The Burnham Directional Plebiscite (BDP) was a simple vote on two options by all available Burnhamite citizens and observers. To make sure that as many citizens and observers of the Plebiscite electorate were available to vote, the BDP was held in the Burnham Lounge, the unofficial recreational chatroom of Burnhamite citizens and observers. Citizens without access to the Lounge (either to a lack of a Skype account or through electronic issues) were asked privately by the Basileus to vote, with the available options being given to them over a different social network.

The two different motions voted on in the BDP were as follows:

Motion 1: The Renewal Plan.
Set up a series of Cultural and Physical ‘items’, each named after a particular Druidic leader (Cultural) or Napoleonic hero (Physical).
Item: Nebra – Renew the Order of the Nebra Disk¹. Rename the Order the ‘State Board of Culture’. Bring on board willing researchers.
Item: Wellington – Expedition to the 2-storey bunker near the sea (following the River Crouch²) with as many citizens as possible. Bring sufficient equipment to clean & illuminate the bunker, and hold a ceremony within. Claim bunker as Burnhamite territory.
Item: Ney – Hold military exercise of Mojra 1. Use as propaganda to show national strength and cohesion.
Item: ??? – Create and motion legislation on Substance use, Discrimination, Currency, Benefits, Diplomacy, Use of Territories, Intellectual Property, Copyright, Trade Secrets, Trademarks, State Secrets, and so on. Create a suitable Citizen application form.

Motion 2: The Parliamentary Plan
The Supreme Soviet Gorsedh will dissolve, and the People’s Commons will become the primary legislative body of the Dominion, as the People’s Parliamentary Commons (PPC). The Basileus will remain as a monarch of the Dominion. All necessary Constitutional Amendments and Edits will be made.
The Council of People’s Commissars will remain, and shall be renamed as the State Commissariat. Some members of the SC will be replaced by territorial citizens.
Promote the merging of the Green Party and the Independent candidates into a unified opposition to the Theodorist Workers Party of Burnham.
Set up a citizenship initiative within the Seaxe Dengie group³ and the Ormiston Rivers Academy (a local school), to boost citizen numbers.

The voting commenced at 5:53PM GMT on the 23 September, and ended at 8:31PM GMT on the 25 September. There was a voter turnout of 81.25%, as thirteen out of the sixteen potential voters took part in the Plebiscite. The results were updated after each citizen/observer voted, and the Plebiscite was called to an end after a clear winner was shown, regardless of remaining votes. When the BDP was closed, the Renewal Plan was the clear victor, with nine votes to the Parliamentary Plan’s four votes.

The Renewal Plan will be motioned in the Supreme Soviet Gorsedh in the not too distant future, and each item will be worked upon and completed in their own time if the motion passes.

In other news, Burnham has, in recent weeks, been embroiled in a loose intellectual property debate with the Republic of Lostisland, whose leader, President Mar, has delivered scathing comments about the Burnham Micropress and the Basileus in the past. Burnham, prior to the May 31st Revolution as well as after it, has used a diplomatic document based on the diplomatic document made by Lostisland. With no copyright laws, be they Micronational or Macronational, or a Creative Commons License to protect these documents, Burnham has, for nearly a year, used a variation of the Lostislandic document in their diplomatic process. This has recently been brought to the attention of President Mar, who took it upon himself to call the Basileus a thief, and Burnham immature for breaking what he called ‘an international copyright’, which is some kind of unfathomable international legislation that does not actually exist.

In the wake of these actions, the Basileus personally underwent negotiations with the Lostislandic UK Consulate, headed by Consul Daniel Morris, to try and produce some kind of solution. Of course, the Supreme Soviet Gorsedh saw no reason to change their diplomatic documents just to suit a foreign power, so the nationally determined stance was that of no compromise. The Basileus did personally ask Consul Morris to request that President Mar unblock him from certain social networks, as it has been known that the Lostislandic leader has made derogatory comments about Justinian I (friendly Micronationalists have sent screenshots of such comments to both the Basileus and members of the Burnham governing bodies before), and thinking that he could do so with impunity. The Basileus has reasoned that complete transparency is the only way to resolve this constant international bickering that has been ongoing since March 2013, when President Mar’s political puppet was ousted in the Grand Unified Micronational Chair elections by Justinian I.

His Socialist Majesty released a statement to the UK Consul stating his and the Burnhamite Government’s views:

“On receiving knowledge of Mr. Mar’s post about me and the plagiarism of Lostislandic documents, I’ll only say: If Mr. Mar would care to unblock me on ++Social Network of convenience++, instead of slandering me behind my back, then I will gladly participate in conversation to resolve the issue.
As it is, Burnham has been using a variation of the Lostislandic model for nearly a year, without criticism from Lostisland, even before the GUM Elections that Mr. Mar so likes to use against me (He was using Deniz as a puppet for GUM Chair, and I and my campaign team leaked logs proving it. Hardly chivalrous, but not exactly being dishonourable, is it?).
If there is a copyright law in effect that states that what Burnham has done is illegal (to my knowledge, Lostislandic documents are not protected by the Creative Commons License, Russian Copyright laws or indeed a Lostislandic copyright law), then I will amend Burnham’s documents in accordance. Until such time, however, I cannot see that Burnham is doing any wrong.”

No response from President Mar has been forthcoming, and Basileus Justinian I extends his gratitude to Consul Morris for his level-headedness and politeness during the situation.

¹ The Order of the Nebra Disk was a Non Governmental Organisation that operated in Burnham. It focused on Druidic and Celtic research.
² The River Crouch runs locally to both the UK and Burnham. It features quite heavily in local tradition and psyche.
³ The Seaxe Dengie group is a gathering of Live Action Roleplayers, Roleplayers, Wargamers and Card gamers that all Burnhamite territorial citizens are part of.