election Mauridivian General Elections, 2018

[Mauridiviah]

Mauridivian General Election: Live Coverage & Results

 

Senatorial elections were held on Sunday, June 3rd, 2018 in Mauridiviah. On May 20th, general polling and campaigning came to an end and exit polls are banned. As per Mauridivian electoral law, polls opened at 11:30 P.M. Mauridivian Central Time on June 2nd and closed at 12:30 A.M. on June 4th, remaining open throughout June 3rd to give people the chance to vote. This thread served as the center for election updates which took place through to the final announcement of the results on June 4th. These results are the results from before the new electoral law was put into place.

 

Current Composition of the Senate:

 

 

Results:

 

Electoral Map by which party won at least a plurality of votes in the given constituency. Note: Dark purple is the Mauridiviah Independence Party, Magenta-ish is the Patriot Party.

 

 

Seats Per Party:

 

Sitian Unionist Party: 29 (2.76%

Mauridiviah Independence Party: 64 (6.11%)

Liberal-Labor:  59 (5.66%)

 Bolivarian Party: 527 Seats (50.24%

Republican Party: 32 (3.05%)

Monarchist Party: 30 (2.86%)

Libertad: 298 Seats (28.41%)

Patriot Party: 10 (0.95%)

 

Political Leaders:

 

 

Articles Previously Posted About the Election and the Issues of this Election:

 

 

((I'm going to do something to similar to this: https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-election-live-blog/ but with obviously less posts on this thread. If you want to involve yourself, any tweets or posts about this election from a non-Mauridivian source will be linked to here as well.))

 

Edited July 3, 2018 by Mauridiviah
Past tense (see edit history)

[Mauridiviah]

Article Added by: Deiver Rosso

Romano to Polo: "Vegans have rights too"

 

Ramon Romano fired back at Diego Polo's May 13th election pledge to "save malnourished babies from their own misguided parents" by addressing the President directly in the following statement:

"Diego Polo, as far as the rights of the people are concerned, the rights of a parent to raise and feed their child as they wish is central. Stop being such a dictator! Vegans have rights too, Mr. President."

Diego Polo responded with his own statement on Wittier, where he said that "Romano has once again missed the forest for the trees. Vegans malnourishing their children for arbitrary dietary beliefs. Our children must be spared."

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Article Added by: Baltazar Coco

Libertad pledges to enact Free Tobacco, Bolivarians keep silent

 

Libertad leader, Simon Buenavides, has officially pledged this Monday that he will seek to enact legislation in order to fully legalize Tobacco, a drug that has been paradoxically banned despite the fact that other, much stronger drugs such as cocaine have been legal for nearly 20 years. The Bolivarian party has spoken about supporting similar initiatives in the past, but they have not commented on whether or not they would back Libertad's election pledge. Political scientist Juan Radi predicted that this may be because the Bolivarian party do not want to give Libertad extra voters.

"Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know," he said in a recent interview with the Nova Madria Times. "They don't really want a libertarian movement to become the new face of the right. They've been used to fighting the monarchists for so long, they don't know how to deal with them. The fact that polls show them higher than the monarchists really, really concerns the establishment."

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Article added by: Marco Publius

What About the Violetists?

 

Many are not aware, however Mauridiviah (like many other mainly tropical countries) has small, nonviolent Violetist religious communities. They are very much unlike those currently being fought by an international coalition in Afropa, these Violetists mostly just want to worship in peace and are able to coexist with those around them. Most of the time, no one gives the existence of these communities a second thought, however their vote could be key in deciding several contested seats in the south of the country, especially in places like Puerto Ayacucho and Sant Jose del Mar. As such, several parties (Lib-Lab, Republicans, and Libertad) have started embracing Violetist candidates locally.

However, doing this is not always the best strategy. Although this election has seen the largest number of Violetist candidates in the history of the Republic (a whopping 15 in all), most political analysts predict that the number of violetists in the Senate will actually drop from the current 2 to 1 or perhaps even 0, as there is currently happening a huge shift from several established parties to other, more minor parties (Mauridiviah Independence to Liberal Labor & Monarchists to Libertad), which might tip the balance against the favor of most of the Violetist candidates.

