2023 Rizealand presidential election

2023 Rizealand presidential election

October 1, 2023 (first round) November 5, 2023 (second round)
Turnout	62.34% (first round) 8.74 pp 62.24% (second round) 0.1 pp
Nominee Barbara Ward Cal Aderhall Party New Democrat Conservative Reform Alliance NPC TNC Home state New Estmere Providence Running mate Oscar Willis Neil Harper Popular vote 16,506,145 13,751,219 Percentage 54.55% 45.45%
President before election Cal Aderhall Conservative Reform Elected President Barbara Ward New Democrat

The 2023 Rizealand presidential election was held on Sunday, October 1, 2023 as part of the 2023 Rizealand elections and was the 50th quinquennial presidential election. When no candidate received more than fifty percent of the vote on October 1, incumbent President Cal Aderhall, who was seeking reelection to a second term of office as the nominee of Tripartite Nationalist Coalition, and former Attorney General Barbara Ward, who was the presidential nominee for the National Progress Coalition, both advanced to a runoff election that was held on Sunday, November 5, 2023. After receiving 16,506,145 votes or 54.55% of the runoff vote, Ward won the election and was designated president-elect for the term of office starting December 1, 2023, and ending December 1, 2028.

Background

Pursuant to article three, section two of the Rizealand Articles of Federation, the president and deputy president of Rizealand must be natural born citizens of Rizealand, at least thirty-five years of age, and residents of Rizealand for at least the last five years. They also cannot have already served two terms in their respective offices and cannot have been disqualified from public office by the Central Assembly after a prior removal from office. The president and deputy president each serve a five-year term and are limited by the Articles of Federation to two terms. Since 1978, the Articles have required the president and deputy president to be elected by a majority of the popular vote, which the High Court has interpreted to mean more than fifty percent. Although presidential elections in Rizealand are typically contested by the two major political coalitions—the National Progress Coalition or NPC and the Tripartite Nationalist Coalition or TNC—the existence of third-party candidates and independent candidates can result in no candidate receiving more than half of the votes cast. As a result, Rizealand election law currently has presidential elections organized in a two-round system. Under this system, the first nationwide election is held on October 1, 2023, which is a national holiday. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast on or before than date, then the two candidates with the highest percentages of the vote advance to a second runoff election which is scheduled for November 5, 2023.

The Federation Election Commission (FEC) is responsible for overseeing all federal elections in Rizealand. In order to be listed on the national election ballot, presidential candidates must submit their applications for candidacy to the FEC by the first day of July during the election year. There are two ways to be listed on the national ballot. First, one may be nominated by a national political party registered with the FEC. Second, one may qualify as an independent candidate by providing the signatures equal to ten percent of the number of voters that voted in the previous national election from each of Rizealand's nine states. While independent candidates may begin their campaign at any time, they cannot begin the collection of signatures until the first day of the election year and any signatures collected prior to that date are deemed invalid. The process to be nominated by a political party varies. The NPC and TNC both use a series of primary elections or caucuses to select a nominee that begin in February of the election year and end by April or May. Once a candidate has won a majority of the primary votes or contests, their nomination is made official by the coalition's nominating convention in June. Because of the early timeline for primary elections and caucuses, presidential candidates typically begin their campaigns a year or more before the actual election year begins.

After being nominated or successfully applying to become an independent candidate, candidates begin their general election campaigns in the summer of the election year which typically involve advertising, campaign rallies, get-out-the-vote drives, and attending a series of televised debates organized by the FEC. Starting on the twentieth day before election day, the FEC mails out ballots to every registered voter in Rizealand. To have their votes counted, voters must complete the ballots and mail them back by the day prior to election day. Alternatively, voters may visit a polling station on election day where they can cast their vote or turn in their mail ballot. Once the votes are tabulated and certified by the FEC, the winner of the election is announced or a runoff election is scheduled. The FEC also serves as the arbiter of any election disputes and its decisions are directly appealable to the High Court.

