February 2024 Cascadia general election
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General elections were held on 18 February 2024 in Cascadia to elect the President of Cascadia and all fifteen seats in the House of Representatives for one-month terms, as well as the Public Advocate for a two-month term. These elections were held concurrently with three nationwide supreme court retention referendums, and municipal elections in the capital city of Olympia.
Incumbent President Setrus stood for re-election to a record third consecutive term as President, his fourth overall. He was challenged by former House Speaker Paper1emur early on, who built a significant campaign to oppose the sitting President. While several notable figures such as Vice President Rocksthunder were touted as potential candidates, none materialized besides former Vice President and war hero DaPigThatBig becoming the third candidate in the race for the presidency, nearly a year after last holding public office in Cascadia.
The Electoral Commission's report to the Legislature increased the seat magnitude of the Southern constituency to five, making it the largest constituency by terms of seats. The redistribution also renamed the Western constituency to the Metropolitan constituency, and moved most of its eastern portions into the Eastern constituency, such as Spokane. A record number of candidates ran for the House of Representatives, with 28 candidates contesting 15 seats. Some constituencies, such as Metropolitan, saw nearly 8 candidates run for just 3 seats. Over 40% of house candidates were not incumbents, and nearly 18% had never been elected to the House of Representatives. Longtime political figures, such as former President EstiQT, did not stand for re-election to the House of Representatives in this election. This campaign was one of the shortest campaigns ever for a Cascadian election, with the Electoral Commission's final boundary recommendation being passed and candidate registration being opened just 6 days prior to the election.
(President) (House) (PubAdv) (Turnout)
Electoral system
President
The President of Cascadia was elected by Instant Runoff Voting as there were 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. 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. This system is used for the Public Advocate, however in this election there were only two candidates running for that office, so first-past-the-post was utilized instead.
House of Representatives
Members of the House of Representatives were elected by single transferable vote (STV) from 4 constituencies with between two 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. 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 Electoral Commission convened on the evening of February 11 and in the morning of February 12, with Chief Justice SayerQT as chair, and saw significant debate as to whether the names of the constituencies should be radically altered. Speaker of the House Raptormm4 proposed a plan that would change the name of the Southern constituency to "Sierra", Eastern to "Frontier", Northern to "Great North", and Western to "Metropolitan". This plan passed the Commission 3-2, over the criticism of Chief Justice SayerQT and Vice President Rocksthunder. However, when it was brought to a vote in the House of Representatives that evening, it was voted down by a large margin. Because of this, in a 4-1 decision, the Commission voted to propose a plan keeping most of the names besides Western, which would be changed to Metropolitan. The Commission also made recommendations on changes to constituency boundaries due to monthly changes in population, influence, and activity, by moving significant portions of Eastern Washington and Idaho out of the former Western constituency and into the Eastern constituency, as well as moving the City of Vancouver and the Greater Victoria area out of the Northern constituency and into the new Metropolitan constituency. This plan passed the House of Representatives with just Speaker Raptormm4 voting against it. These boundaries were the ones used for this legislative election.
Presidential election
Presidential candidates
| Presidential candidate | Political office(s) | Vice presidential candidate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Setrus | 7th & 12th President of Cascadia (Dec 17 2023 - present) Secretary of the Interior (Aug 17 - Sep 17 2022)Secretary of Defense (Aug 17 - Sep 17 2022) Representative (Aug 17 - Sep 17 2022) Mayor of Vancouver Former Mayor of Port McNeill |
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Rocksthunder | |
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Paper1emur | Speaker of the House of RepresentativesRepresentative (Oct 17 - Nov 20 2022)Mayor of Hope Island
Former Mayor of Passage Bay |
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Rocksthunder | |
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DaPigThatBig | 4th Vice President of Cascadia
Secretary of State
Secretary of Defense (Sep 17 - Oct 9 2022) |
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Bachinuni | |
Endorsements
| List of Setrus's endorsements |
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Executive officials
Newspapers
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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 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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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Before redistricting, the Frontier constituency spanned the northeast BC interior, as well as most of Eastern Washington and Oregon, including towns such as Kennewick, Bread Inc., and Avola. However, after redistricting, most of this area was redistricted into the new Central constituency, with the Frontier district being mostly just the towns in Cascadia past the rockies or in the eastern section of the Columbia Plateau. The largest settlement in the constituency was Spokane. The only incumbent who wasn't redistricted, jtwokay, ran for re-election, alongside 3 newcomers.
