1. The Elections (delay) Act 2010 calls for an election for the position of Consul on the 17th of April.
2. The government is unable to call elections within the legislated time frame.
3. Elections are hereby called for Saturday the 24th of April, 2010.
4. The Consul shall appoint a Returning Officer to conduct and oversee the election by the 14th of April.
5.The Returning Officer shall call for nominations for the position of Consul by the 15th of April.
6. Only citizens of the Republic, as defined under the terms of the Proclamation of the 23rd of July, are entitled to nominate. The Returning Officer may not nominate.
7.Citizens seeking to nominate may nominate themselves without a second.
8. The Returning Officer will be the final arbiter in deciding on the validity of a nomination.
9. Nominations for the position of Consul shall close at 5pm, Australian Eastern Standard Time, on the 22nd of April.
10. The Returning Officer shall email an electronic ballot paper to all citizens at 12.01am, Australian Eastern Standard Time, on the 24th of April.
11. The electronic ballot paper is a text document, that lists the candidates standing for election in alphabetical order, followed by the option “None of the Above”.
12. Citizens shall vote by compeleting their electronic ballot, and emailing it back to the returning officer.
13. The ballot closes at 11.59pm, Australian Eastern Standard Time, on the 24th of April.
14. The Returning Officer saves all electronic ballot papers to their computer, without identifying the citizen who casted the ballot in the file name. Each ballot paper will then be opened and counted, without identifying the citizen who cast the vote.
15. In the event that no citizen nominates to contest the election by the close of nominations, the Returning Officer will inform the Senate that the election has failed.
16. In the event that only one nomination is recieved, the election shall continue, with voters selecting either the candidate or the option “None of the Above”.
17. The Returning Officer will announce the results of the election on the 25th of April. The candidate that recieves a plurality of votes shall be declared the winner.
18. In the event that “None of the Above” wins a plurality of votes, the Returning Officer shall inform the Senate that the election has failed.
19. The government shall enter caretaker mode at the point nominations are called. At this point, the tenure of all Ministers will be suspended, and the Consul shall refrain from issuing new executive orders.
20. A new consul takes office at the moment the Returning Officer publishes the results of the election.
21. In the event the Returning Officer informs the Senate the election has failed, the previous Consul will continue to act in care taker mode until the Senate resolves the situation.
22. No Consul, government Minister, or other person, may use the resources of the government, or facilities they have at their disposal as a result of their service to the Republic, as part of their campaign for election.
by Order of the Consul
12th of April, 2010