Elections in Gabrielland
Elections in Gabrielland are held to elect government officials and other elected posts at a national, realm, regional, provincial levels, and local levels. Elections in all five levels of government exists. At the national level, only one of the three heads of states is elected, that being the Head of the New Frontier. All members of the provincial and regional legislatures are elected directly by the people using varying methods such as first pass the post, open list proportional representation, closed list proportional representation, and ranked voting to name a few. Regions and provinces may choose their own electoral system in the process. Members of the realm legislature and lower house of the national legislature are elected directly with multi member constituencies for both, and using an open list proportional representation for the realm parliament and ranked open list proportional representation for the lower house of the national parliament.
The constitution of 2000 has outlined the base of Gabrielt elections, mandating every level of government to conduct its own elections according to laws set by each body. The constitution also regulates the maximum term length of the head of the New Frontier, seat allocations in the national and realm parliament, as well as the number of seats a regional and provincial parliament may haave based on their population size. Thus, elections are administered and conducted at the provincial level as they set the regulations and proceedings regarding all elections. However, the timing in which subdivisions can conduct elections are determined by the national parliament, but subdivisions are still entirely free to determinee the term lengths and limits of each office.
Initially, only men were able to vote. Via the 1953 12th amendment to the Gabrielt constitution, women were allowed to vote for the first time in the 1954 local elections. Until 1964, no elections comission or board existed. The Elections Commission was established in 1964 to conduct all elections from local to national, whereas previously individual provinces would run the elections. The Election Watch was also created alongside the EC to monitor elections, and has the sole authoritative jurisdiction to report elections to the respective courts for allegations of fraud. Starting in 1970, all candidates must report their wealth and assets to the EC via a bill introduced in 1969. The Election Comission was also given the authority to disqualify candidates for failing to meet their criteria of selection. The EC and EW was suspended between 1976 and 1985 during the Gabrielt civil war and Arsyan Republic. Only the EC was refounded in 1985 as the sole election monitor and regulator, as states (and now various subdivisions) run the election according to their own rules and criteria.
Voting
Voting methods
Traditionally, each subdivision is free to choose its own type of voting method for its own local elections. Nationally, a multiple non-transferable vote is used for both the Gabrielt and Arsyan People's Communion and the Gabrielt and Arsyan Elder's Communion, both elected through multi-candidate constituencies.
National elections
There are two types of national elections, namely elections to the Gabrielt and Arsyan People's Communion (lower house) and the Gabrielt and Arsyan Elders' communion (upper house, also commonly the senate of Gabrielland). Both elections utilize a multiple non-transferable vote system in multi-candidate constituencies. For the lower house, constituencies are created based on provincial lines based on population, ranging from 3 to 8 representatives per constituency. Voters possess the same amount of votes as there are required candidates to fill, and filling out less than the maximum is allowed. All votes are treated as one vote, and all candidates who place above the required amount of seats to be filled are elected to the national parliament.
Elections to the Gabrielt and Arsyan Elders' Communion occur in a similar manner to the lower house. Elders or senators are chosen in three constituencies with a fixed amount of elders per constituency, namely 38 for Gabrielland, 10 for the Arsyan Realms, and 2 for the new frontier. Elections occur in a staggered pattern, with each senator falling into one of four classes. The classes rotate with each election cycle, and Senators are up for reelection once every eight years. The voting method is also similar to the lower house, with multiple non-transferable vote being used. Different from the lower house is the ability for voters to vote for more than the required amount of candidates by up to two votes. The candidate with the highest amount of votes and that meet the quota for that constituency and class at the time of the election are elected to the upper house of Gabrielland.
While some constituencies have term limits (as a ruling from either the province or region), others do not.
Realm elections
Elections to determine representatives for the realm parliament are the only elections that exist within the realm level for Gabrielland and Arsyan. Each region is alotted a set number of representatives to represent their region in the lower house of the realm parliament, known as different names in diferent realms. The realm parliament does not have an upper house as it is a unicameral body. Each region possess different methods of election to the realm parliament, with some regions having a unified voting method for the entire region, while others leaving up to the provinces to decide the method used for the realm elections. Realm elections occur once every five years, occuring in years ending in a multiple of 5.
In the New Frontier, the selection of the Head of the New Frontier occurs during the same time as the realm parliament elections. The selection of the de-facto ruler of the New Frontier serves to elect a representative that would form the three-member collective head of state of Gabrielland representing the new frontier. A simple two-round system is used across the New Frontier.
