Istalia

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Elections 5617: a new system under analysis

The new electoral body, the parties, the electoral system, the projections for the future

December 5617

The first official Government of the Imperial State of Istalia was installed a few days after the elections with Floria Monaldi confirmed as head of the executive, with the official title of "Minister Imperial Secretary of State, although with a "Council of Imperial State", the new name of the government cabinet, very different from the previous Transitional Government, with the seats for the Patriotic Front largely halved in favor of the Veterans' Party and the Imperial Throne Party.

While the conflict rages on the Peninsula, in Alaria many experts and academics are focusing on the elections and the new political system introduced which has in effect reduced the number of those entitled to vote including all members of the Armed Forces, Resistance fighters, veterans and civilians who contributed to the war effort.

Those entitled to vote

Since the elections were held only on the island of Alaria, which has about 50 million inhabitants, the number of those entitled to vote, based on the electoral cards issued, was 8,287,068.

The number of those entitled to vote was calculated taking into account the approximately 4.8 million combatants of the Armed Forces and the Resistance, the approximately 200 thousand veterans and/or wounded no longer able to bear arms, just over 4 million civilians involved in various ways in the conflict. The combatants also included former members of the Armed Forces of the Socialist Republic integrated into the newly formed Imperial Armed Forces of Istalia. Finally, since most of the Peninsula had not yet been liberated, it was impossible to identify those entitled to vote under the new rules, except for several Resistance cells that were able to send the numbers of their members and a fair number of civilians recognized as collaborators of the Resistance or who assisted the Armed Forces and the Resistance in the very early stages of the liberation campaign, although few of them were able to cast their vote. In total, therefore, we are talking about 17.69% of the Istalian population, much of them from Alaria, of whom the 89,8% expressed their preference.

The Parties

As mentioned when the elections were called, the Provisional Government, despite initial plans to exclude all Communist political parties and movements, ultimately introduced no specific restrictions following, as mentioned, the almost total integration of the former fighting forces of the Socialist Republic into the reconstituted Imperial Armed Forces.

As provided for by the electoral law approved by the National Convention, each party admitted to run in the elections presented two lists, the list for eligible civilians and the list for the military which included also the ones for the Resistance. The lists were posted in the polling stations organized on the Island for civilians, presented to the various departments, divisions, brigades, cells and so on for the military and the Resistance. For both categories, computerized voting terminals were used, made available by a consortium created specifically by several IT companies, including the former State Agency for Post and Communications of the Socialist Republic, specifically placed under the control of the former General Higher Commissioner for the Equipements and the Technological Development of the State Commissariat for the Defense of the RSI, one of the last and most irreducible exponents of the communist regime to surrender to the Resistance and who, considered unfit to be integrated into the new Imperial Army, was placed in a position to be able to sanction the pluralism necessary for holding regular elections free from any shadow of manipulation.

About this last point, a Commission of civilian, mainly accademics from the universities, was charged to control and verify the respect of the electoral rules and the absence of fraud or any sort of manipulation and which take almost a whole month to analyse the results and the general behavior of authorities, parties, etc...

The electoral system

The electoral system adopted for these elections for both the civilian and military lists was a first-past-the-post majority system. The Island of Alaria was divided into 340 constituencies, 16 "virtual" constituencies were reserved for votes from the Peninsula, while the 119 seats reserved for combatants were elected in constituencies designed to ensure an equal number of combatant voters represented for each seat, grouped mainly according to their position within the various departments of the Armed Forces. Given the current situation of the same, the most represented Armed Force was the Army, while 1/5 of these constituencies were reserved for Resistance fighters not officially included in the Armed Forces.

Projections for the future

While the War of Reunification is still ongoing and there are no certain projections for the moment on when it will end, it is unlikely that there will be substantial changes if the next elections are held with the nation still engulfed in the conflict, what is certain is that constituencies will be provided for the lists of civilians in the liberated and secured areas of the Peninsula.

For the post-conflict period, however, the major changes will concern the electoral system and those entitled to vote.

As regards the electoral system, there are already numerous voices that advocate for the introduction of a proportional system and just as many that ask for the introduction of a majoritarian system that guarantees the effective majority of votes for a candidate. In the specific systems, there are multiple possibilities for the proportional system while there are two solutions already foreseen for the majoritarian system, namely the introduction of a second round or the alternative voting system.

As for those entitled to vote, all civilians recognized as having participated in the war effort will be confirmed as entitled to vote, combatants who will be discharged as veterans will be included among the civilians entitled to vote, while the category of those citizens entitled to vote for having performed a national service equivalent to military service will finally be introduced, and already today, when the new electoral law that will be introduced after the war is being prepared in parliament, a whole series of services and occupations have been identified for which civilians will be recognized the right to vote and which concern all emergency services (Fire Brigade, Red Cross, Civil Protection, Police, etc...), voluntary national civil service, therefore a series of occupations will be outlined that will guarantee the acquisition of passive and active political rights after a certain period of time and finally, very probably, the possibility will be provided for by the State to grant electoral rights to those who have distinguished themselves for various merits for the benefit of the Nation. There is currently a debate on whether to recognize public employees' acquisition of the right to vote, although there are positions that even ask, on the contrary, that access to public administration be reserved only to those who have already earned the electoral franchise, aka to those that have completed the military service, which will be as well on voluntary basis, or any other equivalent service as explained above.