When and where can I vote?

Polling stations open on Thursday, 1 October at 7am for registered voters, and will open at 8am for people who have yet to register, in which they will have to register first inside the station and then vote.

Polls will close at 10pm, when counting begins.

There's a new way of voting

In previous general elections up to 2017, people cast their vote for a person standing to represent their constituency as a Member of Parliament (or MP), and their votes were counted in a way that the person holding a majority of at least half the total constituency's votes won the seat to Parliament - that electoral system, or the way of counting votes, is known as a plurality system, also called first-past-the-post.

Critics of the system argue that it over-represents larger parties and that it is not reflective of the popular vote.

In 2020, after pressure from various organisations, groups, the general public and some MPs from the governing Labour Party, the Constitution was amended to change the electoral system from plurality to a mixed-member proportional representation (MMPR) system.

Under MMPR, a person now votes twice - one for a constituent MP, and the other for a selection of people grouped into a party-list, with the list of candidates varying by grouped constituency regions (GCRs), or a collection of several constituencies that are grouped into a region, all of which are located within a state.

A party must earn at least 5 per cent of the total vote in order for any list candidate to be elected.

As an effect of MMPR, the number of constituencies were reduced and redrawn.

Who's running for Prime Minister this year?

Josh Morrison, the incumbent Prime Minister, is standing for re-election this year under the liberal centre-left Labour party.

This election is considered by many, including Mr Morrison himself, as a referendum on his government, particularly its response against the coronavirus pandemic.

He is being challenged by Richa Boehler, the candidate for the centre-right Conservatives - and Yu Barsamian, of the liberal-right Liberal Democratic Party.

The Greens are not chasing the premiership this year - they have formed a political alliance with Labour known as the People's Nature alliance, and have endorsed the re-election of Mr Morrison.

Others vying for prime minister include Basira Markov of the Allinburgic Left party, Rathnait Rollins of the right-wing Purple Alternatives, and Hanifa Arriola of the Freedom and Autonomy party.

What are some of the candidates' goals and priorities?

Mr Morrison of Labour aims to continue his government's current progressive policies of empowering the marginalised, strengthening workforce protections, improving the quality of the manufacturing sector, commitment to the environment and reducing emissions, continued investment in up-and-coming technologies, reducing restrictions on medicinal and some recreational drugs, and aiming to create a sustainable society.

He also aims to continue the government's approach in combating the Covid-19 pandemic, which managed to successfully contain several major waves and outbreaks, and has received praise for being swift and effective, as well as having a "strictly science-first" response, with most of the government's task force comprising of doctors, scientists and other social workers.

Some of his policies will be, in his words, "re-rekindled" — including reducing the national net carbon emission rate to zero by 2030, instead of the current target of 2035 — increasing the amount of fully vaccinated people against Covid-19 to 97 per cent — and promised that eight out of ten Allineans will drive or ride on electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles by 2025, in contrast to just six out of ten in his last manifesto.

Mr Morrison will also continue his "common light" policy in foreign affairs, and has committed to maintain "friendly and fruitful" relationships with the Mardilean Co-operative, the European Union, The Free Nations Region and other nations and international organisations, and is pushing for increased demands on accountability for nations with human rights violations.

He is also pushing for a "common market" shared among Mardilean and EU nations, for which talks fell in 2018 due to disagreements with MCO and EU member states.

The Conservatives, led by Mrs Boehler, aims to resume oil production in the Dieter Sea, which was stopped under Mr Morrison, add "protections" for large and essential businesses, reduce tax rates across the board, tighten border controls, re-allocate the federal budget to include more spending on defence and heritage protection, and relax restrictions on exports and government participation of the private sector.

She also aims lifting speed limits on motorways, implemented under Mr Morrison's government, and new reviews on the impacts of Covid-19 and climate change in Allinburg, both of which were already made during the current government but was criticised for allegedly "lacking sufficient and valid public evidence" by the Conservatives.

In foreign affairs, Mrs Boehler wants Allinburg to show "true strength" in the international stage, and advocates joining organisations with large states and those that have "proper competent members" to hasten important decisions "so that we could all focus on our own affairs".

The Liberal Democrats also wants less market and export regulations, and for increased private involvement in government affairs, and is also pushing for increased funding for the space programme and the Allinean Space Agency (ABSA).

What are analysts predicting?

Most election analysts are predicting a slim majority victory for Labour, but have said that some of its seats may fall to either the Greens or the Liberal Democrats, giving it a projected majority of 51 to 53 per cent, thinner than the 62 per cent earned in 2017, with some analysts even suggesting shares as low as 48 per cent, short of the 55 per cent required for a overall majority.

However, since the Greens are in alliance with Labour, it's guaranteed that they will make up for lost Labour seats in the event that they fall short.

Opposition politicians, as well as some people, are worried that a Labour-Green "super-landslide" or "wipeout" supermajority could undermine Allinean democracy and the opposition's check and balance powers.

But others are not too concerned, saying that the alliance, and the current government under Mr Morrison, delivers most of its promises well.

Voting becomes digital

Most areas nationwide are rolling out new electronic and digital voting machines for this year's election.

The machines, made by Federal Vote Systems, are designed to count votes up to four times quicker than the conventional paper-based voting system, according to their specifications released to the public - and immediately transmits its data to a central facility for compilation and analysis, while also keeping its own local copy on small M.2 solid-state drives, or SSDs.

However, it will still print a small ballot - containing the voter's selected candidates on a piece of paper the size of a credit card - and voters must drop these into a ballot box to be counter-checked along with the digital data for the vote to be validated.

Select states have also allowed voting via mobile phone, through a special mobile app developed by Elections Allinburg, the national elections commission, and was proven to be reliable during a dry run of the elections last week, alongside the new electronic voting machines.

Postal voting will also be available upon request.

Elections Allinburg, along with observers and representatives from the Mardilean Co-operative, Free Nations Region and the World Assembly, will monitor the elections this year.

The commission promises to deliver "the safest, most secure, most reliable and most digital elections" while preserving the freedom and transparency of previous elections, noted by experts as "remarkable".