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2007 Alslandic same-sex Marriage referendum

2007 Alslandic same-sex Marriage referendum
Should the United Provinces of Alsland allow marriage between same-sex couples?
Location	Alsland
Date	15 June 2007 (2007-06-15)
Results Votes % Yes 3,935,311 7001592600000000000♠59.26% No 2,705,508 7001407400000000000♠40.74% Valid votes 6,640,819 7001995600000000000♠99.56% Invalid or blank votes 29,151 6999440000000000000♠0.44% Total votes 6,669,970 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 7,963,944 7001837500000000000♠83.75%
Results by province How the electorate voted, by province. Proportion of the valid poll voting yes:
Source: Alslandic Government

The 2007 Alslandic Same-Sex Marriage referendum took place on 15 June 2007 in Alsland to ask the electorate whether Alsland should legalise same-sex marriages. Prior to the referendum same-sex couples were allowed to enter civil unions and foreign marriages were recognised. The government of Jabik Nieuwenhuis promised a referendum on same-sex marriage in their manifesto for the 2005 legislative election. The referendum resulted in 59.3% of votes being cast in favour of legalising same-sex marriage. The resulting Marriage Act 2007, commonely known as the Metyller Law, was passed nearly unanimously in the Folkssenaat and was signed by head of the Federal Presidency, Onne Monsma on August 11, 2005. The act came into force on November 23 2007 the day after Jabik Nieuwenhuis was removed from office by Onne Monsma. The first same-sex marriage ceremony in Alsland occurred on November 29 2007.

Support and Opposition

Party positions

Position	Political parties
Yes		Worker's Party
		Progressive Alliance
		The Centre
		ASAY
		United Democratic Union
		Greens and Socialists
		Radical
No		Sotirian Union
		Justice Party
		Alslandic Resistance
		National Rally
No official stance		Conservative Party
		Sotirian Democratic Front
		Democrats

Public opinion

Date	Firm	Yes	No	Undecided	Sample size
11–14 June 2007	ANS	55%	42%	3%	1,000
2–8 June 2007	Hjoed	62%	38%	-	1,200
25–30 May 2007	TBD	56%	42%	2%	1,200
26–29 May 2007	Hjoed	60%	40%	-	1,000
19–24 May 2007	TBD	54%	46%	-	1,730
10–14 May 2007	JaAlslân	59%	39%	2%	1,500
2–6 May 2007	Yndyktinkt	66%	30%	4%	1,800
15-20 April 2007	TBD	52%	45%	3%	1,000
4-8 April 2007	TBD	56%	44%	-	1,200
25-27 March 2007	TBD	57%	40%	3%	1,250
20-23 March 2007	Hjoed	60%	40%	-	1,500

Campaign

Attempted assassination of Jabik Nieuwenhuis

On 14 June 2007, the day before the scheduled date of the referendum and the final day of campaigning, Tilman Schricker a 42 year old man from Garz attempted to stab Premier Jabik Nieuwenhuis with a 12 inch Kitchen Knife at a campaign visit in Werdau. Nieuwenhuis escaped injury after Schricker stabbed a police officer in the shoulder who had been preventing Schricker from approaching Nieuwenhuis. Schricker was detained immediately after this and Nieuwenhuis was evacuated. Campaigning was suspended nationwide for the rest of the day.

When questioned following his arrest, Schricker didn't cite the referendum as a cause for the attempted assassination but it was later revealed that Schricker was a member of the anti-LGBT Stadtbäumer Foundation which had vigorously opposed the referendum. However initial reports in the media said the attempted assassination was motivated by the decision to hold the referendum and Nieuwenhuis' support for same-sex marriage.

