Elections in Delkora

Elections in Delkora take place at the federal, state, and local levels. They are characterized by high voter turnout and active civic engagement.

History

In early medieval Delkoran society, it was common for all free men of a town or village to form a thing, which would meet at regular intervals to vote on important matters and issue judicial decisions. The influence of the things waned as the jarls consolidated their power and developed into absolute monarchs.

The House of Commoners was created by King Edvard IV in 1732, and consisted of representatives elected by property-owning adult males. In practice, the House was a largely advisory body subservient to the monarch. It was replaced in 1833 with the Chamber of Representatives following the Delkoran Civil War, although suffrage remained heavily restricted.

The electorate was expanded considerably in the latter part of the 19th century and early 20th century, with universal male suffrage being adopted in 1882 and women's suffrage in 1907. Also notable was the adoption of proportional representation for federal elections in 1884.

In 1934, the national voting age was lowered from 21 to 18.

During the 1960s, the government of Mette Elvensar pushed states to synchronize their election cycles, with the first nationwide state parliament elections happening in 1968, and the first nationwide local elections the following year.

Electoral system

Eligibility to vote

Voter eligibility is governed by federal law and applies to all elections. To be eligible to vote in Delkora, one must be:

• A Delkoran citizen
• At least 18 years old on Election Day
• A current resident of Delkora, or a former resident who resided in Delkora within the last 10 years

Dates

Election Day is always a holiday, and traditionally occurs on a Monday. At the federal level, elections must occur at least every four years, with the exact date being set by the Cabinet within a range specified by law. Snap elections are possible if a government loses a confidence vote and a new government cannot be formed within 10 days, or if at least 2/3 of the Chamber of Representatives vote to dissolve Parliament.

State and local election dates are governed by state law, although beginning in 1968, all seven states agreed to begin synchronizing their elections, which now traditionally occur on the first Monday in October. Additionally, because all states have adopted provisions in their constitutions over the years barring snap elections, state parliaments always serve their full four year terms. Local elections traditionally occur on the first Monday in October as well, but in different years.

Voting method

Federal elections are conducted using party-list proportional representation with open lists. Seat allocation is determined using the D'Hondt method. When casting a ballot, the voter selects a political party and may cast a single vote for either the party itself, or for a particular candidate on its list. Candidates from a list are seated based on their share of the personal votes, with the party's initial ranking serving only as a potential tie-breaker. To be eligible for seat allocation, a party has to meet a nationwide electoral threshold of 0.5%, although if a party wins 15% of the vote in a given constituency, it automatically takes part in the seat allocation for that constituency.

Elections for state parliaments are all conducted using some variation of proportional representation. Notable elements of Delkoran party lists include:

• Mixed list (blandet liste) — the practice of placing non-party members or non-politicians on a party list. Many of these function as symbolic candidates endorsing the party, but others have been officeholders in their own right, such as the New Kingdom culture minister Chantal Beaumont.
• Unity list (enhedsliste) or Cartel (kartel) — an electoral alliance in which two or more parties agree to combine their lists. Well-known examples include Jette Bruun's radical unity list as mayor of Norenstal, and Bothilde Persen's progressive unity list as mayor of Tybenhoth.

All elections utilize paper ballots with optical scan voting systems. Early voting, including postal voting, is allowed for 15 days prior to Election Day. On Election Day itself, polls are open from 6:00am to 10:00pm. Buildings commonly used as polling locations include courthouses, city halls, schools, libraries, and union halls.

Constituencies

Chamber of Representatives constituencies are established by the Federal Electoral Commission, and their boundaries are fixed by law. Some are geographically large, spanning several counties, while others cover only part of a single municipality in the case of large metropolitan areas. Reapportionment occurs every ten years following a federal census. There is approximately one federal MP for every 185,000 people.

For state parliament elections, constituencies generally correspond to counties and large municipalities.

Delkoran citizens living abroad may vote in federal elections provided they had permanent residency in Delkora within the past 10 years. Their votes count toward the constituency they formerly resided in.

Campaigns

For federal elections, the campaign season is defined as the 30 days prior to Election Day. All official campaign events, including canvassing, rallies, and television, radio, and newspaper ads, are limited to this time frame, with hefty fines levied against violators. Additionally, a period of election silence is observed on Election Day itself and the preceding day.

Campaigns are funded by a combination of public and private sources. Parties can become eligible for federal and state subsidies based on the average of their vote totals in previous elections, with a higher average translating into a larger subsidy. To be eligible for a federal subsidy, a party's average must be at least 5%. Parties receiving subsidies are subject to a stringent cap on the amount they may charge in membership dues, and they are not permitted to accept donations. Parties not receiving subsidies have a much higher cap on membership dues and are allowed to accept donations of up to ⊻1,500 per person per year. Donations can only be made by individuals.

Federal elections

The Chamber of Representatives, the lower house of the bicameral Federal Parliament, consists of 500 MPs elected for four year terms. After the election, the monarch grants an exploratory mandate to the leader of the largest party to attempt to form a government. Because of the practice of negotiating electoral alliances prior to elections, it is usually clear which parties will constitute the government. If this is not the case, parties have 30 days to reach an agreement. Failure to form a government by this deadline automatically triggers a new election.

State elections

Each state has a unicameral parliament, elections for which occur every four years, with all states holding their elections concurrently. The state parliaments range in size from 50 seats (Lebøvenland) to 300 seats (Cybria). After an election, a government-formation process similar to the federal one occurs, with the state's jarl giving an exploratory mandate to the leader of the largest party. A state's head of government is known as a first minister, with a role analogous to the federal chancellor. Following their investiture, they appoint members of the state cabinet.

Local elections

Local elections consist of elections for county and municipal councils, which occur every four years across the entire country. In most municipalities, the newly-constituted municipal council elects a mayor from its ranks who serves a largely ceremonial role with limited powers, while in large municipalities, mayors are directly-elected through instant-runoff voting and have considerable power. County councils, meanwhile, appoint from their ranks a county commissioner that serves as the county executive.

Referendums

Referendums can be ordered by an act of the Federal Parliament, and can be either advisory or binding. They are fairly uncommon at the federal level, generally only being held during ratification of a constitutional amendment (as required by the Delkoran Constitution), consideration of a major treaty, or to assess public opinion on a highly controversial issue.

Referendums are more common at the state level, where they can be ordered by an act of the state parliament or a citizen initiative, with the exact regulations varying by state. The enabling legislation for a referendum called by the parliament typically specifies if it is to be advisory or binding, while citizen initiative referendums are binding in every state.

Referendums occur very frequently at the local level.