2018 Frankish Federal Council election

An **election** for the **Frankish Federal Council** seat vacated by Henri Glaudette was held on 10 November 2018. Glaudette had first been elected to the council in 2005, serving as President in 2011 and 2018. The election was first called on 20 August 2018, following Glaudette's public announcement that he'd be retiring after completing the current year. On 21 September 2018, a vote in the National Council determined that the seat would continue to be held by the National Democratic Party.

After Glaudette's announcement, candidates were allowed to begin declaring their candidacies for the seat. By the filing deadline on 20 September 2018, six candidates had begun campaigns for the seat: Damien Lengy, Véronique Rochsberg, and Roberta Weischhausen of the National Council, and Martin Grégoire, Giacomo Lubito, and Miriam Schürn of the State Council. Per Federal Council election protocol, the six candidates were whittled down to two candidates through a series of votes and debates in the National Council. On 4 October, Weischhausen and Lubito remained as the sole two candidates for the seat.

After Weischhausen and Lubito emerged as the two candidates for the seat, the main campaigning of the election kicked off. The two faced-off and three nationally televised debates on matters of policy, while they additionally traveled throughout the nation in order to campaign with voters. The election was held on 10 November, with Weischhausen winning with 53.6% of the vote to Lubito's 46.4%. Weischhausen carried every Lungarian-speaking state and all but one Draconian-speaking state, while Lubito carried every Regian-speaking state.

After the election, Weischhausen took office as a member of the Federal Council on 1 January 2019.

## Background

Frankenland does not have a single head of state or head of government, instead having the Federal Council, which is a body of seven elected individuals serving as the collective head of state and head of government. While term limits do not exist, each councillor serves a *de facto* term of 14 years in office, meaning that the 2018 election was heavily expected and anticipated prior to its announcement.

On 20 August 2018, Henri Glaudette announced that he would be retiring from the council following the completion of the current year, and the election was officially called. While candidates may begin declaring their candidacy as soon as the election is called, the National Council first must vote to decide which party will be given the vacated seat. Almost always, the seat remains with the party that is vacating it. This vote was held on 21 September, with the National Democratic Party winning by a large margin.

## Candidates

The election saw six candidates campaigning for the vacated seat: three members of the National Council, and three members of the State Council. Three candidates were Frank-Draconians, two were Frank-Lungarians, and one was Frank-Regian. Additionally, three were women and one was a racial minority.

Four of the candidates were eliminated following votes in the National Council meant to determine the two candidates advancing to the ballot.

 **Roberta Weischhausen** | (1976-08-12)12 August 1976 (aged 42)Keln, Frankenland

### Eliminated before ballot

 Damien Lengy | (1970-12-24)24 December 1970 (aged 48)Frélet, Frankenland
 Véronique Rochsberg | (1982-03-17)17 March 1982 (aged 36)Nouet, Kalina
 Martin Grégoire | (1961-10-19)19 October 1961 (aged 57)Jacel, Frankenland

## Results

### National Council votes

The first vote was held on 25 September 2018, following two days of debate. Schürn won the vote with a convincing margin, winning the support of a number of established names within the party. Grégoire was eliminated after receiving the smallest support. The second vote was held on 28 September. Schürn received the greatest support once again, while Rochsberg was eliminated due to having the smallest support.

Rochsberg was able to form a coalition between Frank-Draconians and young members of the party, resulting in her supporters splitting between Lengy, Lubito, and Weischhausen in the third vote on 2 October. Schürn received the highest levels of support once again, although Weischhausen had begun surging in support, largely thanks to Rochsberg being eliminated. Lengy received the smallest number of support and was eliminated. The fourth and final vote was held on 4 October. While it was expected that Schürn and Weischhausen would advance to the ballot, Schürn received a drop in support from Frank-Draconians and Frank-Regians due to their unwillingness to see a ballot between two Frank-Lungarians. Much of Schürn's support from these two groups went to Lubito instead in an attempt to diversify the election, resulting in Weischhausen winning the final ballot in a landslide and Schürn being eliminated. Lubito and Weischhausen thus were selected to advance to the general ballot.

### General ballot

 Blank/invalid

The general election was held on 10 November 2018, after allotting for a month of campaigning for each candidate. Weischhausen was considered the favorite to win, being the preferred choice for most Frank-Lungarians, Frank-Draconians, older voters, and more conservative voters. Weischhausen went on to win the election, after securing 53.6% of the vote. She won every state besides Jacel and the two Regian-speaking states Arello and Franciaroni, which were won by Lubito.