There's also the worry that these candidates might encourage political activism which could involve into active Violetist terrorism like in Afropa, or erode the separation between church and state in Mauridiviah. The only way to really find out would be if more Violetists got elected, and that doesn't seem to be happening any time soon.

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 Article Added by: Jaider Al-Bukani

Electoral Reform Delayed Until After Election

 

It has been confirmed this Friday's emergency Senate meeting to debate whether or not to peg the amount of representatives to 1 representative per 30,000 people (not voters, people in total), which would add 104 more seats to the Mauridivian Senate (bringing the grand total to 1153) has been cancelled and all of the parties have released a statement that this issue would be dealt after the election. This is likely going to lead to a scenario where the seats will be added after the election and allocated proportionally without a new election being called. A Mundus Liber Institute spokeperson as labeled this decision as "a sign of a dysfunctional democracy".

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Edited July 3, 2018 by Mauridiviah
Fixed city name (see edit history)

[Mauridiviah]

The Respublica Research Institute has published the final results of the opinion polls and compiled them over the last year in the following image:

 

[Mauridiviah]

Iverican Wittierfest

This week, Iverican politics have collided with Mauridivian politics, with much ensuing hilarity. It all began with this innocent tweet made by Franso Deitorr, the Primo of Iverica, who's powers are similar to those of the President of Mauridiviah.

 

The tweet, which mocks the Mauridiviah Independence Party leader Ramon Romano, references comments made by President Diego Polo in regards to Romano's ability to laser focus on one issue (specifically, a parent's right to determine a children's diet) whilst missing the bigger picture (that right having necessary limitations). As a result of this tweet, the hashtag #missedtheforest has become one of the main hashtags used by the Bolivarian Party against the Independence Party.

The tweet however, did not go without opposition from Ivericans.

 

Iverica One is one of Iverica's leading news providers, and they tweet this in opposition to this direct declaration of political support from their leader to another nation's, believing it to break decorum. As a result of this tweet, the Mauridiviah Independence Party has counteracted #missedtheforest with #startedaforestfire.

Primo Franso Deitorr however, was not going to take this lying down.

 

As of the making of this report, Iverica One has not recovered from the severe burns it recieved.

Article by: Deiver Rosso

 

 

[Mauridiviah]

Foreign Meddling in Elections?

Last week's Wittier feed has revealed more than the insecurities of several Iverican politicians and news networks, it has revealed a sinister and nefarious foreign lobbying operation with the aims to establish a Bolivarian majority government in Mauridiviah. 

It all started with one little tweet:

 

Looks like some innocent Iverican journalism, doesn't it? Look again:

Now, Deitorr's statement of support makes sense. As it has been clearly reported by Ivercia One, @Iverican political parties are collaborating in order to change the out come of OUR elections!

The rabbit hole however, it goes even deeper. Right around the same time as the Wittierfest, the Prime Minister of the @Sunset Sea Islands Theresa Tumbleweed tweeted:

 

Looks like an innocent, politician bs tweet right? Saying a lot but the words mean nothing? Well look again, the words DO mean something:

Now, I know this looks like a stretch, but "a radiant path" isn't being used in a general sense as it appears to be. You see, Theresa Tumbleweed is a member of the Party of Radiance. Indeed, now the double meaning of the comment is revealed.

The final nail in the coffin is, of course, the fact that Iverica One liked the tweet. They flaunt their conspiracy in front of our faces, and mock us behind our backs! This disgusting meddling's extent will soon be revealed, and its effects purged. Several news networks, including giants like Buena Vista and Veritas News, have hired Private Investigators who will be combing alongside their professional journalists through every possible bit of evidence in order to uncover the true facts about this conspiracy.

It is truly devastating to see such friendly nations like Iverica and the Sunset Sea Islands try to meddle in the elections of its weaker neighbors. The world must know, and the world must act!

Article by: Jezebel Mono

 

[Mauridiviah]

Article Added by: Deiver Rosso

Referendums, Referendums Everywhere!

