CCU presidential election, 2023

The **CCU presidential election of 2023** will be the second quadrennial presidential election, set to be held in 2023. This follows For the People President Elden Dunham's four-year term from 2019 to 2023. Following a Senate vote, this Election marks the first to require at least 15% in international polling to be included in debates and ballots. Additionally, an Independent Primary was no longer held, as they no longer were required a primary with the result of the Senate vote.

The main candidates for the Election are Incumbent *For the People* President Elden Dunham, and *Union* nominee Dakota Crowe, who both were the only candidates eligible for Debate Access, in contrast to the three-way debates in 2019. However, the Freedom Party and Independent Alesia Corona both received full ballot access. The Better Together Party and Global Union Party respectively were available on a "very limited" amount of ballots. Other Parties had no ballot access at all, but were still eligible via Write-in.

## Election data

### **Senate**

For the first time since the start of the Election era in 2019, a Party received a majority vote in the Senate. This was as a result to no third candidate managing to qualify for debates, and as a result, receive substantially less coverage. However, Independent candidate Jami Mercado, narrowly missed the Debates due to his active role in poll cheating, and Freedom Party candidate Gabriella Gould. Despite her narrow miss, Gould was able to acquire 14 seats from the smaller countries.

Nevertheless, the For the People Party still required 13 seats to receive a 66% majority as needed for "bigger changes." These could come entirely from the Freedom Party, Union Party, or a mix from both.

## Results

In some states in which a candidate won with a small margin, a recount was held to ensure that all votes were properly counted. In a very dramatic recount, Austria, a solid Union state in 2019, switched to For the People by a 1% margin. This was thought to be due to the Union voters splitting between itself and Freedom, albeit For the People's "united front" vote. Had the Freedom Party won Germany over, then Dunham would only achieve 271 electoral votes, 5 short of being projected as the winner. Nevertheless, with a majority stake in the Senate, Dunham would nevertheless be voted on by the For the People Party in the Senate vote. Otherwise, the Party would "turn their backs on him" and vote for an alternative For the People Party candidate. As long as 59 of 64 For the People Senators also voted for this candidate, they'd be proclaimed as a winner. It should also be noted that the Freedom Party would be unlikely to vote for Gould, considering her inability to "steal/win" votes from For the People or Union. Gould stated that "with increased exposure, her campaign could qualify Freedom to debates, and from there, jumpstart its popularity for 270 votes, with 50 from AUT, DEU and SUI almost guaranteed now, needing 50 votes. Many small countries would likely continue to vote for Freedom."

## Two-party vote

The Senate voted 67–49 in favor of only accepting candidates above 15% in international polls to debates. The Independents were notably neglecting the change, although 8 faithless electors voted in favor of the change. Had they gone like the other Independents, the vote would have been 59–57, still in favor of the change. 19 For the People/Union Senators also voted against the change, a move which could have resulted in the retaining of the three-party rule, should have the Independents voted nay as well. The Independents vote were thought to be a result of their poor performance in the 2019 election, to ensure they wouldn't be pre-eliminated in future elections.

## General election polling

Polls as of 2019. Per Senate/CCU rules, polls prior to official primaries are not counted and considered "bogus", measured just to determine candidate's popularizes. Once a candidate is officially pronounced a Nominee in its Primary, their polls will be counted towards debate and ballot access. It should however be noted that candidate's polls will be counted towards debate and ballot access in their respective Party Election Primary.

### **International polling**

By December 2021, Mercado had received above 15% in four polls, almost certifying himself national debates. However, since then, his popularity drastically decreased, with the biggest poll thus far and first of 2022 seeing him receive just 9% of the vote. However, the CCU later confirmed that only polls which included nominees would be counted, with Gaston Angel having not even won the Union primary despite leading overall.

It was later reported that Jami Mercado's campaign had unfairly been 'stealing votes from other candidates' in an attempt to have the 15% necessary for ballot and debate access, with many of these votes having apparently belonged to Gould's Freedom Party. Mercado swiftly declined this, stating that [people] were out "to get him [sic]", as an Independent. However, more leaks were apparent to this proposition and several arrests related to his campaign staff were made. The Congress subpoenaed him, stating that '[he] has a constitutional duty in regards to explaining himself and his innocence, or in that case, guilt.' By this point, he had already received above 15% in 3 polls, and only needed 2 for eligibility. Albeit, his popularity had been on a downward spiral, though some extremists "thanked him for 'cheating the system.'" In Congress, Mercado stated that although he once agreed to cheat in one poll, he was unaware that they continued to do so. Following up on this new development, the Senate voted on whether he would now be eligible for Presidency in the 2023 Election. All 46 FTP Senators as well as 32 U Senators voted against his Candidacy, with the 38 Independents divided. The vote ended 95-21 in favor of his ineligibility, with 17 Independents having voted against and 21 for. The aftermath also led to a decline of popularity on the 21 who voted to keep his Candidacy, with their seats likely to be vacated for other Parties in the Election aftermath. As a result, Mercado announced the withdrawal of his campaign, and endorsed fellow Independent Alesia Corona for Presidency. Her campaign reached record highs as a result of his endorsement, but ultimately, not enough. Additionally, Gould missed out debate eligibility by 1 poll. She subsequently stated that [she] was devastated about how the platform for debate eligibility worked and called for a reform, something which she said "would most certainly do" as an elected Freedom Party President. She also stated that For the People and Union "were afraid of losing the election, and that would be the only reason for no debate reform." Her speech was a "turning point" for her campaign, and catapulted her popularity, but the Debate Committee stated that "the process for the 2023 debate cycle had already been filed, and any change would not be possible until 2027." Nevertheless, Gould pledged to continue with her campaign, having ballot access in all 58 member states. As the leading Independent, Alesia Corona stated that "We Independents received 38 seats back in 2019, and it is my duty to make sure that we can sustain as many as possible. Whatever you might hold against other Independents, I assure you I am my own Party, I do not affiliate any wrongdoings done by them. Thank you and goodbye."