Regional elections
There are various forms of regional elections in Gabrielland. One notable election at the regional level, namely the lower house of the individual regional legislatures, are elected through a variety of methods depending on if the legislature of a specific region or province have agreed on a voting method. Some regions have already unified their voting methods while others still leave to their provinces to determine the method used in the lower house elections. Recently, a growing number of regions have ratified the use of open-list proportional representation. The upper house of the regional legislature are unelected as they are appointed by the provincial parliaments allocated by population of the province in a specific region.
Another election which all regions have is the election of a region head. Elections for the region head also vary according to region, with the most popular method of electing a region head being the two-round system. Different from the legislative branch elections, region head elections mandate that each region possess a unified voting method.
Provincial elections
One form of provincial elections is the election of legislators to their respective provincial legislatures. Each province has their own method of voting in their own legislators, although some regions have standardized their respective voting methods even for provincial elections. Most of the New Frontier have adopted some form of non-transferable vote in their provincial elections. Municipalities of each province are not allowed to conduct or to promulgate their own bills or regulations that determine the voting method of their respective municipalities. As a result, methods of provincial elections and regional elections are often the same, except for those whose regions have standardized the voting method in the regional elections. There are no elections to the upper house of provincial legislatures as all provincial legislatures are mandated to be unicameral by the 2000 constitution.
Provinces are led by governors, who in turn are mainly elected through a simple two-round system, though some provinces may opt to have either a first pass the post system or an instant-runoff system.
Local elections
Local elections form the bulk of elections in Gabrielland for their sheer amount of elected officials and positions mandated by each respective subdivision. Each subdivision may choose which positions are elected positions, although all subdivisions mandate the direct election of mayor and municipality councillors through direct election. Other posts such as the municipality sheriff or the city sheriff are up to the respective provinces or regions to decide if such position is an elected position. The voting method used in each of these elections highly depends on the province or region of where the election is taking place and the very nature of the election. Councillors are usually elected through multiple non-transferable votes, while other executive positions are either elected via a first-pass-the-post system or a two-round system.
Eligibility
Voter eligibility is left to the subdivisions to decide the details of who gets to to vote in different types of elections. The constitution of Gabrielland protects all Gabrielt citizens over the age of 17 to vote in all types of elections unless otherwise stated by the rule of law in each subdivision. It is illegal to discriminate against color, race, religion, or ethnicity in terms of voting practices, however other than the terms protected by the constitution, the individual subdivisions get to decide. Some provinces revoke the voting rights of all criminals serving a prison sentence while restoring them after being released, while some provinces allow for criminals to vote provided they are not serving a sentence more than the limit of each province or region.
Gabrielts abroad may only take part in national elections, conducted through the embassy or liasion office for that specific region. Overseas voters must register with the embassy or office one month prior to the election being held.
Registration
All Gabrielts wishing to vote must register themsleves to the municipality office. Usually, the process is done automatically, and voters only need to verify their registration by coming to their respective municipality offices once they turn 17. Once a citizen has been registered to vote, they stay on that system's registry until they die, have their voting rights revoked by the province or region, or move to another location, in which voters have the responsibility to re-register themselves with their new municipality registration system. Automatically, the system removes the registration of such individual from their previous location.
If a citizen fails to verify their registration before the next election, they are still able to vote in the national elections, and elections of lower levels depends on the regulations and laws of each individual subdivisions using additional ballots. Failing to re-register after moving means that an individual is barred from participating in their new locale's election, as their credentials and registration still match and sync with their old location. Proving one's registration upon voting could be done in a variety of ways across the entire country, either using a national ID card, driver's license, passport, or ohter official national documents as the registration has been incorporated into a national database of registries.
Mail votes
Mail votes, or also commonly known as postal votes, were introduced in the 2004 national elections as a way for voters unable to go the polling station on the day of election. Depending on the regulations of each individual subdivision, mail votes must be registered beforehand each cycle or be enrolled in such system indefinitely until the voter requests to be put off the mail vote system. Regulations as to who can enroll in a mail vote system vary depending on subdivision, although generally each individual subdivision requires the voter to send in a reason for their unability to come to the polling station on the day of election. Some subdivisions do not require a reason or alibi and will give all applicants a mail vote. Starting in 2017, the city of Sangur has put all its citizens into the mail-vote system, closing all of the in-person polling stations during the 2018 national elections in an attempt to increase voter participation.
Voters are required to sign their ballots upon delivery to be matched with the signature on the national database. For this reason, some provinces do not allow mail votes at all for the concern of fraud and/or lack of equipment and manpower to perform this task. Voters may drop off their ballots in post offices, mailboxes, or designated ballot drop-offs scattered throughout the vicinity. The accpetance of these ballots after election day depends on the subdivisions. While some subdivisions mandate that all mail votes must arrive on or before election day, some provinces allow up to five days after election day provided the ballot was sent on or before election day.
