The Empire of Septempontia

Chapter 1: Incapacity of the Emperor

1. The Emperor may inform the Government that he is temporarily unable or unwilling to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Until he informs them to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Chancellor, or other citizen designated by the Emperor in his notification of disability or absence.
2. If a majority of the Government believe that the Emperor is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, they may seek the testimony of a licensed medical practitioner. If this person gives a notarized statement that the Emperor is so disabled, a majority of the adult Peers of the Empire may declare the Emperor to be incapacitated.
3. If the medical testimony asserts that the Emperor's incapacity is likely to last for one year or more, the Government may authorize a referendum of all adult citizens on removing the Emperor from office. If two-thirds of the voters in such a referendum call for the Emperor to be removed from office, the Throne shall be vacant and the procedures for selecting a new Emperor shall proceed.
4. During the incapacity of the Emperor the Government shall continue in its functions and its officers shall continue to exercise their judgement in the administration of the Empire.
5. During the incapacity of the Emperor, vacancies in the Government may be filled by a majority vote of the adult Peers.
6. During the incapacity of the Emperor, laws may be amended, repealed, or enacted by a majority vote of the Government and a majority vote of the adult Peers, acting in concurrence; however, this Succession Law, the Great Charter, and the Fundamental Law itself may only be amended by the Emperor himself when not incapacitated.
7. For the purposes of this chapter, the rulers of Principalities established by law shall be considered Peers of the Empire.

Chapter 2: The College of Electors

1. The College of Electors (hereafter "the College") is a group of seven people chosen for the purpose of electing a new Emperor when the Throne becomes vacant.
2. Any citizen may be added to or removed from the College at any time by edict of the Emperor.
3. If when the Throne becomes vacant the College has vacancies, they shall be filled by the adult citizens of highest legal precedence. They may decline, provided there are adult citizens of lower precedence willing to accept the positions. But if there are not enough adult citizens in the Empire to fill the College, its business shall proceed as though of full membership.
4. For the purposes of this chapter, a former Emperor has the highest legal precedence, followed by the rulers of Principalities in order of creation of the Principalities, followed by the peers in order of their highest rank of peerage; then the knights of the Arch, and then the knights of the Silver Cross in the order of their rank; and then the members of lower orders of knighthood in the order of creation of their orders, and then knights bachelor; and finally the common citizens of the Empire. And if two citizens hold the same rank, then whichever attained to that rank first is of greater precedence.
5. For the purposes of this chapter, adult citizens are those who have reached their eighteenth birthday, but not yet their eightieth birthday, at the time of the Throne becoming vacant. Older or younger citizens may be appointed to the College by the Emperor during his reign, but may not be chosen to fill vacancies in the College once the Throne is vacant.

Chapter 3: Election of the Emperor

1. The election of a new Emperor should proceed as soon as possible following the vacancy of the Throne. The Electors must if possible meet in person, preferably in the Imperial capital city. If some electors are absolutely not able to attend, they should participate in real time via telecommunications devices.
2. Absent electors shall work out with those electors who are present how to communicate their votes; if they wish to do so with secrecy, the electors who are present must make every effort to accomodate this.
3. If an adult citizen has received two-thirds of the votes, or a simple majority of the votes on the eighth or any succeeding round of balloting, that person has been elected. If he is not present, he must be contacted immediately. He will be asked if he accepts; if he does, he is immediately Emperor of Septempontia.
4. If no one is elected or the person elected refuses, deliberations shall resume and a new round of balloting may be conducted whenever the participants see fit; except that no less than four and no more than seven rounds shall be held on any single day.
5. The count of votes in each round of balloting shall be recorded. Following the election, the only copy of this record shall be sealed in an envelope and given to the new Emperor. All other copies of notes or transcripts from the debate and balloting, electronic or otherwise, must be destroyed.
6. Following the election of the Emperor, representatives of the College and the new Emperor himself will address the Septempontian people. The College may choose its own representatives for this purpose as it shall see fit.
7. All details of the election process not enumerated herein are left to the discretion of the College.

(Test edit.)