Term limits — the third term is not forbidden, it is unrepresentable

term_limits.cell

// ============================================================================
// TERM LIMITS — the third term is not forbidden, it is unrepresentable
// ============================================================================
//
// In 2008, New York's City Council — at Mayor Bloomberg's urging —
// voted 29-22 to extend its own term limits so the sitting mayor could
// run again, overriding two public referenda in which New Yorkers had
// twice voted for a two-term cap. It was legal precisely because the
// limit lived in an ordinary statute the limited officials themselves
// could amend. The U.S. answer to FDR's four terms was different: the
// 22nd Amendment put the cap somewhere no incumbent can reach.
//
// This module is the 22nd-Amendment version. The terms ledger carries
// `invariant terms <= 2` — certifying a third term for the same person
// is a WRITE THE MEMORY REFUSES, and there is no handler anywhere that
// can loosen an invariant at runtime. Each term also walks a machine
// whose `vacated` state is terminal: an ended term cannot be revived
// as a sneaky continuation of itself.
// ============================================================================

cell TermRegistry {
    face {
        signal nominate(person: String, term_id: String) -> Map
        signal certify_win(person: String, term_id: String) -> Map
        signal inaugurate(term_id: String) -> Map
        signal vacate(term_id: String) -> Map
        signal terms_served(person: String) -> Int
    }

    memory {
        // person -> terms certified, lifetime. 3 does not exist.
        terms: Map<String, Int> [persistent, consistent]
        invariant terms >= 0 && terms <= 2

        winners: Map<String, String> [persistent, consistent]
    }

    // nominated -> won -> sworn_in -> vacated (TERMINAL).
    // The office is re-filled only through a NEW term id — a new
    // nomination, a new election, a fresh certification against the cap.
    state term {
        initial: open_seat
        open_seat -> nominated
        nominated -> won
        won -> sworn_in
        sworn_in -> vacated
        nominated -> lost
    }

    on nominate(person: String, term_id: String) {
        // the ballot gate: someone already at the cap cannot even run
        if (terms.get(person) ?? 0) >= 2 {
            return map("ok", false, "reason", "{person} has served 2 terms; the ballot is closed")
        }
        let r = try { transition(term_id, "nominated") }
        if r.error != () { return map("ok", false, "reason", "{r.error}") }
        return map("ok", true, "candidate", person)
    }

    on certify_win(person: String, term_id: String) {
        if get_status(term_id) != "nominated" {
            let s = get_status(term_id)
            return map("ok", false, "reason", "nothing to certify from {s}")
        }
        // THE WALL: even if the ballot gate above were repealed by a
        // friendly council, the third certification is a write of 3 —
        // and the ledger refuses it.
        let w = try { terms.set(person, (terms.get(person) ?? 0) + 1) }
        if w.error != () {
            return map("ok", false, "reason", "22nd Amendment: no third term for {person}")
        }
        transition(term_id, "won")
        winners.set(term_id, person)
        return map("ok", true, "person", person, "terms", terms.get(person))
    }

    on inaugurate(term_id: String) {
        let r = try { transition(term_id, "sworn_in") }
        if r.error != () { return map("ok", false, "reason", "{r.error}") }
        return map("ok", true, "holder", winners.get(term_id))
    }

    on vacate(term_id: String) {
        let r = try { transition(term_id, "vacated") }
        if r.error != () { return map("ok", false, "reason", "{r.error}") }
        return map("ok", true, "state", "vacated")
    }

    on terms_served(person: String) {
        return terms.get(person) ?? 0
    }
}

cell test TermLimitTests {
    rules {
        // term one: nominate, win, swear in, and eventually vacate
        assert nominate("bloomberg", "t2002").ok == true
        assert certify_win("bloomberg", "t2002").terms == 1
        assert inaugurate("t2002").holder == "bloomberg"
        assert vacate("t2002").ok == true

        // a vacated term is dead — no continuation-in-place
        assert_fails transition("t2002", "sworn_in")
        assert_fails transition("t2002", "won")

        // term two, through a brand-new term id
        assert nominate("bloomberg", "t2005").ok == true
        assert certify_win("bloomberg", "t2005").terms == 2
        assert inaugurate("t2005").ok == true
        assert vacate("t2005").ok == true

        // THE 2008 MOVE: the third run. The ballot gate refuses —
        // and even a "council override" of that gate hits the memory.
        assert nominate("bloomberg", "t2009").ok == false
        assert_fails terms.set("bloomberg", 3)
        assert terms_served("bloomberg") == 2

        // a rigged certification with no election behind it also dies:
        // t2009 was never nominated, so there is nothing to certify
        assert certify_win("bloomberg", "t2009").ok == false
        assert_fails transition("t2009", "won")

        // the office itself stays alive — for somebody else
        assert nominate("thompson", "t2009").ok == true
        assert certify_win("thompson", "t2009").terms == 1
    }
}