Voters abroad may also request a mail vote, especially if one's location is far from a Gabrielt embassy or liasion office. In this case, ballots would be delivered to each voter's domicile at the cost of the Gabrielt embassy, and must be returned one week before election day to be transported back to Gabrielland for counting.
Voting equipment
As of 2020, no national election equipment voting scheme has been issued. Similar to voting methods and other regulations related to elections, individual regions and provinces decide the equipment used in elections. Several regions have enacted a mandatory electronic machine voting system, usually richer regions, while most of the poorer communities still use hand-counted ballot paper. As a result, most of the election results in the southern portion of the country are slower to be reported due to the manual nature of the counting. An additional requirement for all voting machines is for all equipment to be hand-counted if requested, and even in electronic machine voting systems a recap of the votes cast is created upon the vote being registered.
Ballot
The ballot of each election depends on the type of voting equipment used by each region or province. Ballot papers vary throughout the country for all elections below the national level. At the national level, ballot papers contain the names of all the candidates based on party affiliation, both for the lower house and the upper house. Usually, ballot paper design, size, and build are determined by the Elections Commission. In the 2018 national elections, the ballot paper used was a modified A2 paper to fit in the growing number of candidates and parties participating in the election. The same convention was used in the 2020 national elections.
In regions or provinces which use an electronic voting machine, special conventions are designed to make the interface look similar to a paper ballot, but operated electronically. These electronic voting machines also print their respective ballots on paper in the occasion of a hand recount or audit.
Some local elections integrate all the ballots into one singular piece of paper due to the low volume of the vote and candidates contesting in the election. Some provinces with a proportional closed-list system may also opt to integrate their legislative elections with the integrated ballot for local elections.
Levels
National elections
The only national elections mandated by the constitution are the direct elections to the Gabrielt and Arsyan People's Communion (lower house) and to the Gabrielt and Arsyan Elders' Communion (upper house) through a multi-candidate constituency using a mutliple non-transferable vote. The chancellor of Gabrielland is a quasi directly-elected position. Since 2000, the chancellor of Gabrielland is the leader of the governing coalition in the lower house, and is sworn in by the upper house of Gabrielland. The speaker of both houses are elected once every two years by their own members.
Gabrielt and Arsyan People's Communion
The Gabrielt and Arsyan People's Communion is the directly-elected lower house of the Gabrielt legislature, consisting of 500 members elected through multi-candidate constituencies with each constituency sending between 3 to 8 representative based on population. The constituencies get reapportioned once every ten years after the national census held once every ten years. Members are called representatives, and serve for two years each term, meaning that elections to the lower house of Gabrielland occurs every two years, or during years which is a multiple of 2 (0, 2, 4, 6, 8).
Special for the national elections including the elections to the lower house, a standardized method of election exists for the lower house and the upper house. For the lower house, votes are cast in single non-transferable votes using a open-list proportional representation method calculated using the D'Hondt method. As a result, voters cast only one vote per ballot. Individual constituencies are not divided into smaller constituencies, and candidates which pass the D'Hondt quota are elected to the lower house.
Some jurisdictions may implement a term length, while others do not. In jurisdictions without a term length, incubments have a much higher chance of getting reelected. Jurisdictions also have different definitions and regulations as to the limit a representative can serve, ranging from four terms (8 years) to ten terms (20 years).
Gabrielt and Arsyan Elders' Communion
The Gabrielt and Arsyan Elders' Communion, more colloquially referred to the Gabrielt Senate, is the directly-elected upper house of the Gabrielt legislature, comprising of 50 members apportioned according to the constitution, meaning to change the number of senators apportioned to each constituency will require a constitutional amendment. Members are either called elders or senators, with the term senator being favored by international media. The 50 members are elected from three constituencies which coincide with the three realms of Gabrielland. 38 elders originate from the Gabrielt Realm, 10 from the Arsyan Realms, and 2 from the New Frontier. There are no term limits for the upper house.
Elders serve an 8 year term, but not all seats are up for reelection every time. Senators are divided into four "stages" which determine their election. The four stages are staggered so that only one stage is up for election every cycle. The timing of the elections occur at the same time as the elections to the lower house, during years which are a multiple of 2.
Upper house elections are conducted using a multiple non-transferable vote using an open-list system. Different from the lower house elections, upper house elections do not use a proportional system, and top candidates are instantly elected based on the amount of seats up for election in that constituency.
