January 2023 Delegate election

January 2023 Delegate election

1‒21 January 2023
Registered	94 legislators of the South Pacific (1st) 1090 regional WA nations (2nd)
Turnout	34.04% (1st) 14.68% (2nd)
Candidate anjo Party Independent Popular vote 138 Percentage 86.25%
Delegate before election anjo Elected Delegate TBD

The January 2023 Delegate election was an election in the South Pacific held 1‒21 January 2023 to elect the Delegate of the South Pacific for a six-month term. Incumbent anjo was the only legislator to accept their nomination and thus faced off only against the Re-Open Nominations option. After receiving unanimous approval in the first round, he finally defeated RON in a landslide in the second round and was thus re-elected to a second term in office.

Background

Delegate elections in the South Pacific take place every six months, with one scheduled in January and another in July. According to the Elections Act, a Delegate election had to be called on the 1st of January, 2023.

Electoral System

Main article: Delegate of the South Pacific § Election

The Delegate is elected in a two-step process. In a first round, held on the forums, legislators of the South Pacific determine two advancing candidates using approval voting. The top-two (or more, should there be a tie) most-approved candidates move on to a regional poll held on-site, where regional World Assembly member nations ultimately vote on the winner using the two-round system.

Candidates were required to hold on-site endorsements equal to at least 80% of the general endorsement cap at the conclusion of candidacy declarations, translating to 455 endorsements Eligible were Tepertopia (anjo), Griffindor (Ebonhand), Poppy, PenguinPies, Tsunamy, Land Without Shrimp, Farengeto, Concrete Slab, Amerion, Kris Kringle, and Sandaoguo.

The declarations and campaigning periods would run concurrently for a week, after which the first round of voting would be held, lasting three days. A day after this concludes, the second round of voting would commence, with the poll remaining open for another week. Thereafter, the Election Commissioner would proclaim the results.

Campaign

Incumbent anjo was the only person to accept their nomination; Tsunamy mentioned thinking it over but ultimately did not respond further, while Griffindor declined his and Poppy never responded to theirs.

Declared Candidates
Bolded candidates are incumbents. Italicized candidates withdrew from the election. Struck candidates were disqualified from the race.
Candidate			Current Position(s)	Campaign
		anjo	Delegate of the South Pacific (since July 2022) Other offices Member of the South Pacific Coral Guard Member of the Legislator Committee Ambassador to the Free Nations Region	Teper2pia
Total declared:				1
Total on ballot:				1

anjo's campaign started with a look back on his term and evaluating how the implementation of his campaign promises from the last election fared, finding e.g. the RMB Awards and the Delegate's Briefing to be successes, the Endorsement Days to have had mixed reception, and the "question of the day" format to have been dropped early. His new platform primarily revolved around continuing his work from this term, plus a few small adjustments including creating a publicly accessible RMB Awards live leaderboard and regularly holding on-site polls once the RMB moderators amendment replaces the Local Council, of whom polls were the traditional domain.

Results

Election Commissioner Kris Kringle proclaimed the results for the first round on 13 January. After the polls closed for the second round on 21 January, the final result was certified on the 24th.

Results: First Round
Green background denotes winning candidates. Red background denotes eliminated candidates. ✓ and ✗ signal victory or defeat of incumbents respectively.
Candidate		Approvals
	anjo	32	100%
	Re-Open Nominations	0	0%
	Invalid ballots	0	0%
Total ballots cast:			32
Turnout:			34.04%

Results: Second Round
Green background denotes winning candidates. Red background denotes eliminated candidates. ✓ and ✗ signal victory or defeat of incumbents respectively.
Candidate		Votes
	✓ anjo	138	86.25%
	Re-Open Nominations	22	13.75%
	Invalid ballots	0	0%
Total ballots cast:			160
Turnout:			14.68%