Constitution Of The State Of Rhovane

Nothing in this Constitution may be construed to diminish any right guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federated Republic. Federal rights apply directly and of their own force. Rhovane may provide greater protection, but never less.

All persons are by nature free and independent and possess inherent rights, including life and liberty; acquiring, possessing, transferring, and protecting property; pursuing lawful enterprise and occupation; and seeking safety and happiness. Government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of the people and derives its just powers from the consent of the governed.

No law of this State, and no act of any State or local officer, may discriminate against any person contrary to the equality guarantees of the Federated Republic Constitution. All political power is inherent in the people. No political right or public office may depend upon ancestry, hereditary status, ownership of land or property, membership in a family, or membership in a closed hereditary class.

Every person may freely speak, write, and publish on all subjects; peaceably assemble; petition government for redress of grievances; and exercise freedom of conscience. No religious test shall be imposed for public right or office. These protections supplement and do not limit the corresponding rights secured by the Federated Republic Constitution.

Every person holds the right to keep and bear arms for lawful purposes, including self-defense, consistent with the Federated Republic Constitution. The State may establish lawful licensing and safety frameworks consistent with that right.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, effects, and data against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated. No warrant shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Every person has a right to an effective remedy for unlawful injury to person, property, liberty, or protected right. Justice shall be administered freely and without denial, promptly and without unreasonable delay.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused has the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury; notice of the accusation; confrontation of adverse witnesses; compulsory process for favorable witnesses; assistance of counsel; and freedom from compelled self-incrimination. Where a person cannot afford counsel, counsel shall be provided at public expense as required by law and the Federated Republic Constitution.

Excessive bail shall not be required, excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments inflicted. Bail shall be calibrated to lawful purposes of appearance and public safety and shall not be used as punishment.

(a) Private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation determined through a process independent of the taking authority.

(b) Every person may acquire, possess, use, transfer, devise, and inherit lawful property, subject to general law protecting creditors, spouses, dependents, public safety, and the rights of others.

(c) Neither the State nor any political subdivision shall impose a tax solely by reason of the transfer of property at death or its receipt by inheritance. This subsection does not exempt income, gains, transactions, or subsequent use of inherited property from otherwise lawful taxation.

(a) Every person may enter lawful contracts, engage in lawful trade and enterprise, invest, form or transfer a lawful business, and pursue a lawful occupation.

(b) The State may regulate economic activity by general law to protect health and safety; prevent fraud, coercion, monopoly abuse, and unfair restraint of trade; protect public resources; and secure the rights of others.

(c) Regulation of lawful enterprise shall be public, administered under known standards, and prospective where reasonably practicable. Government shall not confer arbitrary advantage upon favored firms, families, occupations, or classes.

(d) No burden may be imposed upon out-of-state goods, services, or persons greater than that imposed upon comparable in-state goods, services, or persons, except as permitted by the Federated Republic Constitution.

Every worker holds the right to organize, bargain collectively through representatives of their choosing, and engage in lawful and peaceable collective action. No person shall be unlawfully discriminated or retaliated against solely because of lawful membership or non-membership in a labor organization. Detailed labor relations shall be governed by law consistent with this Constitution and the Federated Republic Constitution.

(a) The public holds a right of reasonable access to and along the shore of Lake Varda and other navigable waters within the State for navigation, passage, recreation, and other lawful public use.

(b) No person or entity may permanently enclose or obstruct public passage below the ordinary high-water mark except as reasonably necessary for lawful navigation, safety, harbor operation, conservation, or another public purpose consistent with the public trust.

(c) The Legislature shall establish by law a framework for access points, easements, harbors, and accommodation of private property above the ordinary high-water mark. Property required for public access shall be acquired by lawful process and compensation where constitutionally required.

(a) Lake Varda, its waters, bed, navigable channels, shoreline below the ordinary high-water mark, and living resources within the jurisdiction of Rhovane are held in public trust for present and future generations.

(b) The State shall not alienate or surrender control of the trust in a manner that defeats public navigation, reasonable access, water quality, ecological continuity, or long-term public use. Lawful leases, permits, concessions, docks, harbor facilities, and similar uses are permitted where consistent with the trust.

(c) The State shall preserve reasonable public and commercial navigation, maintain the long-term usability of principal harbors and navigable channels, and protect the ecological integrity and water quality upon which those uses depend.