Result

National result

2007 Alslandic Same-sex Marriage referendum

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	3,935,311	59.3
No	2,705,508	40.7
Valid votes	6,640,819	99.6
Invalid or blank votes	29,151	0.4
Total votes	6,669,970	100.00
Registered voters and turnout	7,963,944	83.8

Referendum results

Yes: 3,935,311 (59.3%)	No: 2,705,508 (40.7%)
▲

Result by Province

Breakdown of voting by province

Province	Yes		No		Invalid
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Delland	950,928	63.2%	541,668	36%	0.8%
Fawkhamshire	378,737	54.8%	310,315	44.9%	0.3%
Garz	580,737	55.4%	480,104	45.8%	0.8%
Hamptonshire	591,191	61.2%	364,181	37.7%	1.1%
Martiland	284,287	51.8%	260,688	47.5%	0.7%
Middewald	352,279	65.3%	185,040	34.3%	0.4%
Yndyk	378,286	71.3%	149,086	28.1%	0.6%
Zittau	418,866	49.8%	420,592	50%	0.2%

Aftermath

Reactions

Upon the announcement that the yes campaign had won, Premier Jabik Nieuwenhuis said "The message is clear and we as a nation have decided to agree that all humans no matter who they love deserve the same rights as everyone else. I urge both campaigns to come together and work together to pass legislation ensuring same-sex marriage is legalised." Nieuwenhuis later addressed a Yes campaign rally in Yndyk congratulating staff members involved in the campaign.

Head of the Federal Presidency Onne Monsma said "The people and voters have spoken and they have made it quite clear that they wish to legalise same-sex marriage in Alsland. I look forward to working with the legislature to deliver the results of this referendum."

Lennard Bernauer who led the No campaign said in a television interview with ANS on the day following the referendum "I'm obviously disappointed with the result but we live in a democratic society and this was a democratic vote. But any law to legalise homosexual marriage must take into account people's religious views, we cannot force churches for example to go against church teachings and practice these acts."

Journalist Gabriel Weiskopf suggested that Zittau should refuse to practice same-sex marriages following the result. Weiskopf said "the voters in Zittau do not agree with same-sex marriage being implemented and [Jabik] Nieuwenhuis should affirm this and allow for the current practice of civil unions for same-sex couples to continue in Zittau." Zittau's Minister-President Konrad Dünhaupt confirmed that the provincial government would respect the referendum result.

The Church of Delland acknowledged the result but reaffirmed it's position that marriage was between a man and a woman. The Church of Holsteen's Moderator said "The RKH will continue to believe that marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman, any changes to the teachings of the church must be voted on by the General Assembly." The Church of Martiland and Lanekirik said "the church is deeply disappointed that the institution of marriage will no longer reflect the Sotirian interpretation that it is between a man and a woman." In 2016 the Church of Martiland and Lanekirik began allowing same-sex marriages.

Criticism

Plans to hold a referendum were criticised by several LGBT rights advocacy groups who called the decision to have the majority vote on the rights of a minority group. During initial debates on holding a referendum, Senator Emo Akkerman who is openly Bisexual said that holding a referendum could set a dangerous precedence for other countries to deny LGBT citizens their rights if a referendum is held. Akkerman voted to hold the referendum during the vote on the issue.

In 2011, Premier Jonathan Fraser criticised the move to hold a referendum saying that the process would have been much faster had the Marriage Act 2007 been voted on in the Folkssenaat where there was overwhelming support for it. Fraser was outed as Gay in 2003 and was one of the most prominent figures within the 'Yes' campaign.

