Lex Arria de candidatis extra ordinem accipiendis (Nova Roma)

Preamble

This law modifies the lex Salvia de prorogatione et cumulatione and the lex Cornelia de definitione repetundorum magistratuum.

I. Sections II-V of the lex Salvia de prorogatione et cumulatione shall be modified to read:

“II. The election of new magistrates for the following year, and the first call for candidates, shall be announced by the consules for the Comitia Centuriata and the Comitia Populi Tributa, and by the tribuni plebis for the Comitia Plebis Tributa, before the Kalends of November.

III. The requirements for candidates shall be the following:

III.A. No current holder of a magistracy, as defined by the lex Cornelia de definitione repetundorum magistratuum, shall present his or her candidacy for that very same position (prorogatio).

III.B. No individual shall present his or her candidacy to more than one magistracy at the same time (cumulatio).

III.C. No individual shall present a candidacy for a magistracy which said individual would not be legally qualified to hold on the day when, if elected, his or her term of office would be initiated. The term of office of a magistrate starts automatically on the day that is established by legislation, not when the oath of office or investment ceremony is performed. If someone is elected with delay in respect to the legal first day of the term of office, then the term starts immediately upon being elected, and ends on the day which is determined as the end of the term of office by law. (An example for clarification: if a current consul wants to be tribunus plebis for the next year, he cannot present his candidacy for the office of tribune, because it starts on 10 December, while the consulship expires only on 31 December, and if elected tribune, he would be holding two magistracies at the same time until 31 December regardless of whether he takes the oath for tribune or not. If this consul wants to run for next year’s tribuneship, he shall resign from the consulship when he presents his candidacy for the tribuneship).

IV. No election can be started until there are at least as many candidates for a magistracy as openings plus one candidate in order to avoid uncontested candidacies which would defy the Roman republican principle (for example: three candidates for the consulship, nine candidates for the eight openings of the quaestorship). These and other requirements for magistracies, established by other laws, shall be observed during the acceptance of candidacies by the presiding magistrate of an election when issuing the call for candidates. If the aforementioned required number of candidates (openings plus one more) who fit all legal requirements do not answer the first call for candidates within a nundinum (8 days, 192 hours) after the call, the presiding magistrate shall issue a second call for candidates, but only for those offices, where the required number of candidates is not reached. In the second call for candidates, the ban on consecutive office holding (prorogatio) shall be lifted, age and previous magistracy requirements shall be relaxed in the following way:

IV.A. Any citizen may assume the office of aedilis curulis, aedilis plebis, tribunus plebis, quaestor or vigintisexvir, who has reached the age of 21 years.

IV.B. Any citizen may assume the office of consul or praetor, who has reached the age of 25 years, and who has served previously as aedilis curulis, aedilis plebis, tribunus plebis, quaestor or vigintisexvir.

IV.C. Any citizen may assume the office of censor, who has reached the age of 30 years, and who has served previously as consul or praetor.

V. If the required number of candidates (openings plus one more) have not gathered together even for the second call for candidates within a nundinum (8 days, 192 hours) after the second call, the presiding magistrate shall issue a third and final call for candidates, but only for those offices, where the required number of candidates is not reached. In this third call for candidates, the requirements shall be further relaxed according to the discretion of the presiding magistrate, lower than the requirements under Section IV.

VI. If the required number of candidates (openings plus one more) is still not collected after another nundinum, the requirement for avoiding uncontested candidates shall be waived, and the elections can be started if there are at least as many candidates as openings for a magistracy. A comitia for partial election may be held, at the discretion of the presiding magistrate, for only some of the magistracies, but only after a nundinum has passed after the third call for candidates, during which candidates shall continue to be accepted. The final list of candidates for the partial election of magistracies shall be presented in a contio no earlier than one nundinum after the third call for candidates. However, the presiding magistrate may still not call the comitia centuriata for the election of consules and praetores as long as the candidates for both the consulship and praetorship are not collected in the minimum number equal to the openings, because the consules and praetores are ceremonially considered the same magistracy, elected under the same auspices, at the same session.

VII. If, due to the repeated calls and the delay, the elections could not be completed before the end of the year, interreges shall conduct the remaining business in the people’s assemblies, and for the plebeian assembly a senatus consultum shall grant tribunician powers to a selected individual to conduct the election of the new tribuni plebis. The requirements shall continue to be simplified continuing the steps described in this law.

VIII. The people, passing a lex in any comitia, may grant an exception from under any of these rules, or the senate can pass a senatus consultum allowing someone to be exempted from under the rules of this law.

IX. The consules shall ensure the application of this lex.”

II. Sections 1-3 of the lex Cornelia de definitione repetundorum magistratuum shall be modified to read:

“I. No person shall hold the office of censor, consul, praetor or tribunus plebis consecutively.

II. Consecutive office holding is defined as repeating the same magistracy with no other office holder serving between the the two terms.

III. The people, passing a lex in any comitia, may grant an exception from under any of these rules, or the senate can pass a senatus consultum allowing someone to be exempted from under the rules of this law.”