2012-II Election

The first ever set of trimester elections in the Triumvirate were a learning process, as both the Executive Branch and Administrative Branch had to adapt to the new system in place to select the Major Executive, Minor Executive, Speaker of the Administration, and Deputy Speaker of the Administration. The second trimester of 2012 opened with the new Administrative Branch organization that had been established several months before during the Administrative revision debates in November of 2011. This new Administrative Branch system set up a more open, effective, and powerful Administrative Branch that was to be managed by a Speaker of the Administration.

## Administrative Branch

This election was unusual because the Administrative Branch performed its part of the election first. This was because an amendment had only recently been approved to the Constitution setting up Major Executive elections and the schedule had been adjusted to elect the Major Executive later in the month of May.

There was almost no campaigning for the office of Speaker of the Administration and the only two candidates who emerged were Nremni who was a longtime Triumvirate member, since nearly the beginning, and Andrew Mearl who was very new to the Triumvirate (less than a month). The two had very different ideologies. Nremni was selected as Speaker with only Andrew and his brother voting for him (effectively making him Deputy Speaker though).

## Executive Branch

The campaign in the Executive Branch was extremely fascinating and began in late April when Stavrok, a sophomore Executive and the Head of Commerce and Industry, tabled his idea for a Major Executive election cycle, that the Major Executive would have to be re-elected into office every trimester. The amendment stated that to adjust to this new schedule an election would be help on May 26 and that whoever won on that day would become Major Executive on May 31. Arnold Ogamon, Chief Attorney and Senior Executive, was Major Executive at the time and caught on to this as a sign that Stavrok may challenge him for the position.

 File:Ogamon for Major 2012.JPG
 File:Stavrok for Major 2012.JPG
Ogamon utilized State of the Union VII on May 6 to explain why he maintained a view of isolationism (something Stavrok was not fond of) and to say *"I assure you now that I do intend to continue my role in office through at least this year and I have no plans to retire from any position any time soon. I do expect to meet some harsh competition, perhaps in this election, perhaps in later ones, but I don't mind, competition is healthy"* while discussing the new election cycle system. This same day Andrew Hester, who would later become very important in the election coming up, was approved as the newest Executive on the branch, becoming Head of the Treasury.

Ogamon's intuition prevailed when on May 7 Stavrok announced he would challenge Ogamon in the election on May 26 with a detailed campaign statement about Ogamon's failures and his own ideas. Stavrok hit Ogamon in two key areas, foreign policy and economy policy. Mostly hitting on Ogamon's isolationist mindset and his own interventionist ideals, Stavrok closed his campaign statement saying *"There are eighteen days until the six members of the Executive Branch vote. Some will vote for Arnold no doubt. Some will vote for me. How they decide will impact the Triumvirate for a long time."* The following day Ogamon made his response, setting up his own campaign and describing his experience as the most important thing in the election for the most powerful position in the union. The two began to build steady platforms that would eventually lead into the parties they would found after the election. Ogamon's statement focused on his security record (which Stavrok and he argued on, Stavrok often said it was illegitimate as the worst attack in history up to that point happened under Ogamon), his experience in "holding the football", and why he believed the Triumvirate was better off isolated. Both candidates endorsed Ehtya to remain as Minor Executive.

Recently formed newspaper, Triumvirate Today, created by General Media published its first issue on the 13th of May and provided some open coverage on the election. It had conducted a poll amongst non-executives and published the results which indicated 70% favored Ogamon in the election, many of who were saying it was because of Arnold's experience. The newspaper also published information on Mitar Curesse's endorsement of Stavrok and a campaign stunt Ogamon had done in buying Stavrok his own campaign banner design from General Media. With the public acknowledgement that he had the most experience, Ogamon challenged Stavrok to a debate to be held the day before the election and moderated by Ehtya. The debate consisted of 18 questions.

Major Executive Arnold Ogamon opened the election process on May 26, and the two candidates began to make their statements. Arnold cast his first vote for himself and then Mitar, Stavrok, and Ehtya quickly cast their votes for Stavrok meaning that if he got one more vote he'd win. Ascencia had been bearing an Ogamon for Major banner for quite some time so he was expected to vote for Arnold making Andrew Hester the sway vote. Andrew cast his vote shortly saying *"I cast my vote for Stavrok, for the record it's not due to the economics. If Stavrok isn't the freshness he asks for us to try out I'll cast my vote else where next time as his statement says"* giving Stavrok victory in the election that Ogamon not only had the advantage in, but that he was also expected to win. Ascencia cast his vote later showing for the record that he voted for Ogamon. When Ogamon learned of his loss he said *"This is unexpected, I admit I'm flustered and a little perplexed. In four days I'll be handing the office over to you, I never thought that this would happen quite like it did here."* In the end most acknowledge that Ogamon lost favor due to his economic stance which many found too conservative and his isolated view on Triumvirate foreign policy.

After the Major Executive election was finalized and the results were published, the Minor Executive election took place, Ehtya running unopposed won automatically.

Stavrok became the third Major Executive of the Universal Triumvirate on May 31, 2012, ushering in a new era.