Abeldane federal election, December 2018

December 2018 Abeldane federal election

21–27 December 2018
10 of 12 seats in the Reichsversammlung 7 seats needed for a majority
Registered	50 ▲8%
Turnout	58.0% (▼ 31.1%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Stephen Freayth Ava Neasa Horatio Eden Party Die Rechte ASE Liberty Union (Abelden) Leader since June 2018 August 2017 September 2018 Last election 6 + 1 seats, 70.0% 1 seat, 12.5% 2 + 1 seats, 17.5% Seats before 6 + 1 1 2 + 1 Seats won 7 + 1 2 1 + 1 Seat change ▲1 ▲1 ▼1 Popular vote 18 7 4 Percentage 62.1% 24.1% 13.6% Swing ▼7.9 pp ▲11.6 pp ▼3.9 pp
Vorsitzender before election Stephen Freayth Die Rechte Vorsitzender after election Tarik Karjasary ASE

The 18th Abeldane general election took place from the 21st through the 27th of December 2018, including legislative elections to the Reichsversammlung and executive elections to the positions of Vorsitzender and Stellvertreter. The executive elections, originally planned to take place on the 23 December, were extended to take place from the 23rd to the 27th, due to low turnout on the first day of the election.

Ahead of the December election, two-term Vorsitzender and former Emperor Stephen Freayth decided not to run for re-election, prompting several candidacies within the ruling party, Die Rechte which held a series of primary elections to select its Vorsitzender and Stellvertreter candidates in the executive election.

The election resulted in a loss of support for the two larger parties in the Empire, Die Rechte and Liberty Union, which lost seats in the Reichsversammlung, and moderate gains for Abeldane Social Ecology, which gained a seat in the legislative election. ASE's Vorsitzender candidate, Tarik Kârjasary, also won the executive election, marking the first time in over a year that an ASE candidate won the position.

Campaign and Candidates

Die Rechte

On November 11, Nicholas Randouler announced his candidacy for Vorsitzender, with the slogan "A Better Change." He simultaneously released a form asking citizens to input their policy preferences and priorities, for the purposes of a developing a platform. On November 12, former Vorsitzender Shiro Mephistopheles announced his candidacy for that position. On November 14, Richard Hytholoday announced his candidacy to Vorstizender. On November 18, he introduced S.H.R.E.W, a mnemonic for the five planks of his platform. That same day, former Emperor Nicholas Kaos announced his candidacy for Stellvertreter, providing a link to an official website. Anthony Clark and Wilma Oakforrest also ran with Die Rechte for Vorsitzender and Max Pollack ran for Stellvertreter. However, by the 19th of November, all had dropped out.

On November 20, a debate was held between Mephistopheles, Randouler, and Hytholoday, the first time a party has held a primary debate. Prominent issues on which the candidates sparred included expansion of the Empire and the proposal to add an upper house to the Abeldane Legislature.

On November 25, the primary's results were announced. After the first-choice votes were counted, Nicholas Randouler placed third and was thus eliminated. When his second-place votes were distributed between the two remaining candidates Mephistopheles possessed the lead, making him Die Rechte's Vorsitzender nominee.

Liberty Union

On November 11, Edward Daniels announced his candidacy for Vorsitzender. He withdrew from the race on the 25th of November, following a disappointing opinion poll performance and the announcement of Mephistopheles's nomination. He explained that he dropped out because he felt that he was unlikely to win, but stated that he would "most likely run in the next election."

On November 17, Ashley Jaax announced his candidacy for Stellvertreter. He dropped out on November 28, following a poor performance in L'Sydunche's opinion poll.

Social Ecology

It was speculated that Ava Neasa might be Abeldane Social Ecology's Vorsitzender candidate for a fifth straight election. However, on November 14, Tarik Kârjasary announced his candidacy for the position, introducing an official campaign website. This website included several specific policy proposals, including the creation of an upper legislative house, and the implementation of a citizenship test.

