Gylian presidential election, 1961

Gylian presidential election, 1961

22 May 1961
Turnout	95,2%
File:EiínDairyn(small).jpg File:MalénaLaryn(small).jpg Nominee Eiín Dairyn Maléna Laryn Party Ind PA Final vote 2.068.820 1.979.751 Percentage 51,1% 48,9%
File:Gylias-elections-presidential-1961-final.png Results of the final preference distribution by region   Eiín Dairyn   Maléna Laryn
President after election Eiín Dairyn

Presidential elections were held in Gylias on 22 May 1961. They were the first presidential elections, held after the Constitution was adopted and the post established.

Several well-known political and civic figures ran for office, establishing the tone and character of subsequent presidential elections. Independent candidate Eiín Dairyn unexpectedly won a plurality of first preference votes, and was elected in the final distribution, defeating the Progressive Alliance-supported Maléna Laryn.

Procedure

The election is held through instant-runoff voting.

Candidates are registered with Elections Gylias in accordance with normal procedures. They could either be nominated by a political party or electoral bloc, civic organisations, or self-nomination as independents.

Candidates

Candidate		Nominator		Office(s) held	Details
Eiín Dairyn	File:EiínDairyn.jpg		Independent	None	Campaigned on promotion of the arts and culture.
Maléna Laryn	File:MalénaLaryn.jpg		Progressive Alliance	None	Campaigned on promotion of gender and sexual revolution.
Hildegard Riese			Union for a New Republic	None	Campaigned as the main conservative candidate.
Donatella Rossetti			Liberal Union	Governor of Alscia (1908–1939)	Campaigned as the main Donatellist–liberal candidate.
Arlette Gaubert			Centre Group	Delegate to the General Council (1940–1958) Member of the Popular Assembly (1958–1962)	Campaigned on promotion of industrial paternalism.
Françoise Chatelain			OMFLG–ACFEN	None	Campaigned on promotion of francité.
Junko Maruo			Veterans for a Just Peace	None	Campaigned on Liberation War veterans' issues.
Luiza Monteira			Centre of Constitutional Monarchists	None	Campaigned on promotion of monarchism.

Results

Candidate		Nominator	First count	%	Final count	%
	Eiín Dairyn	Independent	1.247.756	28,2%	2.068.820	51,1%
	Maléna Laryn	PA	951.304	21,5%	1.979.751	48,9%
	Hildegard Riese	UNR	623.878	14,1%
	Donatella Rossetti	LU	451.316	10,2%
	Arlette Gaubert	CG	424.768	9,6%
	Françoise Chatelain	OMFLG–ACFEN	331.850	7,5%
	Junko Maruo	VFJP	199.110	4,5%
	Luiza Monteira	CCM	141.589	3,2%
Others/write-ins			53.096	1,2%
Total			4.424.668	100%	4.048.571	100%
Registered voters and turnout			4.682.882	95,2%

Maps

First count pluralities by region

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Final count majorities by region

Analysis

In contrast to the 1958 Popular Assembly election, which used nationwide party-list proportional representation, this was the first federal election to use ranked voting and regional counts, allowing for a better measurement of federal political trends.

In the first count, Donatella Rossetti won a plurality in Arxaþ and Alţira, trailed by Hildegard Riese and Arlette Gaubert, with the other candidates performing poorly. Commentators attributed this to "Alscian nostalgia", with Donatella, Hildegard, and Arlette being famous representatives of the "hurried province".

Junko Maruo performed notably well in Salxar and Makarces, and narrowly won a plurality in Herlan, aided by the ongoing Arnak Trials. Luiza Monteira won a plurality in the Daláyk islands, although Hildegard won Nerveiík-Iárus-Daláyk as a whole.

Eiín Dairyn's strong performance was the main surprise: she won pluralities in eastern and southern Gylias (particularly in Elena and Tomes), and finished first overall, with 28,2% of first preference votes.

In the final count, Eiín generally gained transfers from Hildegard, Arlette, and Luiza's voters, while Maléna received most of the transfers from Françoise and Junko's voters. Transfers from Donatella were more evenly split, as Eiín and Maléna were equally appealing to liberal voters.

While Maléna retained most of the regions she had won in the first count, including Mişeyáke, she crucially lost several of the largest regions to Eiín, particularly Nerveiík-Iárus-Daláyk, Elena and Tomes.

Notably, the northern regions of Salxar, Makarces, Gacar, and Gerşyr, which had given pluralities to Maléna in the first count, switched to Eiín in the final count. Although their voters leaned left generally, Maléna's hétaïre image and association with socialised luxury did not resonate with the largely rural and mountainous regions.