The Senate had a debate phase that only postponed the vote, and a chairman could lose half their term to the rule that every bill had to finish before it ended. Both are gone.
No more debate phase
A bill now opens straight into voting. The chairman picks how long the vote runs, anywhere from 12 to 24 ticks. You can change your vote any time until it closes, so the arguing happens during the vote instead of before it.
Because a bill is open from the moment it is filed, you can vote on it straight away from wherever you hear about it: the card in Discord, the alert on your phone or watch, or the Senate panel.
Propose for your whole term
Bills no longer have to finish inside the term that filed them. A bill filed on a chairman's last tick still runs to the end, and its result lands in the next chairman's term.
Several votes at once
- Each chairman can file 2 bills per term.
- Up to 3 votes can be open across the game at once.
- Two open bills cannot cover the same thing: the same slider, or the same sanction against the same empire.
- A chairman can withdraw a bill until anyone else has voted on it, and gets the slot back.
Ordinary bills still need a majority of active empires to take part. Each bill's card in the Senate panel shows how close it is.
Chancellor elections
- The vote always runs 48 ticks, two full days at the default of an hour a tick.
- There is no turnout minimum. Instead of needing enough players to vote, it has two days to be voted down.
- One election per term, and never two at once.
- Each empire can still only run for Chancellor once per game.
The Senate panel now shows how many bills you have left this term and how many votes are open. Bills filed before this update finish the old way, debate phase included.