Central Shaneville Presidential election
Central Shaneville holds elections for legislatures or governments in several jurisdictions: for the federal (national) government, provincial and territorial governments. Local councils also get their own elections. All Central Shaneville citizens aged 18 or older who currently reside in Central Shaneville (or at any point in their life have resided in the nation, regardless of time away) as of the polling day may vote in presidential elections. The most recent election was a re-election called by President John Poseidon which occurred on December 5, 2020.
Elections for other levels of government may have additional residency or ownership requirements. For example, some municipalities allow both residents and non-resident landowners to vote.
Parliament and Senate
The Parliament of Central Shaneville has two chambers: the House of Commons has 242 members (it used to have 333), elected for a maximum four-year term in single-seat electoral districts, and the Senate has 105 members appointed by district elections. Senators are given a six year term and thus often serve much longer than the president.
National elections are governed by the Central Shaneville Elections Commission. Using the first past the post voting system, Central Shaneville's people vote for their local Member of Parliament (MP), who represents one specific constituency or district in the Senate. The leader of the party most likely to hold the confidence of the senate becomes a nominee for president.
Most MPs are members of a political party, although candidates may stand for election as independents unaffiliated with any political party. Once candidates are elected, sitting members of parliament are permitted to "cross the floor" switching party affiliation without having to first resign and restand for office under their new affiliation. Sitting members may also be dismissed from or voluntarily leave their party and become independents. As a result, the distribution of seats by party affiliation often fluctuates in between elections.
Although several parties are typically represented in parliament over the years, Central Shaneville has recently had two dominant political parties since the government's reform in 2016: the Liberal Democrats Party and the Labour party however in 2020, during the re-election, Labour was dethroned as the second dominant party by the Commonwealth People's Party which is the newest party aimed at giving young people a voice.
If a government loses a confidence motion or no majority is found during a presidential election, the president will ask the speaker of the senate to call an election if no coalition is formed and the senate speaker follows that advice.