Despite the official ban on campaigning, politicians continue to make desperate last-minute election pledges in order to guarantee their election. In particular, Bolivarians have finally responded to Libertad's call for Free Tobacco, by pledging that they would put the issue to a popular referendum. Libertad has fired back with a referendum of their own: A referendum on ATARA membership. The Mauridiviah Independence Party has pledged to support both initatives.

The concept of using referendums to score political points is not at all new in Mauridivian politics. It is in fact expected that if an issue is a hot topic in Mauridiviah, and it can be broken down into a "Yes" or "No", then the parties are to put it up for a referendum.

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Article Added by: Jaider Al-Bukani

Why are you voting for corruption?

Corruption has always been a sensitive issue in Mauridiviah. The fight against it constant. However, despite the recent scandals involving both senior Republican Party officials as well as Monarchist Party officials, these parties are still expected to win big in these coming elections. Why?

Perhaps it is because people have forgotten about these scandals over all the election talk. Allow me to remind you.

Back in early July of 2017, it was revealed that several junior Republican party officials had been embezzling state money in the states of Merida, Yeshoai, Llanos, and Pulviselvas. Even though these party officials have been impeached, convicted, and purged, their shadow should still remain over the Republican party.

It was uncovered by the investigation that the embezzling scheme had actually been going on for decades beforehand before it was caught. The Republicans allowed this to happen right under their noses for too long. That is not a sign of political competence.

Of course, the people punished the Republicans heavily. They would not come to recover until early 2018 from the electoral blow. However, ever since then they've been comparatively soaring in the polls. In the last polls, they had nearly 8% of the electorate pledging to vote for them. That's nearly one in every ten voters pledging to support a party that for all the know, still is plagued by a bunch of corrupt idiots.

In a similar way, the Monarchists had their own corruption scandal in November 2017. This time, it was involving the previous party leader, Matteo Orguellas. It was revealed that throughout the 1990s Orguellas, who was back then the mayor of Concepcion, had misused the city's budget in order to fund the building of elegant Monarchist Party buildings across the country as well as to buy himself a Ferrari. These activities stopped when he entered the Senate in 1998, however they still happened and the total still came to millions of taxpayer's money used for luxury party centers and several personal luxury items.

When the government commission that investigates corruption in the government, called the Comision Contra la Corrupcion Nacional, uncovered these facts no one was more surprised than the current Monarchist Party leader, Luciano Hernandez. Probably not because his former boss had embezzled money, but because he had been caught. Neither of these parties are competent enough to deserve your vote.

Now, now. There are some skeptics who are misinformed and say that corruption might as well be all encompassing, and that the CCCN is also corrupt, because of course, how can we trust the government to investigate themselves? 

However, the CCCN is actually not composed nor appointed by government officials. It's formed by a group of the top 50 universities in the country, who's staff appoint political scientists and finance professors among other professionals to the 49 member Commission (In order to get an uneven number for votes, one of the professionals appointed is removed by lot) and they are the ones who investigate and monitor government action and finances in order to discern if corruption is happening or happened. This therefore makes the CCCN apart from the politicians who they investigate and less likely to be corrupt. That to me sounds like a reasonable source.

As such, don't vote for corruption. It's time for Mauridiviah to move on from these ancient parties and issues and address more current ones. 

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Edited July 3, 2018 by Mauridiviah
Fixed language (see edit history)

[Mauridiviah]

Article Added By: Deiver Rosso

POLLS NOW OPEN ACROSS MAURIDIVIAH

It is now 11:30 PM on June 2nd Mauridivian Central Time, which means that polls are open! Citizens are already lining up to get voting out of the way. As always, turnout is expected to be very high (as the government spams citizens with "Bad politicians are elected by good people who don't vote" in perpetuity) and we have no real idea what the results could be. Polls will be closing at 12:30 AM on June 4th Mauridivian Central Time, however if you're in line after that time or arrive to a polling station that has a line after that time you will be allowed to vote. As such, results will only start to come in after 1:30 AM on June 4th. Happy ballot hunting Mauridiviah! 🎣

Here's some Mauridivians already in line to vote:

 

 

Voters in line waiting for polls to open, Tachira, Bolivar State.

