Election Laws and Restrictions

SECTION 1: Candidacy (a) Any person running for an elected position must be a legal resident of the State of San Andreas. (b) Any person running for an elected position may not be a convicted felon. (c) Candidates for President must declare a Vice President at least 2 hours prior to the beginning of the election.

SECTION 2: Campaigning (a) Promising or offering direct money in exchange for a vote is illegal. (b) Promising or offering a government position in exchange for a vote is illegal. (c) Promising or offering future government favors in exchange for political or monetary support is illegal. (d) Misrepresenting oneself as another candidate is illegal.

SECTION 3: Advertising (a) Advertisements may include posters, flyers, video messages, text messages, television commercials, radio ads, etc. (b) Disclaimers must clearly denote who or what group is endorsing a political message, candidate, or advertisement, and must be clearly and conspicuously stated with text or a verbal announcement in an advertisement. This applies even if the candidate is making an advertisement for themselves. (c) Falsely claiming to be endorsed by a person or group who has not endorsed you is illegal. (d) Falsely claiming to be a candidate you are not in order to smear their image or reputation is illegal. (e) Creating false advertisements which depict a candidate being impersonated.

SECTION 4: Election (a) Official election results shall be decided by a simple majority. Whichever candidate possesses the most votes at the end of the voting cycle shall be deemed the winner. The winner shall be sworn in by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. (b) Putting pressure onto a potential voter (or group) to encourage them to vote a particular way, or not vote, through means of intimidation, including but not limited to: physical threats, verbal threats, financial coercion, threat of lawsuit, etc. (c) Impersonating another person in order to vote on their behalf is illegal. (d) Interfering with election or voting operations, including committing fraud, attempting to cause votes to be misreported, or tampering with the voting process is illegal. (e) Creating or posting artificial ballot, election, or polling results is illegal.

SECTION 5: Voting Rights (a) No person shall be prohibited from voting on the basis of race, gender, sexuality, religion, ethnicity, disability, spoken language, or age. (b) No state or governing body may levy any tax, fee, or financial charge related to the process of voting. Nor shall a citizen be required to pay postage for mailing ballots. (c) Requiring literacy tests as a barrier to voting is illegal. (d) It is an individual citizen's right to keep their vote private or make public their candidate choice. It is illegal for someone other than an individual citizen to reveal, or threaten to reveal, someone else's voting intentions.

SECTION 6: Succession (a) No Presidential candidate shall run for office with the express purpose of resigning to make their Vice President the President. (b) If the President becomes incapacitated or resigns, the Vice President shall be sworn in as the acting president. (c) If the President becomes once again capable of performing their function after being temporarily incapacitated, the position shall be returned to them. Otherwise, succession persists and the Vice President remains the President.

SECTION 7: Judicial Review and Criminal Penalties (a) Any violation of this code is a Federal Felony punishable by a $1,000,000 fine and 800 seconds in prison. The law reserves the right to investigate racketeering and seize, or temporarily freeze, assets in the event of a violation of this code, in order to effectively review potential evidence. (b) Any violation of this code committed by a candidate shall disqualify them from the election. (c) The Supreme Court's Chief Justice is prohibited from participating in campaign activities due to their role as an overseer of the election.