#imaginary elections

[mikethemiraculousmerc]

[canadianbrother]

[decidedlyunpoggers]

Country: United States of the Great Plains

System: Federal assembly-elected presidential republic under a non-partisan democracy

The 2040 General Election in the Great Plains took place November 3, 2040 to elect all 450 members of the National Council of the Great Plains, the legislative assembly of the United States of the Great Plains.

The elections, as all elections in the USGP, were non-partisan, as all political parties are technically banned. All members of the National Council are de jure independent. However, most members of the Council belong to to one of 4 major factions: the Technocrats, the Free Technocrats, the Religious Populists, and the Democratic Socialists. However, these factions are all informal, due to the ban on political parties and structure. With this in mind however, the different factions all play major roles in organizing a government, with the President and his Cabinet being elected by the Council by a simple majority vote. If no faction and their candidates can receive a majority, the government is thrown into limbo, in which tense negotiations are held to determine a government. It has yet to play out if no faction or coalition of factions can retain a majority. Background

The incumbent Technocratic government led by President Pete Ricketts had previously been highly popular, holding a supermajority in the National Council. They governed with the support of the Free Technocrats, who together had a 2/3 majority in the Council, with the Religious Populists and Democratic Socialists holding approx. 1/8 each, with the Religious Populists holding approximately 5 more seats than the DS. The Federalist Party of the Great Plains has a small handful of seat, albeit this small number of seats (c. 20) is one of the best performances for the International Federalist Party in any post-American Nation. This however changed when Tornado season struck. Tornado season was devastating, killing hundreds and leaving untold thousands of people homeless. Dakotan refugee communities in northern Nebraska were especially hard hit; one of the largest camps were almost completely destroyed, ruining the lives of people who had fled their homeland to escape civil war, only to be struck by tornadoes. The Technocrats had bungled much of the relief, wanting essentially to restore the status quo. This cost them the support of the Free Technocrats-who along with the Democratic Socialists-wanted to reform safety requirements and significantly increase direct aid to those who needed it. The Religious Populists were also critical, wanting to eliminate all aid to refugees, and to privatize the relief process, having churches and NGOs picking up all the slack.

The withdrawal of Free Technocratic support meant that Ricketts and his Cabinet had fallen just short of majority support. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before the DS or the RP called a vote of no confidence (which would destroy his government), Ricketts called for early elections, to take place on Saturday, Nov. 3, 2040. Campaign

The course of the election was focused on domestic affairs. The biggest issue of the campaign year was the process of rebuilding, which is what caused the early elections in the first place. The Technocrats were criticized by opponents on all sides for their rebuilding plans. The Technocrats wanted to restore the status quo, rebuilding when necessary and providing limited amounts of direct aid to those hit, prioritizing Plainian citizens over Dakotan refugees, while still providing support to refugees. This drew criticism from both the left and the right; the Free Technocrats and the DS wanted to completely reform the existing housing safety requirements to accommodate tornado safety guidelines and to allow for more multi-family housing units, while the Religious Populists were angered that the government was involved with rebuilding, as they believed that it should be privatized, with churches and NGOs taking control of it. The RP were also enraged that the Technocrats were providing support to the refugees, with RP leader Kris Kobach falsely stating "These people come here from far away lands [Dakota], only to mooch off of us. We should be deporting them, not treating treating them like they are equal to us. They came here illegally, they should immediately and swiftly be shipped back to Dakota. We do not want them, and we have no need for them". The RP additionally wanted to cease foreign aid money being used to rebuild, citing "foreign swamp money" paying for "the homosexual agenda", "illegal immigrants" "abortion on demand", and various other arguments.

Various other issues were raised, one of them being the status of the Plains Federal Dollar. The Technocrats and RP charged that the reforms being pushed by the Free Techs and DS would greatly inflate the Federal Dollar; this argument backfired on the Techs, who abandoned it, while the RP still ran with it. The Free Techs and DS believed that inflation of the Federal Dollar would stimulate the economy. Another prominent issue was the compensation of farmers who had lost their crops; agriculture was one of the main sectors of the USPG's economy, without sufficient crops the nation would lose its main source of income. The Free Techs, DS, and small factions of the RP supported direct, recurrent payments to farmers; the Techs were forced to waffle on their position, given that some of the various factions in the group argued that it might significantly increase inflation and cause more of the national budget going into welfare, while other factions argued it was for the best of the farmers. President Ricketts had put out conflicting statements on farmer welfare, saying once "I have no issue with providing welfare to our farmers, the backbone of our economy", while saying another time "Farmer welfare will increase inflation and decrease productivity, hurting those who need it the most". The Federalist Party of the Great Plains (who are relatively more moderate than their affiliates in other nations), generally stood by the Techs throughout the campaign, but with the added twist of Compositional Pan-Americanism. Results

Early into the counting, it was obvious who won the election. The Free Techs (led by David Toland) and their Environmentalist faction were able to overtake the Techs and become the largest faction in the Council, with approx. 150 seats. The Techs became the second largest faction, having lost their plurality by less than 10 seats. The DS, RP, and Federalists maintained roughly the same number of seats.

Due to the fact no faction had a majority, a period of tense negotiations followed. Several unofficial coalitions were considered. These include: Free Techs+Techs, Free Techs+DS, and various others. An emergency coalition was considered with Free Techs+DS+RP, but that was viewed as extreme, so it was passed up.

An agreement was finally worked out: The Free Technocrats would hold the Presidency, with David Toland as their leader. In exchange for supporting the government and not holding a vote of no confidence, the Technocrats would get to keep the Vice Presidency (with former President Pete Ricketts) and the Speaker of the National Council. The Free Technocrats also were forced to pursue less economically interventionist policies, as the Technocrats would withdraw their support if they pursued too economically interventionist tactics. The DS remained in opposition, but agreed not to hold a vote of no confidence, as they prefer the Free Technocratic government over the previous Technocratic Government. Informal DS leader Kara Eastman stated that although she wouldn't join the informal alliance, she would support them and looks forward to the new, progressive government in power. RP informal leader Kris Kobach announced he would not support the government, and would call for a no confidence motion should he get the opportunity (which would fail, as the Technocratic Speaker could simply squash it).