Elections in Castadilla

Elections in Castadilla are held for the three territorial levels of government once every four years. An election cycle in Castadilla starts in May and lasts until November, starting with local elections on the municipal level and ending with the legislative election on the national level. Referendums are also held occasionally, but they exist outside of the standard electoral cycle and may be called at any time. This page will also explore pre-1996 election cycles which are often organised differently from modern election cycles in the country.

On the national level, it is the National Assembly that serves as the nation's legislative branch in government. The National Assembly is a bicameral legislature, and is split between the 300-member Congress of the Peerage, the upper house, and the 600-member Congress of the Commons, the lower house; both are elected by proportional representation. Below the national level is the state level, of which there are currently twenty of such; each state has a bicameral legislature of their own which are elected similarly to their national counterparts. Below the state level is the local level, primarily consisting of the nation's municipalities; local governments, such as municipal councils, are largely unicameral. Of the elections done in the average election cycle, only the national and state elections for their respective legislative upper houses are done indirectly with all others being done directly.

As of 1997, Castadilla is a dominant-party system with multiple political parties, which means that although the current system of government allows for multiple political parties to openly compete in elections without fear of reprisal from the government one party almost always wins a majority in elections. The nation's dominant party is the People's Democratic Party which has run Castadilla's government since 1997.

Candidates for the elections to the Congress of the Commons are selected based upon a system of party lists, meaning that parties provide voters with a list of candidates to choose from with the vote being cast counting as a vote for both the chosen candidate and their party; the more votes a candidate receives the more likely they'll be elected as a parliamentarian. There is no legally-mandated threshold implemented, thus by default the threshold is at 1/400th of the total number of valid votes.

Castadilla has made voting compulsory since 1996, which has allowed for the voter turnout to be at around ninety-three percent on average. Since 2004, vote counting has been done through the use of optical scan counting wherein ballots are pieces of paper designed to be scanned electronically; the voter indicates their chosen candidate and party with a stamp.

Election timing

The maximum parliamentary term under normal circumstances is four years, and elections occur approximately four years after the previous elections. A regular election cycle begins in May with municipal elections, followed by state elections in August and September, and national elections in November. The new parliamentary term starts on or close to 21 January of the following year. The timing of an election cycle is designed to ensure that a new cabinet may be formed and present its plans by the Imperial Opening of the National Assembly, a ceremonial inauguration of the new privy council. If the Congress of the Commons were to be dissolved prematurely, which as of 2035 has never happened, a snap election is held within two months after the dissolution of the Commons; the subsequent term is shortened accordingly so as to ensure that it remains compliant with the regular election cycles. The Congress of the Peerage can also be dissolved prematurely, but because state legislatures remain the same this too never happens.

Election days are always to be held on a Tuesday, with the day being designated a paid national holiday to ensure that as many eligible voters are able to make it to the polling booths without interrupting their livelihoods. Municipal elections occur on the third Tuesday of May, state legislative elections occur on the first and second Tuesdays of August, state executive elections, for republican states, occur on the first Tuesday of September, and national elections are held on the first and second Tuesdays of November, with the former being for the Congress of the Peerage and the latter for the Congress of the Commons.

Eligibility

Every Castadillaan national upon the age of 18 become citizens under Castadillaan law, and thus are eligible for both suffrage and to run for public office as a member of the Congress of the Commons. Because minors cannot become citizens but rather nationals of Castadilla, they may not run for public office nor are they able to vote. Castadillaan citizens who live abroad are eligible to vote in elections. Foreign citizens who have lived (legally) in Castadilla for at least four years, thus becoming "foreign nationals with suffrage", are also eligible to vote. Deprivation of suffrage is rarely ever used beyond instances of extreme mental incapability as well as a possible punishment for citizens who are convicted of high treason. Two weeks prior to an election all eligible voters are issued a card which certifies them as being able to vote that must be presented at the polling station prior to voting. Voting is compulsory, compulsory voting has been introduced in 1996 and has remained in place since then.

The process of becoming a registered voter is automatic for all resident inhabitants of Castadilla with the only requirement being to register as a resident of their current municipality of residence; it is the information given for this registration that serves as the basis for the voter rolls.

Elections

All elections are organised on the basis of municipalities, with polling stations being located in community buildings whether it be churches, schools, or auditoriums. There are two types of voting cards issued, one which only allows for the voter to go to the nearest polling station to their address but allows for them to use their identification card if lost, and one which allows for them to go to any polling station in their municipality, or even in another municipality if requested, so long as it has not been lost; replacements can only be requested up until two days before election day.

Upon arrival at the polling station, the voter must present either of these cards to a polling attendant who promptly checks the card before cancelling it and issuing the necessary ballot papers before directing the voter to an unoccupied polling-booth.

All citizens living abroad must register in advance before they are able to vote online through the Online Electoral System of Castadilla; the results are sorted by their last Castadillaan municipality of residence before living abroad and are thus counted as a vote in a given municipality.