(d) Any person may bring an action to enforce the public trust obligations of this section without showing individualized harm. Courts shall enforce constitutional and legal duties but shall not substitute their preferred technical policy for lawful expert judgment.

Every resident of a county or municipality may petition the local governing body directly. The governing body shall provide a public written response within sixty days unless law provides a shorter period. This section creates no right to a particular outcome.

(a) The people have a right to know how they are governed. Official acts of the State and its subdivisions are public records except on grounds narrowly defined by law and subject to judicial review.

(b) No person shall suffer unlawful retaliation for exercising a right secured by this Article, seeking a lawful remedy, petitioning government, obtaining public records, or bringing a lawful public-trust action.

State rights may be temporarily limited during a lawful emergency only where necessary, proportionate, and permitted by the Federated Republic Constitution. No emergency may be used to permanently alienate the Lake Varda public trust, extinguish the right of judicial remedy, or evade a right declared non-derogable by the Federated Republic Constitution.

The executive power of Rhovane is vested in the Governor, who is chief executive of the State and shall see that the laws are faithfully executed.

(a) The Governor shall be elected statewide by ranked-choice ballot for a term of four years under election law consistent with the National Voting System.

(b) No person may serve more than two consecutive terms as Governor. After one full intervening term, a former Governor may again seek the office.

(c) A Governor must be at least thirty years of age, a citizen of the Federated Republic, a voting citizen of Rhovane, and have resided in Rhovane for at least three years before taking office.

The Governor shall:

(a) faithfully execute the laws;

(b) exercise authority over organized State forces only as permitted by the Federated Republic Constitution and State law;

(c) appoint principal executive officers as provided by this Constitution and law;

(d) make judicial appointments as provided in Article IV;

(e) grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons for offenses against the State, except in impeachment matters and except where prohibited by the Federated Republic Constitution; where the Governor has a direct material personal interest, clemency shall be exercised by the lawful successor or other neutral authority provided by law;

(f) convene the Legislature in special session upon extraordinary occasion and state the purpose of the call, without limiting the constitutional authority of the Legislature to consider other lawful matters;

(g) address the Legislature at the opening of each regular session on the condition of the State and recommend measures;

(h) submit an annual proposed budget;

(i) represent Rhovane in lawful intergovernmental relations, subject to exclusive federal authority; and

(j) exercise emergency authority only as provided in §2.4.

(a) The Governor may declare an emergency in response to natural disaster, public-health crisis, attack, infrastructure failure, or another severe and immediate threat to life, safety, essential public function, or constitutional order.

(b) The declaration shall state the factual basis, geographic scope, measures authorized, and duration, which shall not exceed fourteen days without legislative extension.

(c) Extension requires approval of a majority of the authorized membership of each chamber for a period fixed by law or resolution. The Legislature may terminate an emergency at any time by the same vote.

(d) No substantially identical emergency may be reissued to evade expiration, legislative refusal, or constitutional limits.

(e) Emergency authority does not extend to general direction of ordinary economic activity merely because prices change, markets decline, a lawful strike occurs, or an industry suffers loss, except to the extent strictly necessary to secure essential goods, services, infrastructure, or public safety during the emergency.

(a) The Lieutenant Governor shall be elected jointly with the Governor for the same term.

(b) The Lieutenant Governor shall be President of the Estate Council and may preside and perform non-decisional procedural duties, but shall possess no legislative vote or other legislative decisional authority.

(c) Upon the death, resignation, removal, or permanent incapacity of the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor immediately becomes Governor for the remainder of the term.

(d) The Lieutenant Governor shall perform other duties prescribed by this Constitution or law that are consistent with separation of governmental authority.

(a) Every bill passed by the Legislature shall be presented to the Governor. Within ten business days the Governor may sign it or return it with written objections. A bill not returned within that period becomes law without signature regardless of legislative adjournment.

(b) A returned bill becomes law upon either:

 (i) a two-thirds vote of the authorized membership of the Chamber of Deputies; or

 (ii) a three-fifths vote of the authorized membership of the Chamber together with a majority vote of the authorized membership of the Estate Council.

(c) The Governor may veto one or more distinct items of appropriation while approving the remainder. An item is restored under the thresholds in subsection (b).

(a) If both the Governor and Lieutenant Governor are unable to serve, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies shall act as Governor until the disability is removed or a lawful successor assumes office.

