November 2022 Cascadia general election
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General elections were held on 20 November 2022 in Cascadia to elect the President of Cascadia and all fifteen seats in the House of Representatives for one-month terms, an increase in seats from the previous twelve contested in the last election. These elections were held concurrently with the first (and only) election for Cascadia's five seats in the American Assembly, an international deliberative body and central organ of the American Union alliance. These were the fourth elections to be held in Cascadia.
Incumbent President ViolentVampire stood for re-election to a third term as President. He was virtually unchallenged, despite past hints at a presidential campaign from notable government officials, such as Secretary of Recruitment EstiQT. His rivals in the race included former representative and Mayor of Yakima PavTheYT, as well as House Representative and Mayor of Bread Inc, Bachinuni; PavTheYT being notable for being Vamp's challenger in his first race for the presidency in September.
A new constituency, Central, was added in the House of Representatives. For the first time since the inaugural election of the House of Representatives, each constituency did not have the exact same district magnitude; this was done to have the districts more regional opposed to purely based on equal influence and size. Two of the twelve incumbent members of the House, Arathorn52 (South Metropolitan), and CatPersonQT (North Metropolitan) did not stand for re-election, and many major newcomer campaigns are being forged, especially in the Central and South Metropolitan constituencies. This campaign was the longest campaign so far in a Cascadian election, due to President ViolentVampire opening applications for this election nearly 13 days in advance of the election.
The campaign for President was fairly uneventful, and resulted in a landslide re-election of ViolentVampire to a third term in office, with Bachinuni coming in a distant second place. This election saw many shakeups on the house level, with the "Sagebrush Bloc" winning all but one of the seats in the new Central constituency. Voter turnout surged from the previous election, with 52.5% of eligible voters casting a ballot, for a total of 52 votes cast. This would be the largest election conducted in cascadian history until a month later in the December general election.
These elections were the first elections held under the Third Amendment to the Constitution, which removed the fixed date for elections and altered it to a floating date on the third sunday of each month; as well will be the first elections held since the formation of the American Union alliance by Cascadia, the Midwestern Union, and the Mexican Empire.
Electoral system
President
The President of Cascadia was elected by Instant Runoff Voting due to more than two candidates being on the ballot. In this system, voters complete a closed ballot on google forms, numbering candidates 1, 2, 3, etc. in order of their preference. The voting period lasts for roughly twenty four hours, however this may be a tiny bit more. Voters may mark as many or as few preferences as they wish. Each ballot is initially credited to its first-preference candidate but may be transferred on later counts to the next available preference where the first preference candidate is elected or eliminated.
House of Representatives
Members of the House of Representatives were elected by single transferable vote (STV) from 4 constituencies with between three and five seats. In this system, voters complete a closed ballot on google forms, numbering candidates 1, 2, 3, etc. in order of their preference. The voting period lasts for roughly twenty four hours, however this may be a tiny bit more. Voters may mark as many or as few preferences as they wish. Each ballot is initially credited to its first-preference candidate but may be transferred on later counts to the next available preference where the first preference candidate is elected or eliminated.
Electoral boundary changes
The House Standing Committee on Apportionment convened in early November 2022 under the provisions of the Apportionment Committee Act of August 2022 with Legislature President SayerQT as chair, and made recommendations on changes to constituency boundaries due to monthly changes in population, influence, and activity. The Committee report, released on 7 Nove,ber 2022, recommended an increase in the number of representatives from 12 to 15 elected in 4 constituencies, instead of the previous 3; creating the new constituency of Central. The committee also recommended variance in the number of members returned from each constituency, opposed to the equal number used in previous legislative elections. These changes were implemented by H.R. 17 The November 2022 legislative electoral distribution order. The election of the 4th Legislature was therefore held using the new boundaries, for 15 seats.
American Assembly
The cascadian members of the American Assembly were elected by single transferable vote (STV) in a single nationwide constituency, with five seats being up for grabs, with a quota of 16.7% needed to win.
Presidential election
Presidential candidates
| Presidential candidate | Political office(s) | Vice presidential candidate | |||
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ViolentVampire | 2nd President of Cascadia (Sep 17 - Dec 18 2022) Treasurer of Cascadia (Aug 17 - Sep 17 2022) Representative for Salish (Aug 17 - Sep 17 2022) Mayor of Neah Bay |
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SayerQT | |
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Bachinuni | Representative for Frontier (Oct 17 - Nov 20 2022) Mayor of Bread Inc. |
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ViolentVampire | |
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PavTheYT | Secretary of Defense (Sep 17 - Oct 9 2022) Representative for Salish (Sep 17 - Oct 17 2022) Mayor of Yakima (Sep 15 - Dec 19 2022) |
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ViolentVampire | |
Endorsements
| List of ViolentVampire's endorsements |
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Executive officials
Representatives
Mayors
Local officials
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Campaign
Applications were opened on November 7, and on that very day, former representative and Secretary of Defense PavTheYT announced his candidacy for the presidency. This candidacy however was seen as mostly as a shitpost, with their campaign announcement nearly entirely consisting of "meow". Two days later, on the ninth, President Vamp formally announced his bid for a third term. He stated in his announcement that "if the people of Cascadia decide to grant me another term my main priorities will be making our national shop one of the largest on the server, using the gold from the shop to fund new welfare programs, bringing an end to the hunter epidemic through education and military action, beautifying the region with nation wide building projects, and bringing the Cascadian community closer together with weekly events."
The campaign was mostly uneventful, due to the massive amount of support held by President Vamp following the six-hour war and the significant expansion of Cascadia that had occurred under his previous two terms in office. He also received a significant number of endorsements, compared to his opponents which received zero.
Three days before the election, representative Bachinuni formally announced his candidacy, stating that if elected he would prioritize keeping cascadians safe from hunters, which was a dominating issue of the campaign.
Results
For more in depth results, see Results breakdown of the November 2022 Cascadia general election
| Candidate | Running mate | Hometown | First preference | Final preference | ||||
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| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||||
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ViolentVampire | SayerQT | Neah Bay | 44 | 84.62 | 44 | 84.62 | |
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Bachinuni | ViolentVampire | Bread Inc. | 7 | 13.46 | 8 | 15.38 | |
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PavTheYT | ViolentVampire | Yakima | 1 | 1.92 | |||
| Total votes | 52 | 100.00 | 52 | 100.00 | ||||
Turnout was 52.5% of eligible voters, up from the last election.
Legislative election
Frontier (3 seats)
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Candidates
Results
Central (4 seats)
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Candidates
Campaign
Results
South Metropolitan (5 seats)
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Candidates
Campaign
Results
North Metropolitan (3 seats)
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