 

Voters gather in the outskirts of Guayare, Pulviselvas, awaiting the opening of the polls.

 

ten minutes late but nobody notices shhh.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Mauridiviah
Removed dead link (see edit history)

[Mauridiviah]

Article Added by: Marco Publius

POLLS NOW CLOSED

As of 2:28 AM on Mauridivian Central Time on June 4th, the polls have closed nationwide and votes are currently being counted. We will be recieving updates throught the night as the votes are counted, however due to the complexity of Mauridiviah's electoral system (Single Transferable Vote in multi-member constituencies) we likely won't have results any until around 9 AM. The full results are expected to be compiled by this afternoon.

[Mauridiviah]

((I know this is late, but in RP these announcements were released throught the morning of June 4th.))

Article Added by: Deiver Rosso

RAMON ROMANO HAS LOST HIS SEAT

Ramon Romano, the leader of the Mauridiviah Independence Party, has not been elected inside of his home constituency. This result was actually expected, since the constituency where he grew up in Maurotopia (Los Barrios Altos) has traditionally voted for the centrist Republican Party. He failed to meet the threshold of votes required to be elected to represent it, and will therefore not serve in the Senate for the rest of the year. His party is considering replacing him as party leader.

The haughty party leader thought that he could switch his constituency from the one that was loyally elected him since 2009 (Miraflores, in Downtown Maurotopia) to the one that his mom lives in. This move has of course ended in disaster as he shall not be serving in the upcoming Senate.

Several Mauridiviah Independence Party senators have floated the idea of replacing him as party leader, with a certain Josefina Josefain being groomed as party leader.

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Article Added by: Jaider Al-Bukani

DIEGO POLO NOT HOLDING HIS BREATH

Diego Polo, who appeared on national televesion for a quick interview at around 4 AM while sipping coffee, has said that he is not worried about the election results. Here's his full response to the question, "Are you worried about your party's in this election?":

"No, I'm not worried at all. We have been preforming strongly in the polls back in mid to late May. Our candidates have been going out every day and talking to many constituents, and we've been recieving very positive results. We believe that the Mauridivian people will make us happily surprised when the final results are in. A Bolivarian-majority government would allows us to implement our full agenda without need for significant compromise, and propel Mauridiviah fowards, trying to diversify the economy while maintaining our strong tourism sector and expanding our involvement in the world stage. I believe that we will come out as a stronger nation in general after this election, and here goes to 2020! -Diego Polo then proceeded to drink his coffee and complain that it was cold-."

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Article Added by: Marco Publius

LIBERTAD RISING

According to these early results, Libertad has begun to win in more traditionally Monarchist and Republican Party constituencies. It is currently unclear whether or not this indicates a trend, however if it does several political analysts have already begun spinning theories, here's a few of them:

Political analyst Aaron Muntes has said that Libertad's electoral rise could place them as the main opposition party and signal a polarization in the country's politics; Left Libertarians Vs. Right Libertarians.

Economist Mortimer Alvarez has said that if Libertad were to continue strongly, the country might take a turn away from Regulationism and go towards a more free market style.

Political commentator Giovana Domina has said that Libertad's rise signals that Mauridiviah shifting away from traditional left-wing policies and going towards more traditional right-wing policies.

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Article Added by: Baltazar Coco

MOST SEARCHED FOR TERMS TONIGHT

Boogaloo, the nation's largest search engine, keeps tallies on what the most searched terms are on its engine per country for a certain timespan. As the results continue to arrive, here's the top five results from within Mauridiviah, starting at 2:30 AM till 6 AM.

1. Is Ramon Romano still running for President?
2. How many seats do the Bolivarians need for a majority?
3. Does Libertad really advocate child slavery?
4. What is a majority government?
5. Why is my country having an election?

Mauridivians indeed have their priorities in check.

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Article Added by: Manuel Faros

GREAT NIGHT FOR SMALLER PARTIES

Smaller parties are having a great night right now, with the Liberal-Labor Party having won twice as many seats as they won in 2015 by this time. The Republican and Monarchist Parties are also trending towards a small increase. Worryingly enough, the Sitian Unionist Party has also won more seats. People have taken to arguing on Wittier as to whether or not this shows significant disenfranchisement or something else entirely, however we still have many hours to go before the official results are in.