(b) While acting as Governor, the Speaker's legislative vote and decisional authority are suspended and another Deputy shall exercise the duties of Speaker.

(c) The Legislature shall provide by law for further succession and for voluntary and involuntary determinations of temporary or permanent incapacity, restoration to office, and neutral resolution of disputes. No oath or administrative formality shall delay a succession that occurs by operation of this Constitution.

(a) The Legislature shall organize the executive branch into departments by law. Each principal department head shall be appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Estate Council.

(b) If the Estate Council neither confirms nor rejects a nomination within sixty days after submission, the nominee is deemed confirmed. Upon rejection, the Governor shall submit another nomination as provided by law. Law shall provide acting-service rules sufficient to prevent administrative vacancy without defeating the confirmation power.

(c) Ordinary department heads serve at the pleasure of the Governor unless law provides otherwise. The grounds for dismissal shall be published to the State Record. Independent, adjudicative, election, ethics, records, or other constitutionally protected officers may be removed only as provided by this Constitution or law consistent with their independence.

(d) The Governor may establish subordinate offices, boards, and commissions by executive order where authorized by law and appropriation.

(a) There shall be a Council of State composed of the principal executive officers, the Lieutenant Governor, and such other officers as law may provide. The Governor shall preside.

(b) The Council is consultative and possesses no executive authority independent of the Governor.

(c) Formal recommendations and decisions shall be recorded and published. Deliberative material may be temporarily withheld only on grounds defined by law, including personal privacy, privileged legal advice, security, active investigation, procurement, negotiation, or protected commercial information, and shall be subject to preservation and lawful review.

(a) The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and other civil officers may be impeached for grave misconduct, corruption, abuse of office, serious constitutional violation, or other cause defined by law consistent with this Constitution.

(b) The Chamber of Deputies has the sole power of impeachment by majority of its authorized membership.

(c) The Estate Council has the sole power to try impeachments. Conviction requires two-thirds of its authorized membership. The Chief Justice shall preside when the Governor or Lieutenant Governor is tried.

(d) Conviction removes the officer. Disqualification from future State office requires a separate two-thirds vote of the Estate Council. Criminal or civil liability remains unaffected.

The legislative power of Rhovane is vested in a Legislature consisting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Estate Council.

(a) Each chamber shall initially judge the elections, returns, and qualifications of its members, subject to independent election administration and judicial review.

(b) A majority of the authorized membership constitutes a quorum. "Authorized membership" means the total number of seats established by Constitution or law for the body, whether or not every seat is occupied.

(c) Each chamber shall determine its rules, compel attendance, discipline members, and, by two-thirds of its authorized membership, expel a member for stated cause after fair process.

(d) The Legislature shall meet in regular session at least annually. The Governor or a majority of the authorized membership of each chamber may call a special session.

(e) Compensation shall be fixed by law and shall not be changed for a member during the term then being served.

(f) No member may simultaneously exercise the voting or decisional authority of another branch or hold an incompatible office under the Federated Republic or another State.

(a) The Chamber of Deputies shall consist of not fewer than sixty nor more than ninety members elected statewide by open-list proportional representation under law consistent with the National Voting System.

(b) Deputies serve four-year terms and may serve no more than three consecutive terms. After one full intervening term, a former Deputy may again serve.

(c) A Deputy must be at least twenty-one years of age, a citizen of the Federated Republic, and a voting citizen of Rhovane. Law may require a reasonable period of State residence not exceeding one year before election.

(d) The Chamber shall elect a Speaker from among its members. The Speaker shall preside and shall enter the executive succession only as provided in Article II.

(a) The Estate Council is the chamber of territorial continuity, local institutional experience, and civic review. It shall consist of thirty members selected under this section.

(b) Fifteen members shall be elected from geographic Estate constituencies. The Estates are historic regions of Rhovane and confer no proprietary, ancestral, or hereditary status. Every eligible voter within an Estate constituency votes on equal terms.

(c) Estate constituency boundaries shall be established and periodically adjusted by an independent process under law. They shall comply with federal and State equality requirements, substantial population equality, contiguity, and reasonable geographic coherence. Historic Estate geography, county boundaries, watersheds, settlement patterns, and cultural continuity may be considered where consistent with those requirements.

(d) Ten members shall represent county government. County governing bodies shall select qualified persons through a public process established by law. Law shall provide a fair system of grouping or rotation if the number of counties differs from the number of county seats, and shall ensure every county regular participation over time. A county representative need not simultaneously hold county office.

