be called by the Leader of the Official Opposition and requires a simple majority to be initiated.

"That this Assembly has no confidence in the Government."

Following the successful passage of Standing Order 30, the National Assembly has a period of five-days to nominate a Director to form a government which can command a majority of the support in the National Assembly under General Order 8*. In the event that no government is formed in this five day period, Standing order 29 is initiated automatically.

*General Order 8 is the motion which states that the Assembly has confidence in a particular government. This is only used to give permission for the formation of a government and the nomination of a Prime Minister - NOT a motion of no confidence (which is General Order 30).

Uses and examples

The first Assembly to be used under this legislation was not the incumbent (the 10th National Assembly of Wiltshire) and the provisions surrounding the term length would not be used until the beginning of the 11th National Assembly of Wiltshire.
The National Assembly voted to extend the term of the 11th National Assembly of Wiltshire due to the date of the election coinciding with the Christmas period. The date of the election was moved to mid-January (as to allow time for the formal campaign).
Walton Baker, the Leader of the Opposition (Feb-April 3019), called for a motion of no-confidence in the Schroder Ministry (Wiltshire) under Standing Order 30. This failed.
Director Rita Smith called for an early election under Standing Order 29.