March 2022 Aenopian Senedd election

March 2022 Aenopian Senedd election

9–12 March 2022
All 5 seats to the Senedd 3 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	9 voters
First party Second party Third party   File:Leon Montan in Tonopah, Nevada.jpg Leader Leon Montan Fahim Ahmed Jayden Dagsa Party People's Party of Aenopia Aenopian Independence Party Aenopia Forward Leader's seat Central Aenopia Central Aenopia New Llandudno and Subsidiaries Seats won 3 FPTP Vote TBC 1 1 Percentage 51% 28% 20%

The March 2022 Aenopian Senedd election were held in March 2022. The elections were the first successfully conducted elections in Aenopian history, marking the beginning of the democratisation of Aenopia and transitioning of the monarchy's role from an absolute one to a more ceremonial role. The election culminated in Leon Montan's election to the position of First Minister as a result of the People's Party of Aenopia's majority in Senedd, which resulted in Montan becoming the first Head of Government in Aenopian history. The elections also marked a significant turning point in national politics, as Aenopia began its transition from a nation solely led by the omnipotent monarchy towards a democratic government with the monarchy serving as a less powerful, more ceremonial role.

The election was announced by HRH Simon I on 23 February 2022 as the fourth attempt to host an election since the establishment of Senedd Aenopia in July 2020. Previous attempts, conducted in August 2020, October 2020 and December 2021 respectively, failed to achieve the minimum number of candidates and subsequently failed. Although the nomination period was set to close on 1 March and voting begin on the same day, few candidacies were declared until 2 March, when the number of candidacies grew by 6 members in 3 days. The election was authorised after the minimum number of candidacies was reached on 3 March, which resulted in voting being set to begin on 9 March. The elected individuals took office on 15 March, and will serve a term of 4 months.

As the first democratically held election in Aenopian history, the election saw higher levels of media coverage than previous events in Aenopian history, especially from The Aenopian Hour. The extensive media coverage of the election also stemmed from the surge in activity which Aenopia begain to experience in March 2022 after the inactivity which had plagued Aenopia throughout 2021. 3 out of 4 running parties were established specifically for the election, with the Aenopian Independence Party being the only party established beforehand. Voter turnout was 9 out of Aenopia's population of 17.

Background

Senedd Aenopia, at the time known as Y Senedd of Aenopia or simply Y Senedd, was formally established in July 2020 as the first democratically-elected body in Aenopian history. The first election to accomodate the newly-formed Senedd were declared on 5 August 2020, with the elected candidates set to take office on 16 August. However, the election suffered from a lack of participation, which eventually resulted in Senedd consisting entirely of delegates appointed by the monarch. The first meeting was conducted on 15 August 2021, which eventually turned out to be the last active Senedd meeting. Senedd would fall into inactivity after assuming office, whilst a session in October 2020 was cancelled due to an absence of delegates. Further attempts to hold an election were conducted in October 2020 and December 2021, with both being unsuccessful. The failed attempt to conduct the election in October 2020 subsequently resulted in the appointed Senedd remaining in power despite its inactivity for another year, until it was finally dissolved at the end of 2021 in preparation for the latter election.

Aenopia fell into inactivity at the start of 2021 as a result of HRH Simon I's campaign for chair of the Cupertino Alliance in January 2021. Because of the close results between his campaign opponent Daniel Hamilton, Ross diverted his efforts towards the campaign instead of his duty as the head of state of Aenopia. At the time, the monarchy of Aenopia was the sole governing body, which meant that Aenopia was left without a leader and government activity ground to a halt. Aenopia was further compounded by a lack of activity following Ross' victory in the chair election and his subsequent assumption of the role of chair on 15 February 2021. Aenopia continued to suffer from a lack of an active leader until Ross' term as chair of the Cupertino Alliance concluded on 15 August 2021, however he would not fully resume to his role in Aenopia until the end of 2021. Aenopia continued to suffer from inactivity until the start of 2022. This subsequently resulted in HRH Simon I declaring an election in February. At the time, the intention was to conduct an election to fill a much smaller, less ambitious Senedd in order to encourage the gradual growth in activity across Aenopia. As a result of this, the first election attempt of 2022 was declared on 23 February 2022.

Date of election

The election was announced on 23 February, with the intention of closing nominations on 1 March. However, candidacies were declared slowly at the start, with all but one candidacy being declared after 1 March. As such, the nomination period was left to continue indefinitely, or until all five seats were filled by candidates. This milestone was reached on 3 March, some 3 days after the planned beginning of the voting period. Voting began on 9 March and ended on 12 March.

