2020 Zamastan presidential election
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The 2020 Zamastan Presidential election, scheduled for on Tuesday, 22 September 2020, will be the upper ring of the Zamastan General Election, 2020, and will be the 109th General Election and the 112th totaled Presidential election. Voters will pick a new-president after the incumbent President of Zamastan, BCP Foley Sakzi, announced he would not seek reelection on June 15th, 2020. This nominating process is also an indirect election, where voters cast ballots selecting a slate of delegates to a political party's nominating convention, who then in turn elect their party's presidential nominee. The election will begin at 11:59 PM on Monday, 21 September 2020, and conclude at 7:30 PM, 22 September 2020, with the winner being announced at 8:30 PM.
Background
Procedure
While most Presidential election cycles don't begin until May/June of the election year, the 2020 election cycle started much earlier with the announcement of Senator Euan Gunn of the Northern Isle on April 3rd, 2019. Gunn announced his campaign was in stark frustration surrounding then-President Anya Bishop's handling of Zamastan's growing economic disparities and the "PoverTea" Protests. Three weeks later, billionare and former-Speaker of the Chamber Cain Blackwater announced his candidacy to challenge Gunn's nomination within the Green Liberal Party.
Following Bishop's disparaging comments surrounding fellow Conservative Party lawmakers on June 4th, 2019, incumbant Speaker of the Chamber Foley Sakzi announced his intention to split the Conservative vote by running for President and taking Bishop's nomination for reelection. At this point in her administration, Bishop had reached record unpopularity for a modern-day President. Following the Congressional Hall ban on assault weapons, Sakzi's already high popularity soared and he reached the top spot in polling.
Former Speaker of the Chamber Shauna Lultquist announced her candidacy on July 17th, a day after Sakzi's acclamation to the top of the polls, making her the first black woman in Zamastanian history to run for the Presidency. Former-Governor of Alutia Atticus Moreau announced his candidacy on October 27th, 2019, becoming one of the first members of a Separatist party (Bloc Mayotte) to reach the top three polling participants in an election.
Bishop's Vote of No-Confidence
The 2019 "PoverTea" Protests, also known as the PoverTea Movement, were a series of progressive socio-political movements and protests that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the lack of "real democracy" in Zamastan, though it expanded to several other nations in smaller forms, such as in Austrolis, Avergnon, and South Sotoa. It aimed primarily to advance social and economic justice and new forms of democracy. The movement had many different scopes, since local groups often had different focuses, but its prime concerns included how large corporations (and the global financial system) held influence in government in a way that disproportionately benefited a minority, undermined democracy and caused instability. Another primary concern was that President Anya Bishop's administration had eased lobbying laws via executive order, an act which made corporate influence in Congressional Hall an even greater risk.
The protests were widely refered to as the PoverTea Movement due to the de-facto leader of the activists, Brendan Dennadeer, and his speech during a march in which he said "corporations sit back and drink their tea while the rest of us sit in poverty." Dennadeer was arrested twice during the course of the 10 month-long protests.
The first "PoverTea" protest to receive widespread attention occured in Tofino, Zian, on February 23rd, 2019. By April 15th, PoverTea protests had taken place or were ongoing in over 600 communities in Zamastan, with the largest movements being in Tofino, Alanis, Emerald, Providence, Titania, Jade Harbor, and Tregueux. On November 2nd, two police officers and three protesters were killed and over 300 people were injured when protesters and authorities clashed in Tofino, marking the first time there had been casualties of any kind during the movement. The deaths of the officers prompted President Bishop to order the Zamastanian Army onto the streets of Tofino, saying in a statement that the army was to "reinforce authorities under threat, but to keep the peace and prevent further casualties or fatalities on either side." The army fired on protesters after several more hours of clashes, killing an additional four protesters.
The events of November 2nd pushed Congressional Hall to condemn Bishop (469-30-1 in Congress, 84-16 in the Senate) for her actions, leading for Speaker of the Chamber Foley Sakzi to declare a Vote of No-Confidence. On November 9th, Bishop was removed from the Presidency in a 68-30-2 vote, marking the first time a President had been removed from office by legislative action in Zamastanian history. After Bishop's removal, the PoverTea protests largely subsided, as now-President Foley Sakzi (elected in a Congressional emergency vote on November 16th) introduced an economic reform bill and stimulus package to boost the economy and cut lobbying by corporate entities by 50%.
Sakzi Presidency
Within a week of President Sakzi's administration, Senator Adam Wolffe announced his candidacy on November 23rd, 2019. This effectively split the Liberal Party race in thirds, with Wolffe, Gunn, and Blackwater all vying for the nomination for their party. Junior Congresswoman Sabine Armitage announced her candidacy for the Conservative Party nomination on January 1st, 2020, stating her support for Sakzi as a one-term President and declaring that she believed Bishop's position as a conservative woman in the Presidency was a bad example; "it should be reinstated with a fresh face."
On June 15th, 2020, President Sakzi announced he would not seek reelection, as he believed his services would best be served in a civilian capacity. This meant no matter what, Zamastan would elect a new President. Armitage effectively became the only Conservative candidate running, with Sakzi endorsing her campaign.
Debates
First Debate
Second Debate
Third Debate
Nominations and Candidates
BCP Candidates
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Blue Conservative Party Candidates for President | |||||
| Name | Born | Experience | Campaign Announcement Date | ||
 Sabine Armitage |
November 21, 1989 (Age:30) | Congresswoman (2016-incumbent) |  January 5th, 2020 | ||
GLP Candidates
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Green Liberal Party Candidates for President | |||||
| Name | Born | Experience | Campaign Announcement Date | ||
 Adam Wolffe |
December 26, 1977 (Age:42) | Senator (2014-Present) |  November 23rd, 2019 | ||
 Euan Gunn |
September 18, 1972 (age 47 years) | Senator (2004-Present) |  April 3rd, 2019 | ||
 Cain Blackwater |
August 24th, 1951 (Age:68) | Speaker of the Chamber (1988-1994)
Leader of the Green Liberal Party (1998-Present) CEO of Blackwater Energy Industries Candidate for President (1992, 1998, 2014, 2018, 2019) |
 April 25th, 2019 | ||
Independence Bloc Candidates
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Libertarian Party Candidates for President | |||||
| Name | Born | Experience | Campaign Announcement Date | ||
.jpg) Atticus Moreau |
October 25, 1971 (age 48) | Governor of Alutia (2006-2016) |  October 27th, 2019 | ||
Libertarian House of Zamah St'an
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Libertarian Party Candidates for President | |||||
| Name | Born | Experience | Campaign Announcement Date | ||
 Shauna Lultquist |
August 12th, 1971 (age 48 years) | Speaker of the Chamber (1994-1996)
Founder of Free Water for IDU Initiative Civil Rights Activist |
 July 17th, 2019 | ||
Independent Candidates
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Independent Candidates for President | |||||
| Name | Born | Experience | Campaign Announcement Date | ||