Results

Executive

Abeldane executive election, December 2018

23–27 December 2018
Turnout	76.0% (▼4.85 pp)
File:T Merrell red bubble.png Nominee Tarik Kârjasary Shiro Mephistopheles Party ASE Die Rechte Running mate None Nicholas Kaos Popular vote 20 18 Percentage 52.6% 47.4%
Vorsitzender before election Stephen Freayth Die Rechte Vorsitzender after election Tarik Kârjasary ASE

The incumbent Vorsitzender, Stephen Freayth, announced shortly after his victory in the September 2018 election that he would not be running for a third term in the executive. Freayth, who had won his second election with the second-highest percentage in Abeldane history, is now the fourth longest-serving Vorsitzender, and would have become the second longest-serving had he ran again and won a third term.

Many candidates rushed to run with Die Rechte, Freayth's party and the senior partner in the 32nd ministry. After a primary election held on 25 November 2018, former Vorsitzender Shiro Mephistopheles emerged victorious and became the party's nominee. The second largest party in the Empire, Liberty Union, originally nominated Stellvertreter Edward Daniels for the Vorsitzendership, but Daniels dropped out of the race due to his performance in opinion polls. Abeldane Social Ecology, Abelden's oldest party, nominated Tarik Kârjasary, the Grand Duke of Rai and former head of the Reichswahlkommission.

Kârjasary eventually won by a margin of two votes in the executive election, which was extended from the 23rd to the 27th of December in order to boost turnout, in a decision made by the Reichswahlkommission.

Vorsitzender
Party		Candidate	Results
			1st pref	%
	Social Ecology	Tarik Kârjasary	20	52.63
	Die Rechte	Shiro Mephistopheles	18	47.37
Invalid/blank votes			0	–
Total			38	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			50	76.00
Source: Reichswahlkommission Official Report
Stellvertreter
Party		Candidate	Results
			1st pref	%
	Die Rechte	Nicholas Kaos	35	92.11
	Abstention		3	7.89
Invalid/blank votes			0	–
Total			38	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			50	76.00
Source: Reichswahlkommission Official Report

Legislative

Legislative elections were held on 21 December 2018 and allowed 10 seats in the Reichsversammlung to be elected using party list proportional representation in a single nation-wide district, the standard electoral system of the Empire. The legislative election resulted in gains for ASE, and losses for Die Rechte and Liberty Union.

Party		Votes	%	Swing	Seats	+/–
	Die Rechte, Abelden's Liberal Party	18	62.07		7 + 1	▲1
	Abeldane Social Ecology – The Green Labour Party	7	24.14		2	▲1
	Liberty Union	4	13.79		1 + 1	▼1
Total		29	100.00		12	▲1
Invalid/blank votes		0	–	–	N/A
Registered voters/Turnout		50	58.00		N/A
Source: Reichswahlkommission Official Report

Popular Vote
Die Rechte			62.1%
Social Ecology			24.1%
Liberty Union			13.6%

Reichsversammlung Seats (electable)
Die Rechte			77.7%
Social Ecology			22.2%
Liberty Union			11.1%

Reichsversammlung Seats (all)
Die Rechte			88.8%
Social Ecology			18.1%
Liberty Union			18.1%

Members

Previous MR	Party		Elected MR	Party		State	Took office	Seat #
Elected
Nicholas Kaos		Die Rechte	Nicholas Kaos		Die Rechte	Alenshka	20 August 2017	1
Max Pollack		Die Rechte	Max Pollack		Die Rechte	Alexander	4 May 2018	2
Nicholas Randouler		Die Rechte	Nicholas Randouler		Die Rechte	Alexander	16 November 2018	3
Charlotte Katrinsdottir		Die Rechte	Charlotte Katrinsdottir		Die Rechte	Morgannwg	2 December 2018	4
Michael Brazeau		Die Rechte	Richard Hytholoday		Die Rechte	Morgannwg	23 December 2018	5
Edward Daniels		Die Rechte	Tarik Kârjasary		Social Ecology	Rai	23 December 2018	6
Anthony Clark		Die Rechte	Shiro Mephistopheles		Die Rechte	Morgannwg	23 December 2018	7
Ashley Jaax		Liberty Union	Horatio Eden		Liberty Union	Alenshka	6 October 2018	8
Ava Neasa		Social Ecology	Ava Neasa		Social Ecology	St. Castle	20 August 2017	9
N/A			Wilma Oakforrest		Die Rechte	Demirelia	23 December 2018	10
Appointed
Horatio Eden		Liberty Union	Edward Daniels		Liberty Union	Demirelia	7 January 2019	11
Stephen Freayth		Die Rechte	Stephen Freayth		Die Rechte	Alenshka	16 June 2018	12

