Elections in Tekniania

General Elections, when all the seats in the General Council are up for grabs, happen every 4 years, and this cycle is a highly anticipated one by Teknianians. Political involvement and voting is a core value of the nation and so election years are abuzz with debate and arguments. In this Factbook, we hope to elaborate on how, where, why and when they happen.

The cycle is defined in law, happening every 4 years counting from the last election, so if an election was held on 1st of March, 2024, the next one would happen on 1st of March, 2028. There are obvious exceptions for invasions, natural disasters and other such occurrences.

Every State of Tekniania, as mentioned here, sends General Councillors to Tekniania City. 1 year before a General Election a rough population estimate for each State is conducted by the Allied Board of Elections, which determines changes in the amount of Councillors every State sends, whether any States will now elect to the Outer Islands Council or, likewise, to the General Council.

After these electoral changes are published, a 6 month long period begins when candidates can sign up. As mentioned previously, political parties are not allowed in these elections and just being in a political party immediately disqualifies you from being able to sign up. If you meet all of the criteria, however, anyone is able to sign up.

After the 6 months is up, money is allocated for campaigns. Every candidate, no matter where they’re from or how big their salary is, gets the same amount of money for campaigning and that is the only money they can use. The pounds for them all are allocated in the Allied Budget of the election year, but, on average, every candidate receives around 5000 tp, equal to 31500 US dollars.

Campaigns are mostly debates, knocking on voters’ doors and publishing manifestoes, as flashy adverts are frowned upon and making fun of other candidates without them being able to respond in a timely manner is a major electoral taboo. Debates are organised by local TV stations and newspapers, though candidates seen as potential future Speakers of the General Council do often get to debate on national TV.

All campaigning stops one day before the election, giving voters a chance to breathe and chew through all the promises and make up their minds. Turnout is usually quite high, around 80%, with all age groups turning out at about the same rate.

Elections happen with the STV system, whereby voters rank the candidates on the ballot. There is no limit how many candidates may be ranked on the ballot, but the Allied Board of Elections recommends ranking at least 3. We will not go into more detail here about how this system functions, we recommend consulting the nearest general knowledge encyclopaedia or your internet browser of choice.

After the votes are counted and winners determined, all the General Councillors, all 713 of them, head off to Tekniania City, for they have a gargantuan task ahead: organising themselves, getting a government going and electing their Speaker, leader of the nation. The Outer Islands Council is also elected in this General Election, their Speaker being the deputy leader of the nation.

By custom, the first order of business is organising the voting blocks and coalitions of the Councils. These, as mentioned in previous Factbooks, are non-binding and mostly ceremonial, but they can help Councillors make their voices heard and their values more obvious. The current General Council is dominated by centre-left and centre-right voting blocks, which hold a little more than half of all the seats. Major political leaders announce their intention to form these blocks before the election, but candidates are forbidden from mentioning them in their campaigning.

After that ordeal, electing The Speaker is the next major task. They will represent the country in all things and hold major powers, so candidates are scrutinised immensely by both their peers, the nation and internal security services and electing one takes at least a week, during which every part of the candidates is grilled and checked over and over.

All elections, General or not, are run by the Allied Board of Elections, which is the all-seeing eye during the election period. It is within their powers to disqualify candidates or revoke funding if they see unfair campaigning. The Board has very strict regulations as to what candidates can and can’t do which must be followed to the letter. Half of it is appointed by The Speaker of the General Council and the other by The Speaker of the Outer Islands Council, though these nominations can be reversed by their respective Councils.

It is noteworthy that elections, big or small, are as important as Christmas or Union Day, and they are often holidays because no-one’s showing up for work anyway, they will be out voting. Counting the vote is a national spectacle, thus ensuring that no-one’s showing up for work on the day after elections, either.