Since 2004, voting is done through the use of a pencil-and-paper method using a red pencil and a specially-designed paper. All ballots are counted through the use of optical end-to-end auditable scanners designed not only to count votes electronically, but to also ensure the integrity of the ballot without violating its secrecy; a private citizen is provided with a confirmation code which is used to provide a voting receipt which proves that their ballot has been counted into the final tally without any modifications.

Although municipal elections are a part of a standard electoral cycle in Castadilla, they are only to elect the municipal council; there are no mayoral elections. Instead, mayors-designate are elected by the municipal councils prior to being appointed by their state's governor, or in external terms a given state's monarch or president.

Post-election

Polls close at 21:00 with the last stations to close being in Samalosi with vote counting commencing immediately. The final results are generally not known until noon the following day to ensure that all votes throughout the country have been counted; the results are announced at this time before being submitted to determine which seats are to be allocated to which party. Recounts are done twice electronically to ensure that the final results are accurate and verified which often results in the occasional seat being shifted.

The minimum quota for a party to gain at least one seat is the voting population of an area divided by the amount of available seats. Because there is no set electoral threshold this effectively makes the quota the electoral threshold. This threshold is key for calculating which seats belong to which party. The method of calculation used to determine the allocation of seats is through the use of the D'Hondt method which tends to favour larger parties more than smaller parties. The amount of votes received is divided by the quota and the result is rounded down; this determines the amount of regular seats and the amount of residual seats; parties that receive less votes than the quota are disqualified from allocation. Next, calculations are made to determine the allocation of the residual seats with the larger parties receiving residual seats much more often than smaller parties; a party may win more than one residual seat which is pretty likely due to the low amount of parties that make it to the Congress of the Commons. The People's Democratic Party, which has consistently won more than 35% of the vote, often wins the majority, if not all, of the residual seats.

Once the allocation of seats have been finalised, the parties proceed to assign candidates to their seats. This is done by taking the amount of seats a party has won in a given electoral district which has already been calculated by the seat allocation calculations. With these allocations in mind, the party first assigns seats to candidates which have personally won votes which total to at least a quarter of the electoral quota. The remaining seats, if any, are then assigned to the remaining candidates based on their current position on the candidate list after the more popular candidates have been assigned; this last step continues until all seats have been assigned. Should an assigned candidate choose to give up their seat then the seat is given to their party's next unassigned candidate.

There also exists a practice in Castadillaan politics in which a non-politician, often a famous athlete or an artist, is put on a candidate list though will often refuse to be assigned a seat should they gain the needed votes to guarantee them a seat. This practice, known as celebrezagadas ("celebrity trailers"), is used as a means to indicate a celebrity's endorsement for a given party; it is an electoral practice that is largely exclusive to Castadilla and is often met with international curiosity.

Referendums

Main article: Referendums in Castadilla

According to the Constitution of Castadilla, there are currently two ways that a referendum may be held. The most common way for a referendum to be held is through the Emperor who may submit some bills to be put into a referendum. The other way for a referendum to be held is through the initiative of twenty percent of all members in the National Assembly with the approval of ten percent of all registered voters in the country; this second method, however, has two limitations in that it cannot repeal laws which have been in effect for less than a year nor can it be re-submitted to a referendum for at least two years should it fail. A referendum can also be used to amend the Constitution if needed with the alternative being sixty percent of both houses of the National Assembly; the same applies for treaty ratifications.

Other elections

Grand elections

Main article: Imperial elections in Castadilla

Candidacy for the position of Emperor is currently limited to members of the imperial family, which since 1976 has been the House de Bruce. Laws which determine how the Emperor is elected have been designed so as to ensure that an imperial election will only happen if the Emperor passes away or chooses to abdicate. These same laws also prevent the Emperor from designating a successor nor get involved in the electoral process in the event of abdication. This ensures that there will be no intervention in the process from the Emperor.

The group responsible for the election of the Emperor is a committee of forty-one members who were elected by eleven persons. These people were themselves selected by lot from a committee of forty-five people which were elected by nine persons. The nine were chosen from a committee of twenty-five that was elected by a group of twelve. The twelve were selected from a committee of forty who themselves were elected by a group of nine. These nine people were chosen from a committee of thirty who themselves were chosen from the membership of the entirety of the Congress of the Peerage. This system, which was first put in use in 1852 after the end of the Delepasian Kingdom, was designed to be a complex electoral machinery intended to limit and prevent foreign interference in imperial elections as well as to keep the election consistently orderly. Each electoral group in this process have their own quorum, with the group of forty-one having a quorum of twenty-five, the groups of twelve and eleven having a quorum of nine, and the groups of nine having a quorum of seven. The candidate who is ultimately elected by the committee of forty-one becomes King in Vallos prior to his coronation.

See also

• Politics of Castadilla