Lessons of the Last Election

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Lessons of the Last Election
By Marnip

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The recent Senate by-election remained contested until the last few minutes of voting. The race ended with Kaboom prevailing by just one vote over Notolecta. There are a few conclusions that can be derived when analyzing the election.

The first is that the election was tiered between two individuals who are polar opposites of one another. Notolecta is a well-known European with several years of experience, while Kaboom is someone with less experience and name recognition in Europeia. Their platforms also showed this apparent discrepancy. Kaboom addressed current issues, such as the Staggered Elections Amendment, Gender Modernization Act, and Drecq's Ovation. Notolecta focused more on future proposals he would like to introduce, such as an adjustment to intellectual property laws, observer seats, and amendments to the criminal code. The different approaches to their platforms are indicative of the differences between the two top candidates in basic ideologies.

One of the main topics the EBC has been addressing is the impact of party endorsements on elections. In previous elections, the EBC determined that endorsements didn't seem to have a large impact on the elections. However, this election may show the power behind the Action Coalition of Europeia party in swaying elections. Kaboom received the endorsement a day before polls opened, which allowed the party's 21 members to rally behind him. This endorsement could have been a reason for Kaboom's come from behind win over Notolecta.

Lastly, after Notolecta gained an impressive lead in early voting numbers, Kaboom trimmed Notolecta's lead to a tie with one hour of voting remaining. Watching such a large lead diminish in such a short amount of time provided the region with an electoral spectacle. This shows the volatility of recent elections and that early projections in Europeia are not an indicator of what final results will be.

All of these factors, together, demonstrate the unpredictability of Europeian elections. While many may be swayed by platforms and responses to questions, others may align themselves with a candidate that has a political party's endorsement. These are simply a facet of what makes European elections an event. The lessons from this past election may encourage future candidates to form alliances with parties and modify platforms in order to incorporate several ideologies. Either way, the future of the Europeian election landscape is going to be interesting.

 

[Calvin Coolidge]

One of the main topics the EBC has been addressing is the impact of party endorsements on elections. In previous elections, the EBC determined that endorsements didn't seem to have a large impact on the elections. However, this election may show the power behind the Action Coalition of Europeia party in swaying elections. Kaboom received the endorsement a day before polls opened, which allowed the party's 21 members to rally behind him. This endorsement could have been a reason for Kaboom's come from behind win over Notolecta.

Woo, shout-out to previous term's work! However, I don't know if that representation is exactly accurate of the conclusion the EBC drew last term.

I would suggest that the nature of the endorsement poll and ACE's large membership simply foretold the outcome of the election. The primary, which mirrored the General Election in that each member voted for up to six candidates to receive an endorsement from ACE, saw significant turnout as almost 120 votes were cast. The General Election saw approximately 260 votes cast, so the ACE primary can be roughly thought of as a poll which perfectly forecast the outcome of the Senate race.

I think this still holds true today, rather than the "power of ACE swinging elections", we found that the ACE endorsement poll is simply indicative of the region as a whole due to its large member base, not ACE having the ability to sway previously undecided voters. In fact, we even were able to conclude

From the EBC poll results, it seems clear that independent voters are not significantly swayed by party endorsements - by ACE or by a hypothetical second party. ACE members also stated that that ACE's party endorsement had little or no effect on their vote.

So, I would again think it's simply a numbers game, not a persuasion one. I liked the article, though.

 

[Sopo]

I actually think its likely that ACE had an impact in this election. A few ACE members were running, but our endorsement possibly helped consolidate the party's support behind Kaboom, rather than divided between Kaboom, Cool Spring, trabardia, and possibly this.

 

[Malashaan]

Another factor that I think was very prominent this election was the early voting. Noto and Kaboom raced out in front of everyone else early. I was seriously considering voting for one of the others, but by the time I voted, it was clear the race was between those two. We've always done it this way, but I do think a discussion about whether we should make vote tallues private until after you have voted to prevent such distortions. Overall, I think probably not, for various practicality reasons, but it's worth thinking about.

 

[Kuramia]

I also sensed some weight behind ACE's endorsement.

 

[Marnip]

Another factor that I think was very prominent this election was the early voting. Noto and Kaboom raced out in front of everyone else early. I was seriously considering voting for one of the others, but by the time I voted, it was clear the race was between those two. We've always done it this way, but I do think a discussion about whether we should make vote tallues private until after you have voted to prevent such distortions. Overall, I think probably not, for various practicality reasons, but it's worth thinking about.

Interesting idea. I do think it would prevent distortions. As we know, election results are discussed long before the final votes are in.

 

[Lethen]

I actually think its likely that ACE had an impact in this election. A few ACE members were running, but our endorsement possibly helped consolidate the party's support behind Kaboom, rather than divided between Kaboom, Cool Spring, trabardia, and possibly this.

Possibly what?













rly:

 

[Ferdy]

I actually think its likely that ACE had an impact in this election. A few ACE members were running, but our endorsement possibly helped consolidate the party's support behind Kaboom, rather than divided between Kaboom, Cool Spring, trabardia, and possibly this.

Possibly what?













rly:

This. :creepy:

 

[GraVandius]

As I stated in the last thread that questioned ACE endorsement power

I think the important part of the region that polls like this might not receive significant feedback from are the ones who are not/rarely involved in the political system. They are the ones who might be swayed by Endorsements of a Political Party because they most likely do not dive to far into the campaigns and something like a endorsement might sway them one way or another.

The substantial number who are unreachable for analysis cuz they are almost never around are the people who get swayed. The politically active could probably care less what the party endorsement is because they have already made up their minds.