Leten ni Nuoda

The Leten ni Nuoda (lit. house of voters), often simply referred to as the Nuoda, is the unicameral national legislature of Sanmra. There are 158 members or nuoda (voters), a pair elected jointly from each of the 79 enclaves. The Nuoda is responsible for the proposal and passing of Sanmra law, the election of a new sarda, and the supervision of some executive bodies. The Nuoda are led by the Lun Nuoda, a pair of nuoda elected by their peers; the current Lun Nuoda are Talesın and Preli UNNAMED. They meet in the Adiseta ni Sadilan (lit. meetingplace of government), in the Inner Ring of Elten.

Composition
Each of Sanmra's 79 enclaves elects a pair of representatives--a man and a woman--that run on a joint ballot, for a total of 158 members. While it is traditional for co-voters to vote together, they have the option of voting separately as well. Nuoda are elected every twelve years on a staggered cycle. Enclaves are given broad power in how to conduct elections, but most use a form of single-transferable vote and hold elections on a mutually-agreed twelve-year cycle, so approximately 1/6 of the seats are up for election every two years.

The nuoda theoretically elects their own internal leaders, the Lun Nuoda (lit. first voters), but in practice, the Lun Nuoda are almost always the nuoda of Elten. The Lun Nuoda have ceremonial powers to open and close the Nuoda, to introduce major bills, and to oversee the election of a new sarda. They also have more practical powers--they can independently call a hearing to remove a nuoda from a committee (otherwise, a petition signed by five nuoda is required), they are the formal mediators between the sarda and the nuoda, and they can appoint a limited number of nuoda to the permanent committees. By tradition, the Lun Nuoda do not vote when electing the sarda, but may or may not choose to vote in other situations, and only rarely exercise their ability to introduce bills.

Finally, the Nuoda also has a number of committees, including permanent committees on major subjects such as foreign affairs and education, as well as temporary committees relating to a specific bill, concern of the legislature, or immediate need. Unlike the Nuoda as a whole, committees are made up of individual representatives, not pairs; in fact, it is more common for only one member of a pair to be part of a committee than both.

History
The concept of the nuoda--a body of people representing geographical locations that have power separate from the supreme leader of the nation--dates all the way back to the formation of the Garsenian Confederation in 806 BC. The confederation was led by the Council of Elders, a group of primarily male village elders representing each of the core villages or nomadic clans. When Tirina took full power in 659 BC, she reformed the Council into a mere advisory board, similar to the modern-day Sarda's Council, which has no legislative power. In 537 BC, after being severely wounded, Tirina asked the Council to select candidates for her successor, of which she picks her son Dengel, thus starting the tradition of the Council helping pick the next sarda.

In 178 BC, Orsea's sudden death (and possible assassination) before picking a successor forced the Council to independently select the new sarda, UNNAMED rıl Gugpayi, thus beginning their return to power. Their power grew until by the early 900s, the sarda was little more than a figurehead. The desire of the sarda to regain their former power--and the desire of the Council to resist this--is what led to the Kirapail ni Ato Enkarua, or "Great Warring Period", a century of conspiracies, backstabbing, and coups during which there were no less than ten different sarda and four versions of the Council. (depending on how you count it) Finally, things stabilized with the ascension of UNNAMED, who successfully reformed the Council without anybody getting assassinated or overthrown. Among his reforms included requiring councilors to only represent a single enclave, requiring seats to be acquired through elections of prominent families rather than bought and sold, and formalizing the tradition of a married couple jointly representing an enclave (which would later evolve into a simple male-female pair). Families that met a minimum numeric/wealth threshold were eligible to vote in elections, with votes being weighted by the number of family members. (there was not yet the tradition of individual voting) It was shortly after this time period, in the early 1100s, that the Council became known as the Nuoda.

Lawmaking process
Bills can be proposed by any member, but can only be introduced in one of three ways: by a committee (by far the most common method), by the Lun Nuoda directly (rare--traditionally they will ask a committee to introduce it on their behalf), and by the sarda themselves (typically for budget approvals and foreign affair matters). Each member gets one vote; while co-voters typically vote identically, they are not required to and sometimes don't.

A bill can be declared of "special interest" to a particular enclave; in such a case, the representatives of that enclave essentially get extra votes. In practice, virtually all bills are declared of special interest to Elten and Sakaran, and most would include Akoke and Orsili as well.