Elections in Tepertopia (Pacifica)

Elections in Tepertopia include elections to the Tepertopian Assembly, the Council of the Union, the five State's legislatures, and local elections. For some elected positions, by-elections may also be held when an incumbent leaves office before the end of their term; likewise, some offices may be forcefully vacated via a recall election. There is no uniform electoral system for all elections, with a variety of systems in use. Nonetheless, all elections in Tepertopia are presently held as direct rather than indirect elections.

While used relatively sparingly, the Tepertopian Articles of Union as well as most State constitutions also offer the possibility of referenda to hold a vote on specific issues rather than on a political office.

Party system

See also: List of political parties in Tepertopia

Political parties are a central force within modern Tepertopia, with most candidates in elections standing on behalf of a specific party. Parties can be established by anybody via registration with the Federal Electoral Commission, provided that the prospective party has at least twenty-five members and a written basic political manifesto. While there is a large number of recognized parties, only a few have an established presence at the federal level of politics.

Recently, the Moderates and the Welfare Party have consistently been the two largest parties, representing the centre-right and centre-left of politics respectively. The historically strong Canon, standing for left-leaning economics and social conservatism, have declined over time to fourth place behind the liberal Merchants' Guild, the oldest continually existing party. The smaller of the federally relevant parties are The Future is Ours!, the Digital Democracy Party, and The Grays ‒ Justice for All. On the State level, there are also a number of regionalist parties that consistently win seats, most notably Arise Valetria! in Valetria.

Independent candidates are nonetheless a common occurrence, with most of the electoral systems used being at least partially party-agnostic. While still winning comparably seldom in Federal and State-level elections, local elections are often won by locally popular independents.

Levels of elections

Federal

On the Federal level, there are elections to the Tepertopian Assembly and the Council of the Union.

Assembly

See also: Tepertopian Assembly § Election

Assembly elections occur only after the Assembly has been dissolved by the Protector of Tepertopia. Dissolution is ordered regularly once an Assembly's three-year term has elapsed, but can also happen extraordinarily at any time, if the Assembly petitions the Protector for a dissolution. Once the Assembly is dissolved, no parliamentary business can take place anymore; the most urgent matters may be addressed by the Council preliminarily, but the newly elected Assembly then has to make a decision on them itself as soon as possible.

The actual procedure of running the election is managed by the Federal Electoral Commission, which coordinates with a local Electoral Commissions for each of the 22 constituencies. Candidates for a constituency are nominated before the respective local Commission. Established parties are free to nominate any candidates they wish according to their own internal procedures, while minor parties and independents need to submit supporter signatures before being allowed to stand. The Commissions formally accept or reject nominated candidates, with an appeal against a rejection possible to the Administrative Courts.

The election itself happens on a Sunday. Voters also have the option to request a mail-in ballot. Using the single transferable vote, each constituency elects between three and nine Assemblypeople, proportional to the share of the electorate living in the constituency.

Ballots are collected overnight in a central counting location for each constituency. Counting may take from a single day up to a week, depending on the number of seats up for election and the closeness of results, which may require a recount. Constituency results are announced in a formal ceremony by the various Commissions, with all candidates present. Once all local results are finalized, the Federal Electoral Commission finalizes the official results of the election. Thereafter, at most a month after election day, the newly elected Assemblypeople are sworn in by the Assembly's Father of the House in the constituting session of the new Assembly.

Council

See also: Council of the Union (Tepertopia) § Mode of election

Electoral schedule

Year	State	Election	Term (years)
2024	Pluvy	Local	3
2025	Grimmen	Diet	4
		Local	5
	Vickel	Local	5
2026	Tepertopia	Council	4
	Lotze	Diet	4
		Local	5
	Pluvy	House of Representatives	3
		Senate	6
	Valetria	House of Commons	5
	Vickel	Parliament	4
2027	Tepertopia	Assembly	3
	Pluvy	Local	3
2028	Valetria	Local	6