(e) Five civic members shall be appointed by the Governor from public shortlists produced under law by open and qualifying civic organizations within the following broad domains:

 (i) education, research, and knowledge;

 (ii) commerce, enterprise, and productive life;

 (iii) labor, professions, and skilled vocations;

 (iv) Lake Varda, navigation, environment, and public-resource stewardship; and

 (v) civic, cultural, and community institutions.

No named organization owns a nomination right. Law shall provide a neutral fallback nomination process if qualifying organizations fail to produce a timely shortlist.

(f) Estate Councillors serve staggered six-year terms, with approximately one-third of seats filled every two years. No person may serve more than twelve consecutive years; after one full intervening term, a former Councillor may again serve.

(g) A Councillor must be at least twenty-five years of age, a citizen of the Federated Republic, and a voting citizen of Rhovane. Civic seats may require relevant experience by objective law but may not require membership in a particular organization.

(h) No seat, vote, nomination right, or qualification in the Estate Council may depend upon ancestry, hereditary title or status, ownership of land, membership in a family, or membership in a closed hereditary class.

(i) The Estate Council shall elect from among its members an officer to exercise any decisional function that cannot constitutionally be exercised by the Lieutenant Governor as President.

(a) Every bill shall address one reasonably related subject expressed in its title.

(b) Except in an emergency declared by two-thirds of the authorized membership of each chamber with published reasons, the final text of a bill shall be publicly available for at least seven calendar days before final passage.

(c) Bills may originate in either chamber, except revenue and appropriation bills, which shall originate in the Chamber of Deputies. The Estate Council may amend them subject to this Constitution.

(d) With a quorum present, an ordinary bill passes a chamber by majority of members present and voting unless this Constitution requires a greater threshold.

(e) Conference reports shall be published and voted upon without amendment after such public-review period as law or joint rule provides.

(a) If the Estate Council rejects, fails for ninety days to act upon, or adopts amendments unacceptable to the Chamber on a Chamber-passed bill, the Chamber may place the bill on a deliberative-override calendar.

(b) A six-month cooling-off period shall follow. During that period the bill shall receive public hearings, the objections of both chambers shall be published, and the full text and material testimony shall be available through the State Record.

(c) At the end of the period, the Chamber may pass the bill by three-fifths of its authorized membership. The bill is then deemed passed by the Legislature and shall be presented to the Governor.

(d) This override may not be used to alter the Constitution, the composition or selection of the Estate Council, or the constitutional amendment and convention process.

(e) The Estate Council may originate, amend, reject, and delay legislation, but may not enact a bill over the ultimate rejection of the Chamber of Deputies.

(a) The Governor shall submit a proposed budget as provided by law. The Chamber shall consider it first and may amend it.

(b) The Estate Council may amend a budget passed by the Chamber but may not increase total appropriations beyond the total approved by the Chamber.

(c) If no new budget has taken effect at the beginning of a fiscal year, lawful existing programs, debt obligations, and constitutional duties continue month to month at levels provided by law based on the preceding budget until a new budget takes effect. No new initiative arises solely from this continuation.

Each chamber and its authorized committees may investigate matters within State legislative competence, issue subpoenas, compel testimony and documents, and administer oaths. Judicial enforcement and lawful privileges shall be governed by law.

No member shall be questioned elsewhere for speech, debate, or vote in a chamber or committee. This immunity does not extend to republication or conduct outside the legislative function.

The judicial power of Rhovane is vested in a High Court and such inferior courts as law establishes. Courts may issue injunctions, stays, writs, declaratory relief, and other lawful remedies necessary to enforce this Constitution and State law.

(a) The High Court consists of seven justices.

(b) It has original jurisdiction over construction of this Constitution, disputes between legislative chambers, disputes between the State and its political subdivisions, and such other matters as law provides; appellate jurisdiction as provided by law; and authority to issue necessary writs.

(c) A majority of justices participating in a case may declare a State or local law or governmental act void to the extent inconsistent with this Constitution or the Constitution of the Federated Republic.

(d) Law shall provide expedited access or review where delay threatens irreversible impairment of an election, constitutional function, or the Lake Varda public trust.

(a) Upon vacancy, the Judicial Nominating Commission shall submit to the Governor a public list of not fewer than three and not more than five qualified nominees.

