2021 Alconbrian presidential election

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Presidential elections were held in Alconbria on 9 May, 2021 following the assassination attempt on Augustin Voimer on 20 January 2021.

## Background

President Augustin Voimer was incapacitated on 20 January 2021 during an unsuccessful assassination attempt. Prime Minister Rerdi Llovez took over in an interim capacity on 30 January, and declared martial law, indefinitely suspended elections and placed opposition leaders under house arrest. On 20 February, Vice President Zervana Voimer declined to take over the presidency and called for elections, a move which was welcomed by the opposition despite the illegality of the move.

On 28 February, Acting President Llovez instructed the Chief Electoral Officer Dinora Utzon to conduct presidential elections before the end of May. The ban on opposition parties were lifted on 10 March, just two days before the deadline for presidential candidates to submit documents for Federal Electoral Directorate approval.

## Candidates

### Submitted documents

 **Sophia Bowen**  Independent | Stand-up comedian

On 1 March 2021, the Chairman of the Alconbria People's Party and the Leader of the Forward Alliance Ernesto Titeriez announced Ferrinka Zavoyer, the Governor of Norte Mutalio as the candidate representing their alliance. Zavoyer presented her documents to the FED on 2 March, and was registered by the FED on the same day. Zavoyer and the Forward Alliance immediately began campaigning with suppport from Llovez; while the opposition were still under curfew. Former Chief Electoral Officer Vivienne Herfax served as Zavoyer's campaign manager.

As the opposition parties were banned till 10 March, they were actively prevented by the FED and the police forces to hold primaries to nominate their candidate. On 10 March, after their ban was withdrawn, they determined their candidate through online voting, and UPP Leader Aaron Halvorsen was selected after winning 10,283 votes out of 15,288. On 12 March, he presented his documents to the FED. However on 19 March, he was disqualified by Deputy Electoral Officer Lucia Geler citing irregularities in campaign funding.

Businessman Wilmer Leary, Jr. and comedian Sophia Bowen announced their intentions to run for Presidency, and gathered 200 signatures and submitted their documents on 5 March and 10 March respectively. Leary was disqualified after he was arrested on 6 March after he was accused without of insider trading and sentenced to 8 years imprisonment. The FED declared Bowen ineligible for "lack of experience" despite Bowen satisfying all the eligibility criteria laid out in the Constitution of Alconbria. Zavoyer was announced as the sole eligible canididate for the upcoming election.

From 19 till 24 March, the UPP and its supporters protested against Halvorsen's disqualification outside the FED headquarters in New Alcacer. Halvorsen filed a plea at the APP-aligned Supreme Court of Alconbria, which on 31 March motioned that Halvorsen's disqualification was legal and also directed the FED to select an opposition candidate "in spirit of the democratic character of the Republic". The Supreme Court decision was rejected by the UPP and the rest of the opposition. On 5 April, Utzon announced retired politician Tibor Gaston as the UPP's candidate for the upcoming elections. UPP Spokeswoman Priscila Silva rejected the FED appointed candidate. In response, Utzon warned that their party would be invalidated forever if they refuse to back Gaston in the elections, leading to the UPP reluctantly accepting Gaston's candidature. The UPP kicked off Gaston's campaign on 8 April, a month after Zavoyer started hers.

### Declined to run

Augustin Voimer's wife and Vice President Zervana Voimer denied intentions to run for presidency, and preferred watching over her husband's recovery. It is speculated that Zervana was the first choice of the APP, but were forced to pick Zavoyer due to objections from Ernesto Titeriez and Harold Molinero.

Titeriez was also speculated to be a presidential candidate, but he expressed support to Zavoyer.

## Campaigning

Gaston's campaign was marred by interference from the state apparatus and armed criminal groups loyal to Voimer. On 10 April, Gaston's campaign manager Jacopo Solzonager was attacked by the Alcacer Group, which resulted in him being hospitalized in an intensive care unit. His successor, Emil Pauli was arrested by the New Alcacer Police under false charges.