The Sitian Unionist Party's victory might cause the re-escalation of tensions between locals and the federal government. 

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(Final results will be in by Friday.))

 

Edited June 6, 2018 by Mauridiviah
Corrected the name of the search engine (see edit history)

[Mauridiviah]

((In RP this happened at around 10 AM on June 4th.))

Article Added by: Baltazar Coco

RESULTS ARE NOW IN

The final results have now been released by the Electoral Power, giving us several surprises. The Bolivarians have now won a slim majority, composed of a grand 3 seats. It may be a very thin hold on power, but it is alas a hold on power and from now on Diego Polo leads a majority government. This election has seen the collapse of the Monarchist and Independence Party, as well as a political re-alignment of the Liberal-Labor Party. Most interestingly, Libertad has now rise as the main opposition to the Bolivarian Party, showing that more and more people are becoming disillusioned with regulationism.

[Mauridiviah]

((This event happened on June 3rd and June 4th.))

Article Added by: Marco Publius

Riots in Sitia

Following the results, riots have erupted in the state of Sitia, specifically in Ciudad de Sitia and its surroundings, as the Sitian Unionist Party sweeped the state. Supporters of the now-defunct and banned Sitian Revolutionary Party took to the streets to protest the fact that so many of their comrades are turning away from the secessionist revolutionary cause.

They have engaged in the throwing of molotov cocktails and the burning of cars and local businesses, as well as looting. Police report that at least 58 people have been hurt during the violent outbursts, 23 of which were police officers. Thankfully, no critical injuries have been reported. 

The following is the story of what has happened in Sitia, with pictures:

 

At around 7 PM, protesters began rallying in residential steets of Sitia City, calling on people to join them.

 

Protesters soon began to fill the streets, stopping all traffic in the area.

 

Protesters began using street garbage to expand the blockade throught the city and surrounding areas, and they began to light fire, riot and loot.

 

The police and first respondents finally began to arrive at the scene at around 8:30 PM due to sympathetic government officials blocking their deployment.

 

Protesters soon clashed with the police, often hiding behind hastily constructed barricades like these afterwards.

 

Some protesters, like the one above, protected their identities by using masks or other cloths to hide their faces. This way, the police cannot arrest them afterwards.

 

The riots continued into the early morning, with molotov cocktails still being thrown. However, the crowd did begin to clear.

 

The protests lit several riot policemen on fire, such as this one above, while shouting the revolutionary slogan of "Igualdad, Libertad, y Sitia!" (Equality, Liberty, and Sitia).

 

That concludes the gallery. Protesters and rioters had cleared the streets by 9 AM. Police reports state that over 250 individuals have been arrested for participating or inciting this riot.

 

[Mauridiviah]

((This is the last set of articles, released during the evening of June 4th))

Article Added by: Deiver Rosso

BOLIVARIAN PARTY GAINS A MAJORITY IN THE SENATE

With the final results now in, the Bolivarian Party has won the day: they have a whole two seat majority in the Senate. This means that for the first time since 2002, Mauridiviah has a majority government that is not a coalition of parties. That leaves us with the big question: What will happen next?

Well, the last time Mauridiviah had a majority government was the government of The Movement for the 21st Century, a group of activists from all over the spectrum seeking to put Mauridiviah on the world map by the turn of the century. Now they didn't exactly succeed and their political legacy is full of controversy, but they did set up some of the most critical services Mauridivians enjoy today: Free college education, quality universal healthcare, job training and the current model of education. So we can expect similar sweeping changes now that the party no longer needs to compromise.

So far, the Bolivarians have spoken about expanding their diplomatic outreach and continuing to promote democracy by reaching out to the new government of @Ahrana and opening diplomatic talks and a possible defensive pact with @Iverica. There's also been talk of further cooperation with @Fulgistan and more of the Mauridivian Broadcasting Corporation's budget going to Radio Free Eurth, a non-profit seeking to inform citizens living under authoritarian regimes. They're also considering the role of the military as a force for not just peace and homeland defense but also a force to stop war crimes.