(b) The Governor shall appoint one nominee, subject to confirmation by majority of the authorized membership of the Legislature sitting in joint session. If the Legislature neither confirms nor rejects the nominee within sixty days, the nominee is deemed confirmed.

(c) Upon rejection, the Governor shall select another available nominee or the Commission shall produce a new list as provided by law. No rejection or inaction may create an indefinite vacancy.

(d) A confirmed justice serves one nonrenewable term of twelve years.

(e) A justice must be a citizen of the Federated Republic, a voting citizen of Rhovane, and possess substantial legal experience and professional qualifications established by law.

(a) There shall be a seven-member Judicial Nominating Commission: three appointed by the Governor, two by the Estate Council, and two by the Chamber of Deputies. No single appointing authority may hold a majority of the Commission.

(b) Members serve staggered six-year nonrenewable terms and may hold no incompatible public office. Law may require representation of legal experience and members of the public without reserving appointment to a named private organization.

(c) The Commission shall use published criteria and disclose conflicts. Sensitive applicant material and deliberations may remain confidential as provided by law, but final shortlists and such recommendation records as law requires shall be public.

(d) The Legislature may extend the Commission's nomination function to inferior courts.

(a) Inferior courts and their appointment methods shall be established by law consistent with judicial independence. Where the Nominating Commission has jurisdiction, appointments shall be made from its nominees.

(b) Inferior-court judges shall face a noncompetitive retention election after an initial term not exceeding four years and, if retained, at intervals not exceeding six years thereafter.

(c) The State shall provide voters independent and useful judicial-performance information before retention elections. Judges may not make commitments concerning the outcome of cases or classes of cases as a condition of retention.

(a) Judicial compensation shall not be diminished during a judge's term. The judicial budget, once enacted, shall not be reduced by executive action.

(b) There shall be an independent Judicial Conduct Commission established by law to investigate incapacity, serious misconduct, conflicts, and judicial ethics. The Nominating Commission shall not exercise judicial discipline merely by virtue of its nomination function.

(c) An inferior-court judge may be disciplined or removed through a fair process established by law with ultimate judicial review. A High Court justice accused of conduct requiring adjudication shall be heard by a special tribunal of qualified inferior-court judges selected by objective seniority, rotation, or another neutral method fixed by law.

(d) Impeachment remains available for grave misconduct as provided in Article II.

(e) No judge may be disciplined, removed, have compensation reduced, or be subjected to retaliatory restructuring merely because a lawful decision displeases another branch. The Legislature may reorganize inferior courts prospectively for legitimate public purposes but may not abolish or manipulate a court solely to remove a judge or defeat a pending case.

(f) Law shall provide neutral temporary assignment of qualified inferior-court judges when recusals or vacancies prevent a High Court quorum.

(a) Rhovane is divided into counties. The Legislature may alter, consolidate, or create counties by general law after public notice and consultation. Abolition or merger of an existing county shall require approval of the affected voters as provided by law.

(b) Each county shall have a directly elected governing body and a protected sphere of ordinary local administration, including local roads, basic public services, emergency administration, local records, and other functions established by law.

(c) Counties remain subject to this Constitution and general State law and possess no sovereignty independent of the State.

(a) Law shall provide for municipal incorporation upon resident petition, public review of service and fiscal effects, and approval of the voters of the proposed municipality. A county may state objections and findings but shall not possess an absolute veto over incorporation.

(b) Municipal powers, including home-rule authority for qualifying municipalities, shall be established by law.

(c) No municipality may be dissolved without approval of its voters or other local consent expressly provided by this Constitution and law.

(a) Counties and municipalities may levy taxes, charges, and incur debt as authorized by law and shall have reasonable access to own-source or shared revenue sufficient to perform functions assigned to them.

(b) The State may provide equalization based on population, fiscal capacity, infrastructure and service burden, geographic cost, harbor or shoreline obligations, and other neutral factors. Equalization formulas shall receive periodic independent review as provided by law.

Local elections shall be administered under uniform State law consistent with the National Voting System. No locality may create a separate voter qualification inconsistent with this Constitution or federal law, nor condition voting, officeholding, or public service on ancestry, inherited status, family membership, or property ownership.

Counties and municipalities may enter public agreements and participate in regional authorities for shared services, transportation, harbors, water treatment, shoreline protection, emergency response, or other lawful purposes. Such bodies remain subject to public-law accountability, transparency, and State constitutional requirements.

