2023 Rizealand presidential election
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The 2023 Rizealand presidential election is planned to be held on Sunday, October 1, 2023, as part of the 2023 Rizealand elections and will be the 50th quinquennial presidential election. The outcome of the election will determine the President and Deputy President of Rizealand for the term of office starting December 1, 2023, and ending December 1, 2028. The incumbent, President Cal Aderhall, is seeking reelection to a second term of office as the nominee of the Tripartite Nationalist Coalition. Aderhall is being challenged in the general election by former Attorney General Barbara Ward, the presidential nominee for the National Progress Coalition.
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.
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.
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| 2023 Tripartite Nationalist Coalition ticket | |
| Cal Aderhall | Neil Harper |
| for President | for Deputy President |
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| 32nd President of Rizealand (2018-present) |
35th Deputy President of Rizealand (2018-present) |
| Campaign | |
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National Progress Coalition
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.
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| 2023 National Progress Coalition ticket | |
| Barbara Ward | Oscar Willis |
| for President | for Deputy President |
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| 6th Attorney General
of Rizealand |
Rizealand Fed Councilor from Providence |
| Campaign | |
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