The first candiate, Leon Montan representing Central Aenopia, declared his intention to run on 26 February. Despite this, the next candidate would not declare their candidacy for another 4 days. The final seat was filled on 3 March, which allowed for the election to take place. The final candiate, Fahim Ahmed, declared his candidacy on 5 March.

• 23 February - elections announced by HRH Simon I
• 26 February - The first candidacy is confirmed
• 3 March - all seats are filled
• 6 March - first opinion poll is conducted
• 9 March - voting begins
• 12 March - voting ends
• 15 March - elected Members of Senedd take office

Parties

See also: Political parties of Aenopia

All candidates ran under a political party authoroised by the monarch of Aenopia prior to the election. Aenopia Forward, the Aenopian Independence Party, the People's Party of Aenopia and formerly the Aenopian Progressive Authoritarian Party stood in all 5 constituencies, with both the People's Party of Aenopia and Aenopian Independence Party standing in more than one constituency. The Aenopian Progressive Authoritarian Party later withdrew from the election on 8 March following the withdrawal of party leader Aleksy Gwaj. Only the Aenopian Independence Party stood prior to the election as the only party to be represented in Senedd prior to the democratisation of Aenopia.

The deadline for parties and individuals to declare their candidacy was on 8 March at 23:59 UTC. In total, seven candidates declared their candidacy in the election, with a further two declaring their intention, however decided against running for various reasons. Only six candidates were included on the ballot after Aleksy Gwaj withdrew on 7 March.

Logo		Party Name	Political position	Leader	Seats
Parties in Y Senedd
		Aenopian Independence Party	Militarism Big tent Secularism Progressivism	Fahim Ahmed MS for Central Aenopia	1 / 5
		People's Party of Aenopia	Socialism Left-wing nationalism Aenopian irredentism	Leon Montan MS for Central Aenopia	3 / 5
		Aenopia Forward	Centrism Morderatism	Jayden Dagsa MS for New Llandudno and Subsidiaries	1 / 5
		Aenopian Progressive Authoritanian Party (Until 8 March 2022)	Authoritarianism	Aleksy Gwaj (Until 8 March 2022) MS for Overseas Territories and Dependencies	0 / 5

Opinion polling

The results of the opinion poll hosted from 6 March to 8 March. It was the only opinion poll conducted throughout the entire election, despite intentions to conduct more.

Only one opinion poll was conducted throughout the election, despite initial intentions to conduct more to obtain a hollistic view of public opinion regarding parties. The first opinion poll was conducted from 6–8 March to interpret public opinion on many of the newly-formed parties. Both the constituencies of Central Aenopia and Overseas Territories and Dependencies were contested by more than one candidate, with the former being contested by the party leaders of the People's Party of Aenopia and Aenopian Independence Party, the two largest parties running in the election. A PPA victory in Central Aenopia would result in a PPA-led majority with party leader Leon Montan as First Minister, whilst an AIP victory would result in a hung Senedd, potentially resulting in the formation of a coalition. As such, the opinion poll would be particularly important in predicting the results of the election.

The results of the opinion poll confirmed the popularity of the People's Party of Aenopia, whilst also confirming concerns about a potential hung government as a result of an Aenopian Independence Party victory in Central Aenopia. A significant number of cast votes were abstenations, which resulted in the removal of the abstain box from the election ballot.

Timeline

  Red indicates majority

Polling Firm	Date of Polling	Electorate						Polling Method	Lead
			Aenopian Independence Party	People's Party of Aenopia	Aenopia Forward	Aenopian Progressive Authoritarian Party	Abstain
1st election	9 - 12 March 2022	9	28%	51%	9%			Google Forms	23%
Nominations for Chair close and campaigning opens (15 July 2021)
Government of Aenopia	6 March - 9 March	8	26%	33%	16%	6%	50%	Google Forms	7
Fahim Ahmed announces his candidacy for Central Aenopia (5 March 2022)
Jayden Dagsa announces his candidacy for Overseas Territories and Dependencies (4 March 2022)
Grace Wales announces her candidacy for Southern Aenopia (3 March 2022)
Jayden Dagsa announces his candidacy for New Llandudno and Subsidiaries (3 March 2022)
Jaiden Rose announces her candidacy for Greater New Aberdare (2 March 2022)
Wojciech Nowak announces his candidacy for Overseas Territories and Dependencies (2 March 2022)
Leon Montan announces his candidacy for Central Aenopia (26 February 2022)
HRH Simon I announces the March 2022 elections (23 February 2022)

Results

Vote share
People's Party of Aenopia			51%
Aenopian Independence Party			28%
Aenopia Forward			9%

See also

• Empire of Aenopia
• 1st Senedd of Aenopia
• Senedd Aenopia