On the domestic front, spending on welfare and infrastructure is likely to rise, which means higher taxes. However, some Bolivarians are toying with the idea of scrapping the property tax with a land value tax that would lift the burden off the shoulders of the hotel owners. Diego Polo has long been a fan of the space program and it will likely be revitalized now that he has the power to focus on it. On the more wacky side, the Bolivarians have become increasingly concerned with what happens to dogs and cats both in shelters and on the streets, which could see the outright banning of dog shelters that euthanize animals and a nationwide campaign to remove stray animals as well as adoption drives.

There's only one way to know for sure what will happen, however: to wait and see.

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Article Added by: Jaider Al-Bukani

SAY GOODNIGHT, FEUDALISM

The Bolivarians have floated the idea of scrapping a very key part of the Compromise of 1989: feudal titles tied to land holding. Basically, if you owned any land, you could register with the government and get a title, and anyone living on your land would be legally addressed as a "Serf".

That's how it worked back in the days of the Kingdom of Mauridiviah, and the Compromise of 1989 preserved that... for some reason. However, since that is not a constitutional provision of the Compromise, it can be removed by a majority vote. Before this provision could've been abolished by collaborating with the Mauridiviah Independence Party, but that would've alienated the Monarchist, Republican, Patriot, Sitian Unionist, and Liberal-Labor parties, who at the time supported the status quo in that regard. And well, when you're doing a minority government it's not wise to alienate literally all other parties but the leader of the opposition.

However, with the new majority and changing attitudes in Liberal-Labor, it is possible to easily abolish the provision and give back the dignity to tenants that they deserve. It also cuts down on the Bureau of Royal Titles' size, allowing that money to be spent elsewhere on more valuable projects, like infrastructure, education, or space travel.

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Article Added by: Manuel Faros

REFERENDUMS WILL BE UPHELD

Diego Polo has personally come out on TV to pledge to the entire nation that referendums will be held on ATARA membership as well as Free Tobacco sometime in July. Simon Buenavides, the recently elected into the legislature leader of Libertad has also come out in favor of this, and says that July is actually too far and that the referendum needs to happen even earlier. The Censors' Office fired back by stating that it would be a miracle if they could hold any kind of national vote before July 7.

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Article Added by: Marco Publius

MAURIDIVIAH NEEDS A NEW LOOK

The Bolivarians have floated many reforms since their win was announced, including replacing the long-used Republican flag with the Kingdom's flag. The argument is that basically, the only difference is the tone of the colors was changed to be their basic color and adding the odd "Republican shield", which isn't even the countries' emblem and has a history associated with the now-defunct nation of Colomboia. 

As such changing wouldn't really be a big symbolic deal. Plus, many people still own that copy of the flag so it shouldn't really be a problem of access. However, many are asking: why change it in the first place?

Frankly.... it's ugly. It wasn't very well thought out, being kind of rushed and awkwardly put together during the spring of 1988. Although some have grown nostalgic to this new design, it really reflects badly on us when our flag looks like a kindergardener threw it together.

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Article Added by: Baltazar Coco

ELECTORAL REFORM WILL HAPPEN, AND NO SORRY YOU DON'T GET A NEW ELECTION #DYSFUNCTIONAL DEMOCRACY

At around 6 PM today all of the political parties have released a statement saying that yes, they will be upping the amount of delegates, and that no, we the people will not be getting a say.

Instead, the amount of delegates will go be distributed proportionally with the percentage of votes won this election being the amount of seats that a party shall recieve.

A Mundus Liber spokesperson, the same one that branded this move a sign of a "dysfunctional democracy", has come out to once again condemn this and is urging the parties to wait until the 2020 election to pursue this electoral reform. So far, nobody has listened.

A few youths have been protesting this move here and there, but after a long election season people are sick and tired of politics and most of them don't seem to care or mind.

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Deiver Rosso

LIVE COVERAGE ENDS

That ends our coverage of this years' elections. Thanks for staying with us, and we'll be back here in 2020!

Edited July 11, 2018 by Mauridiviah
corrected some spelling (see edit history)