Opinion polls

Vorsitzender

Pollster	Release	Sample	Hytholoday DR	Shiro DR	Oakforrest DR	Randouler DR	Daniels LU	Karjasary ASE	Other	Lead
L'Sydunche	11-15-2018	18	5.6%	16.7%	5.6%	22.2%	22.2%	27.8%	-	5.6%
L'Sydunchea	11-16-2018	16	6.25%	12.5%	0%	6.25%	31.25%	43.75%	-	Tie
			N/A	25%	N/A	N/A	31.25%	43.75%	-
			N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	50%	50%	-
L'Sydunchea	11-17-2018	13	7.7%	0%	0%	23.1%	30.8%	38.5%	-	23%
			N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	38.5%	61.5%	-
L'Sydunchea	11-19-2018	13	7.7%	7.7%	0%	30.8%	30.8%	23.1%	-	7.68%
			N/A	N/A	N/A	53.84%	46.16%	N/A	-
L'Sydunchea	11-22-2018	17	11.8%	17.7%	N/A	17.7%	23.5%	29.4%	-	5.8%
			N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	52.9%	47.1%	-
L'Sydunchea	11-25-2018	17	17.6%	23.5%	N/A	17.6%	11.8%	29.4%	-	17.6%
			N/A	41.2%	N/A	N/A	N/A	58.8%	-
Mephistopheles receives Die Rechte nomination. Daniels drops out.
L'Sydunche	11-28-2018	19	N/A	36.8%	N/A	N/A	5.3%	57.9%	-	21.1%
L'Sydunche	11-30-2018	16	N/A	43.4%	N/A	N/A	N/A	56.3%	-	12.9%

Stellvertreter

Pollster	Release	Sample	Kaos DR	Pollack DR	Jaax LU	Other	Lead
L'Sydunche	11-15-2018	18	61.1%	38.9%	N/A	-	22.2%
L'Sydunche	11-16-2018	16	75%	25%	N/A	-	50%
L'Sydunche	11-17-2018	13	61.5%	38.5%	N/A	-	23%
L'Sydunche	11-19-2018	13	69.2%	15.4%	15.4%	-	53.8%
L'Sydunche	11-22-2018	17	64.7%	N/A	35.3%	-	29.4%
L'Sydunche	11-25-2018	17	70.6%	N/A	29.4%	-	41.2%
L'Sydunche	11-28-2018	19	89.5%	N/A	10.5%	-	79%
L'Sydunche	11-30-2018	16	93.8%	N/A	6.3%	-	87.5%

Legislative

Pollster	Release	Sample	DR	LU	ASE	ALNA	Other	Lead
L'Sydunche	11-15-2018	18	44.4%	22.2%	27.8%	5.6%	-	16.6%
L'Sydunche	11-16-2018	16	43.8%	31.3%	25%	0%	-	12.5%
L'Sydunche	11-17-2018	13	46.2%	23.1%	30%	0%	-	16.2%
L'Sydunche	11-19-2018	13	53.8%	38.5%	7.7%	0%	-	15.3%
L'Sydunche	11-22-2018	17	52.9%	29.4%	17.6%	0%	-	23.5%
L'Sydunche	11-25-2018	17	52.9%	17.6%	29.4%	0%	-	23.5%
L'Sydunche	11-28-2018	19	52.6%	36.8%	10.5%	0%	-	15.8%
L'Sydunche	11-30-2018	16	56.3%	18.8%	25%	0%	-	31.3%