List of Alslandic governments

	President		Premier		Governing parties				Government
1920		Kei Holwerda		Siemen Hartmann	DNM	DC	SPP	FDU	Hartmann government
1921				Douglas Cunningham					Cunningham government
1924				Viktor Funke	LP		FDU		Funke government
1925		Liuwke Talsma
1927				Tsjaable Wouda	SAP		AB		Wouda government
1929				Villem Mand	AB				Mand government
1939				Sjemme Boersma					Boersma government
1940		Villem Mand
1942				Djurre De Vos					De Vos government
1942				Laas Keuning					Keuning government
1945		Adam Schmiedeberg
1948				Samuel Hudson	SF		SDyD	ASAY	Hudson government
1950		Tys Jonker
1952				Witte Reitsma					First Reitsma government
1957					PA				Second Reitsma government
1960		Dougie Hayes		Eric Feigenspan	NB		FDU		Feigenspan government
1962				Konrad Neuheuser					First Neuheuser government
1963							IS		Second Neuheuser government
1964				Marshall Harvey			IS	FDU	First Harvey government
1965		Boate Hamstra
1969					NB (minority)				Second Harvey government
1970		Hinne Jorritsma			NB		FDU		Third Harvey government
1973							IS	FDU	Fourth Harvey government
1976				Urseltsje Van Der Hoek	PA		GS		Van Der Hoek government
1977				Stendert Snijder					Snijder government
1979				Declan Walker					Walker government
1980		Marshall Harvey
1985				Ygram Hoeksma	NB		PA		Hoeksma-Wijma government
1989		Jimte Gorter
1990		Martina Scott							Hoeksma-Brötzmann government
1991				Adalbrecht Brötzmann	PA				First Brötzmann government
1994					PA (minority)
1997					PA		IS		Second Brötzmann government
2000		Drewes Brandsma		Bonne Zijlstra	PA				First Zijlstra government
2003					PA		GS		Second Zijlstra government
2004				Martina Scott			IS		Scott government
2005		Onne Monsma
2006				Jabik Nieuwenhuis	AP		GS	ASAY	Nieuwenhuis government
2007				Jochen Schünemann	NB (minority)				Schünemann government
2008		Gwen Ritter		Jabik Nieuwenhuis	AP		GS	ASAY	Nieuwenhuis government
2009				Asser Toman	NB	PA	IS	FDU	Toman government
2010		Addik Kuiken
2011				Jonathan Fraser	PA		GS		Fraser government
2014				Aarnd Hellinga	NB		IS	FDU	Hellinga government
2015		Hepke Veltman		Lilliana Elliott					First Elliott government
2017					NB	IS	FDU	NR	Second Elliott government
2020				Ottila Möller	PA (minority)				Möller government

2021 Middewald general election

2021 Middewald general election

3 September 2021
All 70 seats in the Middewald Provincial Assembly 36 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	532,389 (74.2%) 0.7%
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Heigo Harma Eildert Van Der Werff Wullem De Graaf Party Together for the Republic Social Democrats in Delland Orange Party Leader's seat List Blijdorp List Last election 24 seats, 30.3% 25 seats, 35.7% 4 seats, 5.7% Seats after 24 21 10 Seat change 24 4 6 Popular vote 171,961 162,911 75,599 Percentage 32.3% 30.6% 14.9% Swing 2% 5.1% 9.2%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Candidate Formert Meinsma Rutger Douma Triin Keskula Party Conservative Party Workers Party Martish Democratic Party Alliance ASAY - Workers Party Leader's seat Vanaoever (defeated) List List Kuresuu II Last election 12 seats, 17.3% 4 seats, 5.6% 1 seats, 2.1% Seats after 7 4 4 Seat change 5 3 Popular vote 54,836 31,410 28,216 Percentage 10.3% 5.9% 5.3% Swing 7% 0.3% 3.2%
Winning candidates in the single-member constituencies, with list seats shown in the top right.
Minister-President before election Eildert Van Der Werff Social Democrats in Delland Elected Minister-President Heigo Harma Together for the Republic

The 2021 Middewald general election was held on 3 September 2021 to elect all 70 members to the Middewald Provincial Assembly. The outgoing government was a coalition government between the Social Democrats in Delland (SDyD), the Conservative Party (KP) with support from the Martish Democratic Party (MDP). It was led by Eildert Van Der Werff since 2019.

Together for the Republic, a newly founded bloc won a plurality of seats. The bloc was contesting this election as a joint initiative between The Centre, the Green Party and Future Alsland who all won seats. The SDyD experienced a decline of five percentage points. The right-wing Orange Party unexpectedly won more seats than the Conservative Party which experienced a decline of seven percentage points, the election was the party's worst ever result in the Province. ASAY and the Workers Party contested the election together and did not increase their share of seats or vote share significantly. The MDP more than doubled their vote share and won an extra 3 seats.

The incumbent coalition was defeated and Eildert Van Der Werff announced her resignation as Minister-President after coalition talks fell through. Heigo Harma was confirmed as Minister-President by the Assembly on 1 October and announced the establishment of a coalition of Together for the Republic and the SDyD later that week.

Election date

The 33rd Assembly on Middewald began on 21 September 2018 following the 2018 Middewald general election. Under the Provincial constitution of Middewald, elections to the Provincial Assembly must be held during the month of September every three years. On 29 July 2020 the Middewald government confirmed the date of the election for 3 September 2021. Originally the election was to be held together with elections to the Witansmoot of Hamptonshire but a snap election was held in Hamptonshire in conjunction with the 2020 Alslandic legislative election.

