3020 Wiltshire Presidential Election

The 1st Annual Wiltshirian Presidential Election was held on February 1, 3020 to elect the first President of the Wiltshire Republic, to serve the term of February 3, 3020 until February 7, 3021. The election was the first large democratic exercise following the liberation of Wiltshire and saw the highest voter turnout in Wiltshirian history - as 89.9% of eligible voters cast a ballot. The election was the first time a head of state was directly elected by the Wiltshirian people, as it was the first under the new Semi-Presidential System. The election saw Gaius Selan's election as the first President of the Wiltshire Republic. Selan would then appoint Liberal Conservative Leader, and Washington Mayor, Audrick Hill, to serve as the 13th Prime Minister of Wiltshire.
Incumbent Interim President Gaius Selan was seeking a full term as President, going up against former Labour Party Leader Rita Smith. A number of minor candidates also stood, however, the race was mainly between these two candidates. Selan announced that he would attend all public forums and debates, in an attempt to avoid the appearence that this election was a shoe-in for Selan. Selan was very popular going into his election, mostly due to his success in leading the Wiltshirian Government-in-Exile that opposed the Wiltshire Reich. He also announced "Politics aside, all candidates are true Wiltshirians. I welcome Smith, Brown and all the others to the race. Let's have a lively and active debate and then come together, for Wiltshire". As it turned out, Selan did not need to campaign an awful amount; his slogan "Forever Forward", being the same as the national motto, created the perception that Selan was the only true choice for "real Wiltshirians", as CNN editor Fred Fischer wrote before the election.
Gaius Selan was elected with 57.3% of the popular vote, being sworn in on March 25, 3020 as the 1st President. Rita Smith came in second place with 28.9% of the vote, meanwhile the Conservative candidate, James Brown, won only 11.3% (the poor showing for Brown is likely due to the Liberal Conservative Leader, Audrick Hill, endorsing Selan for the Presidency over his former party's candidate; Hill had advocated for not standing a candidate at all in this election, but focus resources on the Legislative Elections).
This election was held 1 week prior to the February 3020 Wiltshire Legislative Elections. The next election is set to be held in February 3021.
== Results ==
These results were published in the report "1st Presidential Election, 3020" by the Wiltshire Elections Authority.
Candidate 	Party affiliation 	Percentage	Votes
Gaius Selan 	Independent 	57.3% 	400,850
Rita Smith 	Labour Party 	28.9% 	202,174
James Brown 	Conservative Party	11.3% 	79,051
Other candidates	N/A 	2.5% 	17,489
Category:Politics