Realm elections
Realm elections solely comprise of the direct-election of representatives to the realm parliament in Gabrielland and the Arsyan Realms, and the election of the Head of the New Frontier in the New Frontier.
Realm parliament
The unicameral body is elected through various methods throughout the different jurisdictions. Representatives serve a five year term, with elections happening on years ending in a multiple of 5. Realm parliaments differ in size. The Gabrielt realm parliament has 235 seats, the New Frontier realm parliament has 100, while the Arsyan realms parliament possess 175. The apportionment of representatives within each respective realm falls under the jurisdiction of the realm itself, and different realms may have different regulations regarding reapportionment due to population increase.
Realm elections are also important in selecting the prime ministers of the respective realms. As each realm possesses their own prime minister and cabinet, the governing coalition or party gets to nominate their own prime minister and cabinets confirmed by the parliament itself. Prime ministers of respective realms serve as long as their coalition or party are the governing party in the parliament.
Head of the New Frontier
The head of the New Frontier is the de-jure leader of the New Frontier, although his executive role is fairly limited and ceremonial, similar to that of the monarchy in Gabrielland and Arsya. The head of the New Frontier is also the New Frontier's representative in the three-person collective head of state, and plays a bigger role in the external affairs of the country rather than the day-to-day running of the realm. The head of the New Frontier is elected once every five years, and is eligible for reelection once. The system used in the election of the head of the New Frontier is prescribed in the constitution of the New Frontier, using a two-round system.
Regional elections
There exists several elections at the regional level. Regional elections comprise of elections to the lower house of each respective regional parliaments and the direct election of a regional head. Some regions may have other region-level posts up for election, while in other regions that specific post is an appointed role.
Lower house
The lower house of the regional legislatures, called by different terms in different regions, is a directly elected position and role in all of the regions. The size of the regional legislatures are apportioned using regulations and bills introduced at the regional level, although the method in which a region selects its representatives are still ununiformed. Different regions may have dfferent term lengths. The voting method is also left up to the provinces, unless a regional law has been promulgated barring the provinces from creating their own system.
Term lengths and limits vary by region, ranging from a length of two years in the Central Gabrielland region, up to six years in the Arasatia region. Limits also vary, from a maximum of eight years in most regions to unlimited terms in the Grafenland special region and in the South Gabrielland region.
Region head
The region head is an elected position which, along with the vice head and their regional cabinets, form the sole executive authority at the regional level. Elections to the region head vary from region to region, with the most common method being a first pass the post system or a two-round system with more and more regions opting for a two-round system. The region head and their vice are elected in the same election, and registering to be an eligible candidate will require the prospective candidates to possess a vice head already.
Region heads serve varying term lengths and are constrained with different term limits. Regions in the New Frontier generally do not have a term limit on their regional heads, and set their term length to four years. In some regions such as Dzombash and Artadash, a region head is limited to a one 5-year term, making them inelligible for reelection.
Region Treasurer
In some regions, the region treasurer is an elected position, however most regions require the treasurer to be an independent. In most instances, the region treasurer serves a four year term with a maximum of two terms. In the West Gabrielland region, the region treasurer serves a six year term and is inelligible for reelection after the first term. In regions that do have an elected region treasurer position, the preferred method of voting is a simple first-pass-the-post system.
Provincial elections
Provincial elections are by far one of the most important elections in Gabrielland, as they have the most power over local affairs such as education and healthcare. Provincial elections also contain the second most types of elections only behind the local elections. All provinces have an elected unicameral legislature as well as an elected governor. Some provinces also have other elected posts.
Provincial legislature
The provincial legislature, called by different names in different jurisdictions, is the sole legislative body at the provincial level. The provincial legislatures are a directly-elected body through various methods depending on the jurisdiction, and whose size is apportioned based on population as defined by a 2007 national bill. Prior to 2007, the legislatures themselves have the capacity to determine their own size, which led to some legislatures being bloated and having too many members than what is considered optimum. Due to the different methods to elect representatives into the provincial parliament, constituency sizes and apportionment also vastly differ from province to province.
Representatives serve varying term lengths and are constrained with different term limits. Most of the provinces mandate that representatives in the provincial legislature serve an unlimited amount of two year terms, while other provinces mandate that representative serve a maximum of 10 years. Elections are conducted accordingly with the regulations on the term lengths of each province. In provinces which have a two year tenure, elections are held every two years coinciding with the national elections.
Different from the national and realm elections, the governing party does not have the power to instantly nominate a governor.
Governor
The post of governor is an elected position in all of the provinces, elected through either a first pass the post system or a two round system. Governors also serve varying term lengths and are constrained by varying term limits too depending on the jurisdiction.