Candidates
| Candidate | Political office(s) | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| jtwokay | Representative since September 17, 2022 Treasurer of Cascadia |
Spokane | |
| DrakeypantsYT | Mayor of Fort Peck | Fort Peck | |
| B1GB0AT | City Councillor | Chaeronea | |
| WeirdNicholas | Mayor of Helena | Helena | |
Results
For more in depth results, see Results breakdown of the November 2022 Cascadia general election
| Candidate | R1 | % | R2% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DrakeypantsYT | 5 | 38.5 | 25.0 | Elected |
| B1GB0AT | 5 | 38.5 | 25.0 | Elected |
| jtwokay (inc.) | 2 | 15.4 | 28.8 | Elected |
| WeirdNicholas | 1 | 7.7 | 21.2 | Lost |
| Total | 13 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 25% to win |
Central (4 seats)
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Central was created for the first time as an electoral division for this election, and consisted of much of what was formerly a part of the Frontier constituency. This change was made due to the population increases in the region which necessitated the creation of a standalone district for the region. The district encompassed much of the Columbia Plateau, as well as north into the BC interior. It elected 4 members to the House of Representatives in this election, with major population centers being in Freewater and Umatilla County.
This election was unique due to the campaign of the “Sagebrush Bloc”, an electoral alliance of four candidates all from the so-called “Sagebrush metro”, consisting of Freewater and Umatilla County. This ticket included Ambassador, Mayor (and future president) TylenolEC, Mayor Holden66, and County Councillors Weidman555 and Frankie4SD. Their campaign was seen widely as a populist one, as all of them not being prominently active in national electoral politics before, with only Tylenol having served in any post in the national government, that being Ambassador to Asia. The campaign also saw other candidates not from the Sagebrush Bloc, notably two candidates for President; Mayor of Bread Inc Bachinuni, and former representative and defense secretary PavTheYT who were joined by incumbent representative Cheeseballfluffy, the only incumbent in the race.
The result of the race was a victory for the Sagebrush Bloc, winning 3 of the 4 seats up for grabs, with just Frankie4SD losing his bid. Out of the non-sagebrush candidates, Bachinuni beat out PavTheYT and cheeseballfluffy to make it into the House, unseating the only incumbent in the race.
TylenolEC would later go on to serve as the 3rd President of Cascadia from December 2022 to January 2023, and Bachinuni would later go on to serve as Secretary of Defense.
Candidates
| Candidate | Political office(s) | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| TylenolEC | Ambassador to Asia Mayor of Freewater |
Freewater | |
| Holden66 | Mayor of Umatilla County | Umatilla County | |
| Weidman555 | County Councillor | Umatilla County | |
| Frankie4SD | County Councillor | Umatilla County | |
| cheeseballfluffy | Representative since October 2022 Mayor of Avola |
Avola | |
| PavTheYT | Former Secretary of Defense Former Representative Mayor of Yakima |
Yakima | |
| Bachinuni | Mayor of Bread Inc. | Bread Inc. | |
Results
For more in depth results, see Results breakdown of the November 2022 Cascadia general election
| Candidate | R1 | % | R2% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TylenolEC | 5 | 45.4 | 20.0 | Elected |
| Bachinuni | 3 | 27.3 | 20.0 | Elected |
| Weidman555 | 2 | 18.2 | 23.3 | Elected |
| Holden66 | 0 | 0.0 | 20.4 | Elected |
| cheeseballfluffy (inc.) | 1 | 9.1 | 9.1 | Lost |
| PavTheYT | 0 | 0.0 | 7.3 | Lost |
| Frankie4SD | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Lost |
| Total | 11 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 20% to win |
South Metropolitan (5 seats)
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Compared to the last election, the boundaries of South Metropolitan remained relatively unchanged, however with the number of seats allocated to the district increased from four to five. Many candidates ran to fill the open seat, as well as to contest the others, with representatives Arathorn52 and Paradox_1080 standing down for re-election. The vote resulted in a shocking loss for Secretary of Defense DaPigThatBig, which led to the pretext for Washingtonian secession from Cascadia as a part of DaPigThatBig’s espionage operation to take control of Oregon and to liberate Oregon from authoritarianism.
Mole_ would later go on to be elected as the first Public Advocate of Cascadia, and Fr0z3nW1nt3r would later become Secretary of State.