**E** is for Eligibility in Debates.

### **National polling**

These polls do not count or are affected towards entering debates and/or ballots. They are simply used to measure candidate's popularizes in certain nations.

**United Kingdom**

 CCU-UK Pressblog | June 1–5, 2020

## Potential candidates

### **For the People Party**

* **Elden Dunham, British television executive for BBC (2014–2019); Incumbent (3rd) CCU President (2019–)**

The For the People Convention took place in Edinburgh, Scotland on June 9, 2022, with Dunham winning FTP reelection with 92% votes. Dunham ran mainly unopposed, with other minor candidates unable to receive more than 2% of the overall vote. In total, other candidates represented up to 5% of the vote, with 3% for "none of the above".

However, Dunham's running mate Maura Carlin, also President of the Senate, announced that she would step down after serving in the position for four years. Dunham subsequently announced his decision to appoint Katherin Galloway, a Brit who came fourth in the Party's primaries back in 2019, as his running mate for the 2023 presidential election.

 Popular vote
 Elden Dunham | 8,770
 No preference

### **Union Party**

* Dakota Crowe, Union Write-in candidate, 2019
* Gaston Angel, German television executive for NDR (2015–); Union candidate, 2019
* Aubrey Connell
* Josef Orosco
* William Aleman
* Rachael Bradley
* Jasmin Kong
* Elva Fennell
* Trenton Pullen
* Cruz Zeigler
* Ethelyn Vincent

The 11 shortlisted registered candidates competed to become the Union nominee, the most in-demand party of the 2023 election, a result of Union's narrow lose in 2019. The primary's results saw Angel lead with just 24% of the vote, a far margin from the 50% needed. Controversially, Elva Fennell lead Crowe by 30 votes for the second primary. However, Crowe called for a recount due to the .7% gap between themselves. The High Court announced following an investigation that they would approve such motion. It then appeared that Crowe had 917 votes and Fennell had 897, resulting in Crowe qualifying by 20 votes. Fennell later conceded, but stated that "the [system] is a disgrace. With myself in the next primary, we could reach new highs. Other parties allow this. Union needs to step up. I wish luck to Angel and Crowe on their journey to (hopefully) become the next President."

**^1** Initially, Dakota Crowe and Elva Fennell had 892 and 922 votes respectively, making up 20.6% and 21.3% of the total votes respectively. However, these votes were later corrected to the latter following a dramatic and tense recount.
### **Better Together Party**

* Jerald Wade, German Head of Delegation, Country Contest (2018–)
* Syreeta Baird
* Lelia Masters
* Winfred Shea
* Newton Dozier
* **Trenton Samuels, elected as Nominee**

### **Global Union Party**

* Madie Harley
* **Corie Roper, elected as Nominee**
* Jinny Canfield
* Eulalia Sawyers

With the *Global Union* being a third-party, they had rules different from For the People or their sister party Union. Instead of a top two progress, "candidates with higher margins qualify to next round." As a result, three rounds occurred in order to reach the 50% mark.

### **Freedom Party**

* Hazel Marsh
* Toi Koehler
* Quincy Haskins
* Gabriella Gould
* Tatiana Shearer
* Cruz Dorn
* Elroy Neville

The Freedom Party Committee revealed all the candidates at once, following the leak of Gabriella Gould's campaign. Per the rules of the Party, a Candidate must achieve at least 50.0% of the votes in order to be elected as the Nominee. In the event that no candidate does, all candidates scoring above 25.0% of the votes would progress to the second primary. In case no candidate does such, a re-primary would be held. In case only one candidate achieves above 25.0%, they would be presumed the winners, but only after a re-count is held.

### **Independent**

* **Jami Mercado, Independent Write-in candidate, 2019, Self-nominee**
* Lorena Reed, British Delegation Member, Country Contest (2017–)
* **Alesia Corona, Italian Head of Delegation, Country Contest (2015–), Self-nominee**

All Independent candidates were now allowed to run, with no Primary being held to single out lesser candidates.

Polls saw Mercado, the leading Independent candidate, at 9% in the highest, which was considered "a crisis" for the Independents, as they would potentially be out of the debates, which would lose them any chance of winning or gaining a substantial amount of seats.

## Declined candidates

### **For the People Party**

* Mia Haskins, Irish television entertainment executive for RTÉ (2011–); For the People candidate, 2019 (endorsed Dunham)
* Katherin Galloway, For the People Write-in candidate, 2019 (endorsed Dunham)
* Felisha Nadeau, French former Vice President of entertainment at France Télévisions (2013–17); For the People candidate, 2019 (endorsed Dunham)

### **Union Party**

* Evalyn Staples, Dutch Head of Entertainment executive for AVROTROS (2012–); CCU Senate Minority Leader (2019–2021)

### **Independent**

* Elois Dang, Swedish television executive producer; Independent nominee, 2019 (endorsed Mercado)
* Rosalyn Whitley, Maltese television producer; Independent candidate, 2019 (endorsed Mercado)

## Previous presidential leaders

**Independent**

* Elayne Harpaz (2010–2011)
* Tyron Ferrer (2012–2018)

**^1** Although Ferrer identified himself as an Independent during his term, he later identified himself as a member of the For the People Party, after it was founded.
**For the People**

* Elden Dunham (2019–present)

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