Two Seat Senate By-Election Recap
Written by Grea Kriopia
On January 23, Europeia returned to the polls in the Senate By-Election to fill the two seats left vacant by the departures of McEntire and Elio. A previous Senate By-Election had already been called for McEntire's vacant seat on January 15th. However, it was nullified by the Chancellery in an uncommon but not impossible move. Ultimately, Sincluda and NLHP joined the ranks of the Senate earning 31 (70.5%) votes and 16 (36.4%) votes respectively.
Coming off the most recent Senate Midterm polling demonstrating a Senate approval rating of 46.9%, candidates were quick to offer a diversity of ideas in their platforms addressing ongoing legislative ideas and introducing some new ones as well. Sincluda's campaign centered around "Half-Termin'", eager to reignite discussion about a proposal for 35-day Senate terms. NLHP, on the other hand, emphasized their past experience in Europeia with promises to bring a steady hand to reviewing all topics and past legislation up for review. John Laurens' campaign, Standing on Business, volunteered ideas for Europeia's first ever bicameral legislation. Finally, both Turbiatop's and Pudimlland's called out issues of representation and encouraging new citizens to run for the Senate.
It was also clear that recent debates on the Weighted Voting Amendment and the Constitutional Convention Act influenced most candidates. Both topics got mentions across all campaigns, though some more than others, and drew multiple questions from prospective voters wanting to drill down more on candidates' positions.
For voter turnout, the 44 votes present in this Senate By-Election proved very consequential for second-seat candidates while Sincluda rode a steady lead for the first seat for almost the entirety of the voting period. NLHP slid past John Laurens by a single vote to win the second vacant seat with 16 and 15 votes respectively as Turbiatop chased closed behind them both at 11 votes -- a fairly competitive end to the election. Results from polls after they closed included:
Sincluda (IND) - Votes: 31 (70.5%)
NLHP (PXE) - Votes: 16 (36.4%)
John Laurens (Forward Europeia) - Votes: 15 (34.1%)
Turbiatop - Votes: 11 (25.0%)
Pudimland (ECLS) - Votes: 7 (15.9%)