Background

Main article: 2018 Middewald general election

In the previous election, the SDyD held a plurality of seats and had entered a coalition with the KP and MDP. The election was widely seen as a referendum on the Premiership of Ottila Möller, the election was the first to be held in Alsland during her tenure as Premier. The incumbent grand coalition SDyD-KP-MDP was unpopular in Middewald throughout it's existence. On 14 February 2019, Minister-President of Middewald Ljimme Broersma resigned as Minister-President and was succeeded by the Province's Secretary of Health Eildert Van Der Werff.

Parties

The table below lists the parties represented in the 33rd Gearkomste.

#	Name			Ideology	Minister-President candidate	National affiliation	2018 result
							Votes (%)	Seats
1		SDyD	Social Democrats in Delland Sosjaal Demokraten yn Dellân	Social democracy Dellish minority politics	Eildert Van Der Werff	Progressive Alliance	35.7%	25 / 70
2		IS	The Centre It sintrum	Social Liberalism Euclofederalism Centrism	Heigo Harma TGFR joint candidate	Together for the Republic	25.4%	19 / 70
3		KP	Conservative Party Konservative Partij	Dellish minority politics Sotirian Democracy	Formert Meinsma	National Bloc	17.3%	12 / 70
4		O	Orange Party Oranje Partij	Federalism Right-wing populism Eucloscepticism	Wullem De Graaf	Non-inscrits	5.7%	4 / 70
5		GP	Green Party Griene Partij	Green Politics Progressivism Euclofederalism	Heigo Harma TGFR joint candidate	Together for the Republic	4.2%	4 / 70
6		AP	Workers Party Arbeiderspartij	Libertarian Socialism Left-wing nationalism	Rutger Douma AP-ASAY joint candidate	Non-inscrits	5%	3 / 70
7		ASAY	ASAY Alslandyske seksje fan 'e arbeiders ynternasjonaal	Kirenian Model Councilism	Rutger Douma AP-ASAY joint candidate	Non-inscrits	3.4%	1 / 70
8		MDP	Martish Democratic Party Marti Demokraatlik Partei	Kirenian minority politics Sotirian Democracy Liberal conservatism	Triin Keskula	Non-inscrits	2.1%	1 / 70
9		TA	Future Alsland Takomst Alslân	Future politics E-democracy Participartory democracy	Heigo Harma TGFR joint candidate	Together for the Republic	2%	1 / 70

Campaign

The campaign officially began on 1 August 2021 when the 33rd Provincial Assembly was dissolved by President Hepke Veltman. Minister-President Eildert Van Der Werff was able to secure the support of many federal officials in the government. On 3 August the SDyD campaign officially began when the Provincial Manifesto was launched. Shortly after this Van Der Werff was endorsed by Bonne Zijlstra and Ottila Möller.

Originally, opinion polls suggested the election would be a close race between the KP and Together. Polls conducted before the campaign had consistently shown the Conservative Party ahead of the SDyD and Together. On 16 August, audio recordings appeared to show the KP's Minister-President candidate Formert Meinsma accepting a bribe from a logging company. At first the allegations were denied and were claimed to be manipulated. However the recording's authenticity was validated and soon after many National Bloc figures rescinded their endorsements from Meinsma. Meinsma continued to deny the allegations throughout the campaign. As it was already too late to replace Meinsma as a candidate the Conservative Party issued a statement saying Meinsma would not accept the role of Minister-President and would stand down as an MA if he was found to have accepted a bribe by the police.

Two TV debates were held during the campaign. Polling after the debates showed most voters believed MDP leader Triin Keskula preformed the best out of the candidates.

Opinion polling

Minister-President polling

Polling conducted during the campaign on who the preferred Minister-President would be

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size					Other/Unsure/None of the above	Lead
			Harma TGFR	Van Der Werff SDyD	De Graaf OP - FDU	Meinsma KP
ANS	29-31 Aug 2021	1000	41	16	12	2	32	18
TBD	21-24 Aug 2021	1000	40	20	6	4	29	20
TBD	15-16 Aug 2021	800	30	13	5	29	23	1
TBD	10-13 Aug 2021	800	32	15	4	30	19	2
TBD	9-12 Aug 2021	800	30	14	2	31	23	1
TBD	6-8 Aug 2021	800	30	11	3	30	26	Tie