2022 Green Party of Scalizagasti leadership election
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| Turnout | 75.5% | ||||||||||||||||
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The 2022 Green Party of Scalizagasti leadership election was held on 1 July 2022. Members of the Green Party of Scalizagasti, a major party in Scalizagasti, voted for a new leader following the removal of Thomas Smith in 2021. After the Green caucus removed Smith, Huvan Group MP Trevor Yibanda served as interim leader between April 2021 and July 2022. Elene Leite, the member of parliament for Garor City—Torlu South narrowly defeated Yanis Ross on the ninth ballot. Leite is the first woman and first person of Torlu Islander descent to lead the party. She is also the first female Torlu Islander to lead any major federal party.
94,211 ballots were cast online between 24 June and 1 July. With 124,802 registered party members by the deadline of 1 June, the total turnout was 75.5%. Votes were cast using a one-member-one-vote preferential ranked ballot. The results were processed and announced on the evening of 1 July, the first day of the party convention being held that weekend. Leite had the lead on the first ballot with 23,358 votes followed by Ross in second place with 22,500 votes. Leite held her lead until the 6th ballot where Ross overtook her. Finally, Leite regained the lead on the final ballot with 43,775 votes, less than a thousand votes more than Ross' 42,830 votes.
In total, ten candidates ran for party leader: member of parliament Elene Leite, member of parliament and former minister of justice Yanis Ross, former governor of Lamanges Michael Huang, member of parliament Sinclair Order, Haroldston lawyer Sarah Mulyadi, former party president Farhad Mobasseri, business owner Tomás de Sousa, Ecologist Party co-founder Jason Chosfarle, Desitch city councillor Jason Bohr, and author Linda Varlow.
The race was noteworthy for the animosity between the competing left-wing and right-wing of the party. Eco-socialists and green moderates wrestled for control of the leadership after Smith's ousting left a power vacuum. In the end, the "green pragmatist" faction led by Leite was able to defeat the eco-socialist faction under Ross.
Background
On 26 April 2021, Thomas Smith was removed as leader by the Green Party caucus in a 33-20 vote. The next day, Huvan Group MP Trevor Yibanda was elected as interim leader, a position in which he served until 1 July 2022. The immediate cause of Smith's ousting was over increased military funding; the SDP government announced its plan to procure new warships to the tune of 12 billion dollars, even though the Green Party campaigned on reducing the military budget. While Smith personally voted for the bill as part of his "commitment to the government," the majority of Green MPs voted against it. There also existed dissatisfaction with Smith's leadership from the 2016 and 2020 elections, where the Green Party saw its seat count dramatically reduced each time. Many expected him to resign after the 2020 election, but he declared his intent to lead the party for at least another election. Some commentators and supporters worried Smith was "losing touch" after 15 years as party leader.
The two frontrunners, Elene Leite and Yanis Ross were perceived as the natural successors to Smith, even before he was removed as leader. Both MPs were well-known and popular among the party membership, and they were seen as the leaders of the opposing green pragmatist and eco-socialist factions of the party.
On 31 August 2021, it was announced that a leadership election to replace interim leader Trevor Yibanda would be held on 1 July 2022, at the same time as the party would hold its biennial party convention.
Election Rules
According to the party constitution, any valid party member who purchased their membership at least one month prior to the election date could vote with a secret ranked ballot. The winner of the election would be chosen through an IRV system, where the lowest-polling candidate is eliminated each round and their votes are distributed to the rest of the candidates.
To have their name on the ballot, a candidate needed to pay an entrance fee of $25,000, be a member in good standing of the party for at least six months, and have 1,000 signatures from party members. Campaign spending was limited to $300,000 per candidate.
Full results
| Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | 4th round | 5th round | 6th round | 7th round | 8th round | 9th round | ||||||||||
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| Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | ||
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Elene Leite | 23,358 | 24.79% | 23,394 | 24.83% | 23,616 | 25.07% | 23,730 | 25.19% | 26,644 | 28.28% | 26,807 | 28.45% | 28,042 | 29.77% | 32,371 | 34.36% | 43,775 | 46.46% |
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Yanis Ross | 25,500 | 23.88% | 22,711 | 24.11% | 22,913 | 24.32% | 22,934 | 24.34% | 23,053 | 24.47% | 27,359 | 29.04% | 35,028 | 37.18% | 40,153 | 42.62% | 42,830 | 45.46% |
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Michael Huang | 14,068 | 14.93% | 14,104 | 14.97% | 14,158 | 15.03% | 14,683 | 15.59% | 15,268 | 16.21% | 15,276 | 16.21% | 15,852 | 16.83% | 17,504 | 18.58% | Eliminated | |
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Sinclair Order | 7,254 | 7.70% | 7,266 | 7.71% | 7,489 | 7.95% | 7,973 | 8.46% | 8,678 | 9.21% | 11,846 | 12.57% | 14,048 | 14.91% | Eliminated | |||
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Sarah Mulyadi | 10,837 | 11.50% | 10,841 | 11.51% | 10,930 | 11.60% | 10,935 | 11.61% | 11,002 | 11.68% | 11,754 | 12.48% | Eliminated | |||||
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Farhad Mobasseri | 8,557 | 9.08% | 8,560 | 9.09% | 8,591 | 9.12% | 8,594 | 9.12% | 8,621 | 9.15% | Eliminated | |||||||
| File:Leite, Médico Ricardo Baptista.jpg | Tomás de Sousa | 4,610 | 4.89% | 4,620 | 4.90% | 4,648 | 4.93% | 4,699 | 4.99% | Eliminated | |||||||||
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Jason Chosfarle | 1,743 | 1.85% | 1,744 | 1.85% | 1,776 | 1.89% | Eliminated | |||||||||||
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Jason Bohr | 928 | 0.99% | 935 | 0.99% | Eliminated | |||||||||||||
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Linda Varlow | 352 | 0.37% | Eliminated | |||||||||||||||
| Spoiled or exhausted ballots | 4 | 0.00% | 36 | 0.04% | 90 | 0.10% | 663 | 0.70% | 945 | 1.00% | 1,169 | 1.24% | 1,241 | 1.32% | 4,183 | 4.44% | 7,606 | 8.07% | |
| Total | 94,211 | 100% | 94,211 | 100% | 94,211 | 100% | 94,211 | 100% | 94,211 | 100% | 94,211 | 100% | 94,211 | 100% | 94,211 | 100% | 94,211 | 100% | |
