Lessons of the Last Election
By Marnip
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.