Nominations

Tripartite Nationalist Coalition

On January 1, 2022, incumbent President Cal Aderhall announced during a New Year's Day address that he would be seeking reelection to a second term of office. On June 17, 2022, the Tripartite Nationalist Coalition's National Council passed a resolution that cancelled any 2023 TNC primary election or caucus in which the incumbent was seeking reelection. The move was widely criticized outside the TNC as anti-democratic and authoritarian. While some members of the National Republican Party like Fed Councilors Sotiropher McCarthy, Nathan Cox, and Benjamin Caffrey publicly condemned the move, Aderhall stated the move was necessary to conserve the coalition's resources by preventing expensive and prolonged primaries that could weaken the coalition's standing in swing states like Providence. As a result, Aderhall was unopposed due to the absence of any primaries or caucuses and was nominated for a second term by the TNC's national convention on June 22, 2023. Aderhall's running mate, Neil Harper, was also nominated for a second term as deputy president.

2023 Tripartite Nationalist Coalition ticket
Cal Aderhall	Neil Harper
for President	for Deputy President
32nd President of Rizealand (2018-present)	35th Deputy President of Rizealand (2018-present)
Campaign

National Progress Coalition

Main article: 2023 NPC presidential primaries

From February 2023 to May 2023, the National Progress Coalition held a series of primary elections in all nine states and two territories of Rizealand as well as in the Onnohou Nation to select the NPC's nominee for president. A total of fourteen candidates sought the NPC presidential nomination, including three governors (Laura Wahl, Marci Shaw, Emanuel Rodriguez), three federal representatives (Tony Francesco, Elliot Carr, Philip Lindroth), a federal councilor (Marcela Carbajal Noboa), a former cabinet secretary (Grace Chen), a former attorney general (Barbara Ward), a state legislator (Ricardo Correa), a mayor (Ken Pearson), and a former city councilmember (Anita Pernet). Other candidates with no elected experience included two environmental activists (Stefan Forslund annd Tinesha Hart), a non-profit founder (Lola West), a CEO (Polina Karpenko), and an actor (Deshawn Norman). The political affiliation of the candidates included eight New Democrats, five Democrats, and four Greens.

Prior to the start of primaries on February 4, 2023, six candidates ended their campaigns, including Carr, Lindroth, Carbajal Noboa, Correa, Pearson, and West. During the first round of primaries, six more ended their candidacies, including Chen, Shaw, Rodriguez, Karpenko, Forslund, and Hart. While Norman, Wahl, and Ward emerged as the frontrunners with the most votes, the first round of primaries ended on April 8 with no candidate receiving more then fifty percent of the vote. As a result, the two candidates with the highest percentages of the vote, Ward at 37.86% and Norman at 22.68%, advanced to face each other in a nationwide runoff primary on May 27, 2023. After receiving 5,883,934 votes or 60.97% of the runoff primary votes, Ward defeated Norman and became the NPC's presumptive nominee for president.

Following Ward's victory in the May 27 runoff primary and prior to the start of the 2023 NPC National Convention on June 12, 2023, Ward began the process of selecting a nominee for deputy president. On June 1, Ward's reported shortlist for deputy president included Rodriguez, Logan Walsh (Fed councilor from Astoria), Oscar Willis (Fed councilor from Providence), Chen, Anthony Cooke (Los Santos mayor), Joe Davidson (Fed councilor from Assimia), Shaw, Norman, Daniel Riggs (Liberty City mayor), and Zoey Hagan (Governor of Astoria). Wahl, Carbajal Noboa, and Gabriela Romero (Fed councilor from San Andreas) all reportedly declined an invitation to be considered for deputy president. By June 9, Ward reportedly narrowed the possible candidates down to Rodriguez, Willis, Davidson, Norman, Riggs, and Hagan. On June 11, Ward announced she was selecting Oscar Willis as her nominee for deputy president.

2023 National Progress Coalition ticket
Barbara Ward	Oscar Willis
for President	for Deputy President
6th Attorney General of Rizealand (2019-2022)	Rizealand Fed Councilor from Providence (2021-present)
Campaign

RSWI

On June 4, 2023, the General Council of the Rizealand Section of the Workers' International (RSWI) held a vote to nominate a candidate for president and deputy president. Amithra Pallavan, a member of the Belltown City Council and the RSWI's 2018 presidential nominee, won the nomination for the second time by receiving 75.9% of the vote in the first round. The General Council also nominated political activist Marciana Rego for deputy president.

2023 RSWI ticket
Amithra Pallavan	Marciana Rego
for President	for Deputy President
Belltown City Councilor (2015-present)	Activist and journalist
Campaign