Decembergate

Decembergate
Date: 18 December 2017 - 30 December 2017
Events
Abeldane federal elections nullified Voter fraud alleged Government investigating Election re-run
People
Emperor Stephen I Former Vorsitzender-elect Newton von Uberquie Stellvertreter-elect Patrick Renwick Shiro Mephistopheles Alejandro Whyatt Tarik Kârjasary

Decembergate is the period of time following the Abeldane elections for the government posts of Vorsitzender and Stellvertreter in December of 2017, returning Newton von Uberquie as Vorsitzender and Patrick Renwick as Stellvertreter. Following the confirmation by the Reichswahlkommission that the two had won the election, Emperor Stephen nullified the results of the election citing voter fraud: eight votes had been cast illegally.

Despite the fact that, reportedly, the illegally-cast votes did not impact the election's results, the re-run of the election was ordered by the office of the Emperor and the Reichswahlkommission, and took place on the 20th of December, 2017, granting victory to Vorsitzender-elect von Uberquie's election opponent, Shiro Mephistopheles. The investigation into the fraud never reached a conclusion.

In the aftermath of the Concordiagate scandal 2,5 years later, it was revealed that Stephen Freayth, as both Emperor and head of the RWK, had been manipulating and rigging elections at least as far back as 2017. The most likely theory which has arisen from this is thereby that the alleged voter manipulation was undertaken by Freayth himself, then Emperor, to justify re-running the election and ensuring the defeat of Newton von Uberquie, for unknown reasons.

Responses

• Newton von Uberquie: The former Vorsitzender-elect remarked that:

I would like to go on record to condemn this vile disruption of Abelden's democratic traditions, and hope the culprit is found swiftly and reprimanded appropriately for the time, effort and resources he has wasted. These kinds of activities are unacceptable, and ridicules the hard work that Stephen, the Reichswahlkommission and, in truth, all of us put into making Abelden a productive country. I hope justice can be served and I hope for a successful re-run of the election to find the legitimate winner of the election, whether it be myself or any of the other candidates.

— Newton von Uberquie, 18 December 2017

• Patrick Renwick: The Stellvertreter-elect "asserted it to be a “breach of our most sacred democratic principles and traditions”, denouncing “this action and whomever is responsible”."
• Alejandro Whyatt: The National Federalist Party candidate for Vorsitzender called the affair a "“bloody disgrace”, calling for those responsible to face “harsh consequences”.
• Horatio Eden: The Leader of the Opposition insisted that “as many resources as possible should be utilised to bring those responsible to justice.”
• Max Pollack: The United Rhinoceros Party Stellvertreter candidate remarked, in response to the Vorsitzender-elect's comments, "ditto".
• Ava Neasa: The Vorsitzender and Director of the Abeldane Intelligence Agency promised "an independent investigation" that would "determine the cause and culprits of committing this disgraceful act".
• Michael Thomas Brazeau: The NFP Stellvertreter candidate pointed out that he had predicted it, maintaining that "you all said I was crazy, yes, there is voter fraud."