Counties and municipalities may exercise temporary emergency powers granted by law for storms, floods, fires, contamination, infrastructure failure, and comparable local dangers without awaiting State action. Such measures remain subject to rights, State coordination, necessity, proportionality, and judicial review.

The Lake Varda public trust established in Article I is a continuing constitutional obligation of the State. Its protection is a function of government and shall not depend upon the continued importance of any particular industry, occupation, or method of using the lake.

(a) The Legislature shall by law provide an independent, expert, and publicly accountable stewardship function for Lake Varda and other waters subject to the State's public trust.

(b) The stewardship function shall include long-term monitoring and advice concerning water quality, living resources, shoreline conditions, navigation, harbor access, ecological integrity, invasive threats, and conflicts among lawful public and private uses.

(c) Law may create, combine, alter, or abolish boards, commissions, agencies, or technical councils carrying out particular parts of this function. No particular fishery, harbor, profession, industry, or private organization is constitutionally entitled to control or permanent representation.

(d) Delegated technical regulation shall operate under published statutory standards, scientific or factual support where appropriate, public notice, and judicial review. Law may permit temporary emergency technical measures when delay would materially threaten the trust.

(a) The State shall preserve reasonable public and commercial navigation of Lake Varda and maintain or provide for the long-term usability of principal harbors and navigable channels.

(b) Public harbor and navigation functions may be carried out by State, local, regional, or private operators under lawful concessions or agreements, but essential public access and navigation shall not be permanently surrendered to private control.

(c) The State and affected local governments shall provide for long-term planning concerning shoreline resilience, storms, flooding, erosion, navigation, and essential water-dependent infrastructure.

The State shall establish, monitor, publish, and enforce water-quality standards for Lake Varda and its tributaries. Where a person or entity is lawfully shown to have caused pollution or other remediable injury to the public trust, law may require that person or entity to bear reasonable remediation costs consistent with due process and proof of causation.

The Governor may negotiate compacts and agreements concerning Lake Varda with other States and, through federal channels, with neighboring nations. A compact having the force of State law requires ratification by a majority of the authorized membership of each legislative chamber and compliance with all applicable federal requirements. Ratified agreements shall be published to the State Record.

This Constitution may be amended only by an amendment proposed by a Constitutional Convention convened under Article VIII, approved through the legislative review required by this Article, and ratified by the people of Rhovane. No ordinary statute, initiative, emergency declaration, or legislative resolution may amend this Constitution directly.

(a) A Convention may propose any number of amendments it determines appropriate, including none. Each proposal shall state its text and subject with sufficient clarity for independent consideration.

(b) A proposal becomes a formal Convention proposal upon approval by three-fifths of the delegates then lawfully serving, unless a greater threshold is established by this Constitution for a particular subject.

(c) Unrelated subjects shall not be combined in one proposal. Related provisions may be consolidated where necessary to create a coherent amendment.

(a) Every formal Convention proposal shall be transmitted promptly to the Legislature and published to the State Record.

(b) The Legislature shall provide by law an orderly public process to review and distill Convention proposals. It may approve or reject a proposal, return it to a sitting Convention for revision, or, with the Convention's assent while in session, consolidate substantially related proposals. It may not substitute a materially different proposal and represent it as the work of the Convention.

(c) A proposal advances to ratification upon approval by a majority of the authorized membership of each legislative chamber.

(d) The Legislature shall take a recorded disposition on every formal Convention proposal within one hundred eighty days after adjournment of the Convention. Inaction shall not constitute rejection or permit a proposal to be buried without a vote.

(a) Every proposal advanced by the Legislature shall be submitted separately to the voters at a general or special statewide election under procedures established by law.

(b) An amendment is ratified by a majority of valid votes cast on that amendment statewide.

(c) Exact text, the provisions affected, and a neutral public explanation shall be published sufficiently before the vote to permit informed consideration.

(d) An amendment takes effect upon certification unless it provides a later date.

A Constitutional Convention shall convene automatically every tenth year following the first Convention held under this Constitution. No preliminary referendum is required. Its purpose is to review the operation of this Constitution and determine whether any amendment should be proposed.

(a) An early Convention may be called before the next decennial Convention by a resolution approved by two-thirds of the authorized membership of each legislative chamber and thereafter by a majority of valid votes cast statewide on the call.

(b) The resolution and ballot shall state precisely the constitutional issue or reasonably related issues for which the Convention is called.

