Answer to Civil Complaint:
The constitutional requirements to run, or to vote, include voter registration. That is why the Fifth Fundamental Protection says "The right to vote... as specified by law." In combination with the Voter Registration clause of the Constitution, the Azalea Isles Government has clear authority to oversee the voter registration process, including setting in place the reasonable protective boundaries that currently exist.
Moreover, the Plaintiff's argument that a change and creating a registration are separate things is fundamentally untrue. Creating a registration is still a change in status.
Legislative intent is clear. Overturning legislation on the basis of a semantic challenge to the specific wording chosen, when prior elections have run in proper accordance with the intent of the law, is unreasonable at best. Beyond this, it is clear what the intent of the Voter Registration clause included in the Electoral Reform Amendment was, because the Voter Registration Act (VRA) had the same author as the Electoral Reform Amendment, and the VRA was introduced less than 10 minutes after the Electoral Reform Amendment, as companion legislation. Any attempt to separate the VRA ignores it was introduced and paired with the constitutional amendment from which it draws its power.
Parties:
Plaintiff: Aero Nox
Defendant: Azalea Isles
Factual Defenses or Challenges:
(1) The Azalea Isles Constitution permits Voter Registration requirements.
(2) The right to vote is specifically governed by the law of the Isles.
(3) Any change to a citizen's registration status, including its creation, counts as a change, as going from unregistered -> registered is still a change in status.
(4) The Electoral Reform Amendment and the Voter Registration Act were companion bills in Parliament, written by the same author, and legislative intent in both the power granted to the Voter Registration Act and in the Voter Registration Act's application is clear.
Legal Defenses or Challenges:
(1) The right to vote is governed by law, in accordance with both the Fifth Fundamental Protection and the Voter Registration clause of the Constitution. In the case of this specific challenge, the Voter Registration Act has a clear interpretation that has been correctly applied for elections since August. If this application was not the legislative intent, a challenge or change would have been made by the Azalea Isles Government / Parliament since then. "Change" means to make something different; going from no registration to a registration, from empty to existing, is very much a change.
(2) The Voter Registration Act is clearly constitutional, as it draws its power from the Voter Registration clause of the Constitution, and was introduced directly alongside the legislation that created the Voter Registration clause. Legislative intent was once again clear. In order to properly interpret the law, the judiciary must take into account Parliament's intent while making the law, as context has clear relevance to lawmaking.
(3) The wording challenge is semantic, as it disputes the clear parliamentary intent, while the constitutional challenges ignores that the bills were introduced together, with the Voter Registration Act clearly linked to the passage of the Electoral Reform Amendment, as stated in the Voter Registration Act's enactment clause.
Verification:
I, Lysander Lyon, hereby affirm that the allegations in the answer AND all subsequent statements made in court are true and correct to the best of the defendant’s knowledge, information, and belief and that any falsehoods may bring the penalty of perjury.