2003 Tierradorian voter suppression scandal

The 2003 Tierradorian general election voter suppression scandal is a political scandal stemming from events that took place during the 2003 Tierradorian general election, which saw PP candidate Victoría Hombêri defeat incumbent PST candidate Aphía Mōnderíq in one of the most controversial elections in Tierradorian history. It involved numerous robocalls and real-person calls that originated from the Partéq Pepal’s campaign office, vote buying from the PP and the TCU, and the rejection of absentee ballots in 6 regions. These were all mostly designed to result in voter suppression, except for the absentee ballots scandal, which was mainly done to comply with the laws implemented in said 6 regions. Investigations from the Civil Guard and Elections Terranóq were made to respond to claims that the PP was using robocalls and real-person calls to falsely inform voters that the location of their area’s polling stations have been changed.

Calls began in Tabía, La Plazal on April 5, 2003, 1 week before Election Day. The La Plazal State Patrol (LPSP) discovered an automated calling machine in the Santa Cruz PP headquarters which they believed to be the source of said robocalls. By April 8, 2003, Elections Terranóq had received complaints detailing irregular calls from the PP in 316 of the 380 electoral districts in Tierrador, recorded in all 20 regions. The scandal received widespread attention throughout Crona, and resulted in various arrests, lawsuits, and condemnations from other South and Central Cronan nations, along with widespread rioting in La Plazal stemming from Hombêri’s victory. Former President Pedro Gomez called the handling by Elections Terranóq and the Civil Guard “fucking disgraceful” and “a slap in the face to Tierradorian dignity.”

Fraudulent calls in Tabía
Fraudulent calls were first reported on April 5, 2003, however most of these calls dated back to as far as November 2002. Residents of Tabía, La Plazal, began receiving calls from an automated telephone number which called itself “Pierre,” wrongfully informing voters that their local polling station had been changed to different locations across La Plazal. This was regarded as unusual to voters as most Tierradorian government agencies never call citizens to notify them of information such as this, solely contacting by postal mail. Some of these station changes ranged from different places in Tabía (i.e. Arcer Terrace Mall to Tabía North High School), to having voters drive to Santa Cruz, which is a 1 hour and 20 minute drive from Tabía along with being in a separate province to Tabía (Polling stations are based off of provinces rather than counties or regions). One voter reported their location being changed to Anders, Anbarsky.

On April 6, 2003, Elections Terranóq, along with the La Plazal State Patrol, began an investigation in Tabía, questioning close to 450 people who received calls from the mysterious number. What they were not aware of is that while the calls came from 8 different numbers, they all originated in Santa Cruz, given that all of the numbers began with area code 414, meanwhile Tabía was assigned the area code 856. One LP State Trooper recognized one of the numbers as the Partéq Pepal La Plazal headquarters, introducing the PP as a possible suspect for these calls. On the April 6 president debate, Victoría Hombêri was questioned about the robocalls, to which she explained that the calls did not come from her or the PP, and then accused the PST and Aphía Mōnderíq of attempting a smear campaign against the PP.

The morning of April 7, 2003, LP State Troopers investigating in the PP’s Santa Cruz headquarters entered a large hidden janitor’s closet, where they discovered three computers automating spam calls, along with Tierradorian census records detailing the voting patterns of 430,000 La Plazal residents. Later that same day, an advisory message had been issued to La Plazali radio and television stations. It was then determined that the calls were directed towards three groups: Early voters, voters registered under PST, PCq, and AVA, and ethnic Coscivian voters. These were meant to dissuade residents of said groups from going to vote by falsely changing their polling station to an outrageous alternative. In response to this, the PP disabled the computers and closed their Santa Cruz office until April 15, three days after Election Day. Despite this, on April 7–9, 2003, Elections Terranóq received calls from various electoral districts in Mainland Tierrador detailing similar fraudulent robocalls.