(c) An early Convention may investigate, deliberate upon, and propose amendments only within the voter-approved mandate. It otherwise operates under this Article and Article VII.

(a) Qualifications for Convention delegates shall be established by statute and published before applications open. They shall be objective, reasonable, generally attainable by ordinary citizens, and consistent with this Constitution and the Federated Republic Constitution.

(b) No qualification may depend upon wealth, property ownership, ancestry, hereditary status, political affiliation, ideology, occupation, membership in a favored private organization, or another arbitrary class distinction.

(c) Any eligible person may apply through the public process established by law. Applications, qualification decisions, and the reasons for rejection shall be public except for narrowly protected personal information.

(d) The Elections Panel shall apply the statutory qualifications and shall not add discretionary standards of character, suitability, political acceptability, or merit. A rejected applicant is entitled to expedited judicial review.

(e) No person holding elected public office may serve as a Convention delegate. Public employment, including ordinary civil service, does not disqualify a person from service.

(a) Each county shall elect two Convention delegates from the qualified county applicant pool.

(b) Where the number of qualified applicants does not exceed the maximum ballot size established by law, every qualified applicant shall appear on the ballot.

(c) Where the qualified pool exceeds that maximum, a public and auditable drawing by lot shall select a manageable slate from which county voters elect the two delegates.

(d) County delegate elections shall be nonpartisan in form and shall provide voters standardized public information concerning each candidate as provided by law.

(a) In addition to county delegates, the Convention shall include at-large delegates equal in number to one-third of the total number of county delegates, rounded to a whole number as provided by law.

(b) At-large delegates shall be selected by public and auditable lot from a separate statewide pool of qualified applicants. Law shall provide alternates selected in the same drawing and a neutral order of succession.

(c) No geographic quota shall apply to the at-large pool; county representation is secured by §8.4.

(a) Delegates shall be selected not less than nine months before the formal Convention session. Law may provide a longer preparatory period for a regular decennial Convention.

(b) During preparation, delegates shall have authority and resources provided by law to study the Constitution, receive public and institutional submissions, consult constituents, hold public meetings, obtain lawful public records, request testimony and technical assistance, and publish issues identified for possible consideration.

(c) Preparation does not confer ordinary governmental authority and does not bind a delegate to support any amendment before formal deliberation.

(a) Convention service is protected civic service. No public or private employer may discharge, demote, retaliate against, or materially disadvantage an employee because of lawful application, selection, preparation, or service as a delegate.

(b) Law shall protect reasonable continuity of employment, benefits, seniority, pension interests, union status, and return to the same or a substantially equivalent position.

(c) Delegates shall receive compensation and reimbursement sufficient to make service reasonably available to ordinary citizens. Law may distinguish between preparatory duties and the formal session.

(d) A civil servant serving as delegate acts in a personal civic capacity and may not use public employment, authority, or resources to obtain selection or improperly influence the Convention.

(a) The Convention shall sit in formal session for no more than ninety calendar days. Law may suspend the running of that period only when physical meeting or lawful deliberation is materially impossible because of disaster or comparable emergency; in no event may a Convention remain in existence beyond one hundred fifty calendar days after formal opening.

(b) The Convention may establish committees, receive testimony, deliberate, draft, revise, and vote upon proposed amendments.

(c) Proceedings, votes, draft proposals, testimony, and final proposals shall be preserved in and made publicly accessible through the State Record, subject only to narrow protections established by law.

(d) The Convention may propose any number of amendments, including none.

(a) A Convention possesses no authority to enact ordinary law, appropriate money, impose taxes, appoint or remove public officers, direct an agency, adjudicate a case, exercise executive power, or otherwise govern the State.

(b) A Convention may not extend its own existence or enlarge the mandate of an early Convention.

(c) Upon expiration of its lawful session, the Convention ceases to exist automatically. Its remaining proposals continue through Article VII without extending the Convention's authority.

Rhovane may sponsor prospective residents as part of the immigration process established by the Federated Republic Constitution. State sponsorship alone does not create federal certification, legal residency, citizenship, or a right to remain contrary to federal law.

(a) Sponsorship shall be administered under general, published, prospective, and reviewable standards established by law and consistent with federal equality requirements.

(b) The State may consider lawful factors concerning family and community connection, employment, education, skills, entrepreneurship, self-support, public capacity, and other neutral matters reasonably related to sponsorship.

