2023 Azmaran legislative election

2023 Azmaran legislative election

16 April 2023
All 150 seats in Folksmot 76 seats needed for a majority
Leader Sofija Anasdohter Freidrik Aleksaanderssun Ana Freidriksdohter Party Workers' Party Gold Flame The Radicals Leader since 1 July 2020 17 September 2017 3 September 2018 Leader's seat Haadland Groonbank Aalmsted Last election 51 seats, 32.1% 30 seats, 19.0% 19 seats, 13.0%   Leader Henrik Jorśsun Liis Jonsdohter Hilda Maartensdohter Party Sotirian Democrats Green Party Blue and White Leader since 5 April 2022 5 April 2020 6 November 2022 Leader's seat Westmaark (standing) Aalmsted Sompland Last election 16 seats, 10.4% 14 seats, 9.1% 6 seats, 4.0%   Leader Maarijana Karlsdohter Jorś Leifssun Niina Karlsdohter Party Socialist Party Party for Hytklif Grey Party Alliance Free Alliance 08 Leader since 1 January 2023 20 August 2020 17 June 2010 Leader's seat Ostlaak Hytklif Groonbank Last election 5 seats, 3.2% 4 seats, 2.8% 3 seats, 1.7%
Incumbent Thingspeaker Sofija Anasdohter Workers'

Parliamentary elections will be held in Azmara on 16 April 2023, and will elect members of the Folksmot for the 2023-2026 term.

Background

The previous election on the 19th April 2020 saw the Workers' Party led by Thingspeaker Eryk Jorśsun win the most seats with 51, five down from the 2017 election. Negotiations would begin between the Workers' Party, The Radicals and the Green Party in order to form a government, with tensions emerging between the Workers' Party and their two prospective coalition partners over the Northern Forum's funding of the Tuaisceart-Süd II pipeline connecting Caldia and Werania, which the latter parties opposed on environmental grounds yet divided Workers' Party parliamentarians and ministers.

After public disputes over the party's environmental policy and mass environmental protests triggered the resignation of three pro-pipeline ministers, Eryk Jorśsun would announce his resignation as Workers' Party leader on 20th May, being succeeded by Internal Affairs Secretary Sofija Anasdohter after an uncontested leadership election on 1st July. After this, a coalition agreement between the three parties would be ratified by the 10th July, with Anasdohter being instituted as Thingspeaker on the 13th July with 84 of 150 Folksmot members voting in favour of her institution.

On the 3rd March, Anasdohter announced that a motion to dissolve the Folksmot on 8th March in preparation for elections on the 16th April would be tabled, to be voted on on the 6th March.

Electoral system

The 150 seats of the Folksmot are elected via the Wiljâmssun method of party-list proportional representation in eight constituencies coterminous with the seven provinces of Azmara and the Free City of Aalmsted. Open lists are used and as such voters cast their votes for a specific candidate on a list submitted by a party and party candidates are elected in the order of personal votes they receive proportionally to the share of votes the party receives in the constituency. No national threshold is present and as such any party that receives enough votes for a seat in any constituency is elected.

The 2023 election is the first since the establishment of a national age-based franchise in 1801 in which 16 and 17 year olds are able to vote and stand in after the passage of the 15th Amendment to the Basic Law on the 6th November 2022, which is thought to have enlarged the pool of eligible voters by around 150,000.

Constituency	Seats
Aalmsted	15
Groonbank	38
Haadland	12
Hytklif	8
Nordberg	6
Ostlaak	17
Sompland	24
Westmaark	30

Political parties

For a party or list to stand in the election it needs to present the equivalent amount of signatures from eligible voters as 0.33% of the votes cast in the previous election, or the equivalent of half a seat in the Folksmot - for the 2020 election this was 25,789 eligible voters. This threshold was met by 16 lists by the 26th March nomination deadline, of which 10 have submitted candidates in all eight constituencies.

Party		Ideology	Position	Candidates by province
				Aalmsted	Groonbank	Haadland	Hytklif	Nordberg	Ostlaak	Sompland	Westmaark	Total
	Workers' Party of Azmara Arbeiderpartii âb Azmaara	Social democracy	Centre-left	13	32	10	7	5	14	21	26	128
	Sotirian Democracy of Azmara Sortiren Folksrâgelen âb Azmaara	Sotirian democracy	Centre-right	10	30	9	8	6	12	20	27	122
	Gold Flame — Azmaran Liberal Party Gyldflam — Azmaariś Friihederpartii	Conservative liberalism	Centre-right	12	33	8	6	4	11	20	25	119
	The Radicals — Azmaran Democrats Radikaalen — Azmaariś Folksrâgeleren	Social liberalism	Centre to centre-left	12	30	10	6	4	10	19	23	114
	Green Party of Azmara Groonpartii âb Azmaara	Green politics	Centre-left	11	27	7	5	4	9	17	21	101
	Blue and White — People's Movement Blau en Hyt — Folksstyringen	National liberalism Right-wing populism	Right-wing to far-right	7	21	5	3	3	11	19	19	88
	Socialist Party — Azmaran Left Sośalistiśpartii — Azmaariś Links	Democratic socialism Left-wing populism	Left-wing to far-left	7	19	5	3	3	11	18	18	84