Campaigning together with Acting President Llovez, Zavoyer promised harsh measures against the Guerreros de la Resistencia del Bosque (GRB) militant group and the Alconbrian Democracy Movement; and promised to have every stone overturned to avenge the assassination attempt on Voimer. Zavoyer also promised an invasion of the Metsarbarros. The Zavoyer campaign vastly benefited from the use of government offices, state resources and the military. The Ministry of Education paid students and teachers to spread propaganda about Voimer and Zavoyer. The Ministry of Interior used state police forces and private paramilitaries to disrupt opposition marches and arrest rival leaders. The Ministry of Defense organized military parades, fireworks and air shows in support of the APP. Soldiers and militiamen dressed as civilians were paid to attend large rallies, where they were joined by government officials and "impartial" civil servants. The Zavoyer campaign was also backed by private businesses, which along with the state-owned Alconergia, funded massive vote buying schemes. The FED is reported to have shared confidential voting details and patterns to the APP to help in vote buying or repression. The state broadcaster ABC ran advertisements promoting the Forward Alliance, but did not do so for the Progressive Union. In addition, ministerial staff and government officeholders were called on to promote Zavoyer on ABC shows. Zavoyer and President Llovez gave numerous scripted interviews on prime television, while Gaston was banned from appearing on television by the FED. State-owned ISP Alcom throttled opposition campaign websites and blocked websites critical of the government, while aggressively promoted pro-government and pro-Zavoyer websites.

In a rare move, the APP presidential candidate agreed for a televised debate with the opposition candidate. Zavoyer and Gaston faced each other in a debate on 30 April which was to air nationally the next day. As per Inside Alconbria, the unscripted debate led to a red-faced Zavoyer storming off midway after a resilient Gaston did not allow himself to be bullied and successfully cornered Zavoyer several times. The interview was never went on air, and the film and sound recordings were destroyed by the JPD. On 2 May, Gaston was arrested by the New Alcacer police and was placed under JPD custody at the Bojitas internment camp. The next day, Dinora Utzon called a press conference and announced that a Sise Garantii investigation revealed that Gaston was linked to Irwing Diaz Bently and therefore was a threat to national security and had his candidacy invalidated. Llovez called on the citizens to march against the UPP for collaborating with Diaz Bently. This was largely seen as a call for violence, as offices and members of the UPP were attacked for the next few days. Both Halvorsen and Diaz Bently rejected the Sise Garantii investigations and blamed the FED for nominating Gaston as the UPP candidate without consulting the party. The next day, Halvorsen was arrested after Utzon accused him of interfering in the government's duties. Utzon announced that since there are no suitable candidates, the elections would be uncontested and called all Alconbrians to exercise their democratic rights. She warned that if any politician or party calls for abstention from the democratic processes, they will be sanctioned. Facing threats of having the UPP banned, Priscila Silva said that the party was conducting an internal investigation against "dissidents, spies and traitors" in the party. It is alleged that the JPD gave them a list of 25 people to be scapegoated as Altivebrio-backed spies. The 25 were arrested and taken to Bojitas by the JPD, where they were summarily executed.

By 7 May, Zavoyer was referred to as "Madam President" by government officials.

## Results

APP-led celebrations began at 7:30 AM ATZ hen the polling stations were open. Soldiers, militants, students, professors, teachers, workers, doctors, party workers, civil servants, government officials and their families were brought in by the APP to vote for Voimer. When polls closed on 7:00 PM ATZ, Utzon announced that Ferrinka Zavoyer was elected unopposed with a massive turnout of 95.26%, just behind the 96.8% turnout at the 2008 election.

The FED announced that Zavoyer had won after receiving 14,381,152 of 15,138,055 votes; equaling to 95.5%. Of the remaining 756,903 votes, 388,283 were invalid and the rest 368,620 were for Against All.

The voting and turnout figures were rejected both locally and internationally. Alconbrian Election Watchdog reported that turnout was around 38.7%, one of the lowest since elections were first conducted.

## Aftermath

FED CEO Dinora Utzon announced Ferrinka Zavoyer as the winner of the 2021 elections on 10 May. She took oath at the Léialegis on 15 May, and began her presidency. She extended martial law, and ordered mass arbitrary detentions of "traitors", beginning the 2021 Alconbrian purge. The purge saw over 4 million arrests, over 500,000 executions and led to the Third Alconbrian-Malpuro War. Gaston, who was due to appear in a court in New Alcacer, allegedly committed suicide in while detained in the city on 27 May. He was reportedly taken to the Aulo Esmiene sometime after Zavoyer moved in; where he was berated and taunted by Zavoyer.