(c) No sponsorship rule may impose ideological screening, nationality quotas, hereditary or class preference, or preference for a constitutionally favored industry or occupation.

An employer, educational institution, family member, civic body, or other lawful person may support an application as provided by law, but no private sponsor controls federal certification or a person's continued legal status. Loss of employment or private support does not by itself terminate status otherwise lawfully held.

State sponsorship decisions shall identify the governing rule and, upon denial, provide precise written reasons sufficient for administrative and judicial review. Review concerns legality and compliance with published standards and does not create an entitlement to sponsorship.

(a) There shall be a State Record serving as Rhovane's authoritative public record within or through the National Records System established by the Federated Republic Constitution.

(b) The State Record shall include laws; executive orders and proclamations; High Court opinions and major orders; administrative rules; budgets and appropriations; legislative proceedings and recorded votes; formal Council of State recommendations; constitutional commission and board records; Convention applications, proceedings, reports, votes, and proposals; and other matters required by law.

(c) Records shall be promptly published, permanently preserved, and freely accessible except where law narrowly protects privacy, sealed judicial material, security, privileged communications, active investigations, or other legitimate confidential interests. Withholding is subject to judicial review.

(d) Correction shall not silently erase the historical record. The original entry, correction, date, responsible authority, and corrected text shall remain traceable as provided by law.

(e) Law shall provide continuity and fallback publication during a systems outage. Failure of a records system does not by itself extinguish lawful public authority.

(a) State and local elections, Convention applicant qualification, public drawings, certification, and other election functions assigned by this Constitution shall be administered by the Elections Panel or other independent election authority established consistently with the Federated Republic Constitution.

(b) The Panel administers law; it does not create qualifications delegated to the Legislature. Qualification decisions shall be written, public, and subject to expedited judicial review.

(c) Every selection by lot required by this Constitution shall be conducted under procedures fixed in advance by law and shall be public, neutral, and auditable.

Every public officer shall promptly take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitutions of the Federated Republic and Rhovane and faithfully discharge the office. No religious test shall be imposed. Failure or delay in administering an oath does not prevent succession or authority that has already transferred by operation of law.

(a) No State or local civil servant, officer, employee, member of an organized State force, or other direct public agent performing a specific public function is required to obey an order that would require violation of this Constitution, the Constitution of the Federated Republic, or valid law.

(b) Lawful refusal and good-faith reporting through lawful channels shall not create liability, forfeiture, dismissal, or retaliation. Law shall provide remedies and procedures consistent with the corresponding federal duty of refusal.

(a) Constitutional branches, courts, Conventions, and lawful oversight bodies are entitled to access records reasonably necessary to perform their constitutional functions, subject to lawful privilege, privacy, security, and judicial supervision.

(b) The State may contract with private persons and entities, but final authority over election certification, constitutional adjudication, taxation, criminal punishment, constitutional appointment decisions, and authentication of the official State Record shall remain subject to public law and accountable public authority.

"Voting citizen of Rhovane" means a citizen of the Federated Republic whose State or Territory voting citizenship is Rhovane under the Federated Republic Constitution and laws enacted pursuant to it. No provision of this Constitution creates a separate State nationality or naturalization process.

(a) The Constitution of the Federated Republic and valid federal law prevail in matters of conflict.

(b) If a provision of this Constitution is invalid, the remainder continues to the greatest extent it can function coherently and consistently with the evident constitutional structure. A court shall not preserve a fragment whose operation would defeat the function of an inseparable provision.

(a) Laws and regulations in force when this Constitution takes effect continue until amended, repealed, superseded, or held inconsistent with this Constitution.

(b) Existing public officers continue until lawful successors assume office or the office is lawfully abolished or reorganized.

(c) Vacancy, delayed appointment, failed confirmation, missing oath, records outage, or temporary incapacity shall not invalidate governmental authority where this Constitution or law provides a lawful successor, acting officer, or continuity mechanism.

Terms and institutions in this Constitution shall be construed to preserve their constitutional function as technology, economic activity, public administration, and forms of communication change, without enlarging governmental power beyond that granted by the text.

This Constitution takes effect upon ratification and certification under lawful election procedures. Transitional schedules may provide for orderly implementation of new institutions, staggering of terms, the first decennial Convention, and continuity of existing offices and laws without becoming part of the permanent constitutional text unless expressly adopted as such.