Candidates
| Candidate | Political office(s) | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SayerQT | Representative since September 2022 Vice President since September 2022 Former President of Cascadia Mayor of Olympia |
Olympia | |
| DaPigThatBig | Secretary of Defense since October 2022 | Neah Bay | |
| Moxies_Hoe | Representative since October 2022 City Manager of Olympia |
Port Orchard | |
| Milgorn123 | Mayor of Oceanside | Oceanside | |
| xKoniac | City Councillor | Neah Bay | |
| Fr0z3nW1nt3r | City Councillor | Neah Bay | |
| Mole_ | City Councillor | Neah Bay | |
Results
For more in depth results, see Results breakdown of the November 2022 Cascadia general election
| Candidate | R1 | % | R2% | R3% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SayerQT (inc.) | 4 | 22.2 | 16.7 | 16.7 | Elected |
| Fr0z3nW1nt3r | 4 | 22.2 | 16.7 | 16.7 | Elected |
| xKoniac | 3 | 16.7 | 16.7 | 16.7 | Elected |
| Moxies_Hoe (inc.) | 2 | 11.1 | 16.7 | 16.7 | Elected |
| Mole_ | 2 | 11.1 | 13.9 | 19.4 | Elected |
| Milgorn123 | 2 | 11.1 | 12.5 | 13.9 | Lost |
| DaPigThatBig | 1 | 5.6 | 6.9 | X | Lost |
| Total | 18 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 16.7% to win |
North Metropolitan (3 seats)
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The race resulted in a victory for all incumbents besides Furballen, due to the number of seats for the district dropping from four to three. Falcoeur was assumed to be a shoe-in for the race, however faced a surprisingly close race, winning by a hair.
Candidates
| Candidate | Political office(s) | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| EstiQT | Representative since August 2022 Former Vice President Secretary of Recruitment since September 2022 Mayor of Victoria |
Victoria | |
| Furballen | Representative since September 2022 Mayor of Vancouver |
Vancouver | |
| Falcoeur | Representative since September 2022 Secretary of the Interior since October 2022 Mayor of Seattle |
Seattle | |
| Covenhel_01 | Representative since September 2022 Mayor of Hope Island |
Hope Island | |
| soft_frog | Mayor of Elmo House | Elmo House | |
Results
For more in depth results, see Results breakdown of the November 2022 Cascadia general election
| Candidate | R1 | % | R2% | R3% | R4% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EstiQT (inc.) | 6 | 60.0 | 25.0 | 25.0 | 25.0 | Elected |
| Covenhel_01 | 1 | 10.0 | 27.5 | 25.0 | 25.0 | Elected |
| Falcoeur | 1 | 10.0 | 15.8 | 16.9 | 26.9 | Elected |
| Furballen | 1 | 10.0 | 21.7 | 22.2 | 23.1 | Lost |
| soft_frog | 1 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.9 | X | Lost |
| Total | 10 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 25% to win |
American assembly election
Cascadia’s first, and only, elections to the American Assembly were held on the same date as the November 2022 Cascadia general election. All 5 seats up for grabs were contested nationwide via Single Transferable Vote. Many candidates ran, and the resulting members would serve in the first and only session of the American Assembly. The American Assembly was later disestablished prior to the scheduled next election.
MAA Candidates
| Candidate | Political office(s) | Hometown | |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1GB0AT | Candidate for House Chaeronea City Councillor |
Chaeronea | |
| SayerQT | Vice President Representative Former President |
Olympia | |
| Fr0z3nW1nt3r | Candidate for House Neah Bay City Councillor |
Neah Bay | |
| Bachinuni | Candidate for House Mayor of Bread Inc. |
Bread Inc. | |
| EstiQT | Former Vice President Secretary of Recruitment Representative Mayor of Victoria |
Victoria | |
| PavTheYT | Candidate for House Former Secretary of Defense Former Representative Mayor of Yakima |
Yakima | |
| Falcoeur | Secretary of the Interior Representative Mayor of Seattle |
Seattle | |
| jtwokay | Treasurer of Cascadia Representative Mayor of Spokane |
Spokane | |
Results
| Candidate | R1 | % | R2% | R3% | R4% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EstiQT | 11 | 21.2 | 16.7 | 16.7 | 16.7 | Elected |
| SayerQT | 10 | 19.2 | 16.7 | 16.7 | 16.7 | Elected |
| Fr0z3nW1nt3r | 10 | 19.2 | 16.7 | 16.7 | 16.7 | Elected |
| Bachinuni | 8 | 15.4 | 17.0 | 16.7 | 16.7 | Elected |
| B1GB0AT | 7 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 14.9 | 17.7 | Elected |
| jtwokay | 3 | 5.8 | 8.5 | 12.8 | 15.7 | Lost |
| PavTheYT | 2 | 3.8 | 5.2 | 5.6 | X | Lost |
| Falcoeur | 1 | 1.9 | 4.4 | X | X | Lost |
| Total | 52 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 16.7% to win |
