2013 Alaoyian Presidential Election

2013 Alaoyian Presidential Election

18 November 2013 (first round) 2 December 2013 (second round)
Registered	127,737,039
Turnout	80.1% (first round) 81.3% (second round)
Nominee Adriaan Breytenbach Eefje Clodagh Party Christian Social Union Socialist Alliance Democratic Leftward Alaoyi Home state Seekant Lufhanson Popular vote 56,494,515 47,355,698 Percentage 54.4% 45.6%
Entities won by Adriaan Breytenbach      Entities won by Eefje Clodagh
President before election Adriaan Breytenbach Socialist Elected President Adriaan Breytenbach Democratic

The 2013 Alaoyian presidential election was the 7th quintannual presidential election, held on 18 November of that year. In addition to president, voters also elected members of the Senate and many local offices as well. As no candidate for president received more than half of the valid votes in the first round, a runoff election was held on 2 December. Adriaan Breytenbach received a majority of votes cast in the second round, and therefore was elected as President of Alaoyi.

Incumbent president Agu Dike refused to run in the election, citing his age (Agu was 83 years old on the day of second round and would turn 84 on January 4). This led to an open nomination in the ruling Socialist Party, which selected senator Eefje Clodagh as the nominee, becoming both the first woman and first multiethnic candidate of a major party in Alaoyi (Clodagh's mother was Nuwelander while her father was Diash). Another senator, Adriaan Breytenbach of Seekant was selected as the nominee for the Democratic Alliance. Other major nominations included president of Contae Kinsal Alek O'Cooley of the National Populist Party, professor in constitutional law Mbati Jengu of the Republican Alliance, and retired judge Kalvin Jorensen of the Farmer's Alliance.

The campaign primarily focused on the unpopularity of the Socialist Party. While incumbent president Agu Dike was not personally unpopular, the Socialist Party as a whole was associated with the corruption and scandals of the Kleks presidency, including a sex scandal and divorce trial which directly led to the resignation of Kleks. Clodagh's campaign focused on continuity of government and stability, asserting that the country could not handle a third president in just over 18 months. In contrast, Breytenbach sought to describe himself as a moderate unifier who would restore order and clean up corruption in the federal government. Other candidates struggled to be noticed amidst the high profile race between Breytenbach and Clodagh. Prior the election, polls indicated a resounding victory in the second round for Breytenbach and the Democrats.

Despite losing in the second round, Clodagh received the most votes in the first round, with 42.1% to second place Breytenbach's 33.3%, in part due to a more divided vote among the Alaoyian right versus the Alaoyian left. Other candidates included O'Cooley, who took 9.3% of the vote, Mbati, who took 7.6% of the vote, Jorensen, who took 6.6% of the vote, and all other candidates took 1.1%. Currently, Breytenbach's 54.4% of the vote remains the highest vote total taken in the secound round of an Alaoyian presidential election, and many political pundits have pointed to Mbati's refusal to endorse Clodagh as a signifigant factor in Clodagh's loss, though other pundits assert that Mbati's decision mainly affected the margin, rather than the result itself, due to the signifigant unpopularity of the Socialist Party. Breytenbach became the youngest president ever elected, at 43 years old.

This is the only election where both candidates in the second round were members of the Senate.