If this Constitution allows the government to create money or to designate legal tender, it must be "real money", defined as at least 90% gold or silver coins (or rounds or bars) of standardized and easily verifiable weight and content, or suitable warehouse receipts or equivalent (paper or computer data) backed by and redeemable for such coins and difficult to counterfeit and not overissued or inflated, as verified by an independent auditing firm at least annually; or of better quality. Whether or not the government may create or designate such money, it must pay its obligations in real money, and it must accept only real money in payment of obligations to it. For convenience, the government may transact in lesser quality money or other medium if the other party agrees, the transaction is denominated in real money, any lesser money received by the government and not spent is converted to real money within a week, and the other party bears the conversion expenses and any losses. The government must maintain a balanced budget and must not engage in deficit spending or incur debt. Any taxes must be strictly voluntary.
It is not and has never been a legitimate purpose of government (and therefore no level of this government is allowed) to act as a charity or in any other way to provide payments to anyone for any reason other than either their earnings for goods or services they provide the government, or for just compensation or restitution for damages they suffered because of government action or as otherwise provided by a valid court sentence or judgment. No level of government may provide retirement benefits, as government service should be merely an interlude, not a career.
The last choice on the bottom of every election ballot must be None Of The Above. If this choice wins a majority, either the election must be held again with entirely new candidates, or the office must remain unfilled and unfunded for that term.
No level of government hereunder may create or maintain any monopoly other than as specifically provided by this Constitution (such as by establishing a Supreme Court), nor interfere with any activities or contracts which don't violate NAP, nor grant titles of nobility or otherwise single out people for special treatment, nor pass any bill of attainder or ex post facto (retrospective) law or any law defining a crime when no victim or NAP violation exists.
If this Constitution allows laws or constitutional amendments or treaties to be made, each must be read in full by all of those responsible for considering it, must be made available and accessible to citizen review for at least one week, and must be verified to be in compliance with this Constitution (constitutional amendments must not violate this common core or NAP). Each law or constitutional amendment also must have only a single general topic and purpose which must be reflected in its title, and must not be deceptively titled, and each law also must sunset in no later than 5 years. Laws, treaties, and constitutional amendments must be passed by at least a majority vote of the appropriate branch(es) of government as provided elsewhere in this Constitution, by at least 2 branches of government if this government has at least 2 branches, and treaties and constitutional amendments must also be ratified by a majority vote of the citizens voting. If this Constitution does not require laws to be ratified by a citizen vote, then citizens must have the right of Referendum to repeal any law by majority vote of the citizens voting. This Constitution may provide stricter, but not more lenient, requirements than the above. No provision of this Constitution may violate anything in this common core. Additional rights of individuals or restrictions on government may be added, but no amendment to this Constitution may reduce the rights of individuals. If anything in this Constitution or any law or treaty is ambiguous or subject to interpretation, it must be construed strictly against the government and liberally in favor of the rights of the individual under NAP. If there is a conflict between the rights of citizens and non-citizens, the rights of citizens are presumed to take priority unless otherwise determined by an appropriate court in the specific case.
The paragraphs above in this Other Common Provisions section do not apply to virtual cantons.
All government proceedings and dealings, except those truly requiring secrecy for national security, must be open to the citizen public (or the members of a virtual canton as applicable). Evidence of government wrongdoing, even if found in secret documents, may be disclosed as needed for investigation and prosecution.
If this Constitution permits the government to make treaties, any provisions which violate NAP or the Constitution of this or any other party to the treaty are null and void, regardless of any terms or agreements to the contrary, and regardless of whether such provisions are in violation immediately when written or later in a specific circumstance. Any obligations imposed on this country by such invalid provisions are null and void as long as such violation continues. The same applies to any provisions agreed to by this country under duress. If this Constitution allows lower levels of government (including virtual cantons) to make treaties, they are overridden by any conflicting terms of treaties made by higher levels of this government, unless both treaties state otherwise, and treaties made by lower levels of government apply only to those levels and below.