2022 HHW presidential election

The **2022 HHW presidential election** was the first presidential election and was held on April 2, 2022, with a second round being held 10 days later on April 12, 2022. A ceremonial election for the President of the Hypthetical Hurricanes Wiki (HHW), the primaries included former junior administrator iedriusforCat5 (Asriel), administrator Finolian (Alex), wiki user AC5230 (AC), former bureaucrat and wiki leader Bobnekaro (Bob), wiki user Not a hurricane master lol (NAHML), autopatrolled user SolarisPenguin (Solaris), and chat moderator and former bureaucrat StrawberryMaster (SM). Following the primaries, three candidates succeeded: Alex, Bob, and SM, of whom Alex won the most votes, winning the election and becoming the first ceremonial President of HHW.

## Background

Following the events of June 19, 2021, where Dynah Snowe had led a progressive movement that preferred the removal of StrawberryMaster and other older staff members from their positions; and the controversial election associated with it, of which Dynah participated in; many of the older administration members had resigned from their positions and been replaced with newer users. This left Hypercane, the leader and only bureaucrat of the wiki, in a tough position between pleasing the progressive users and staff members, or maintaining the policies the community had before the scandal. Hypercane maintained popularity amongst both sides of the spectrum, and remained the oldest staff member on the team. Several important incidents followed, including the promotion of former bureaucrat Sassmaster15, the botched demotion of Caleb, the banning of Raven, and the promotion of Finolian to chat moderator, of which would begin a period of frequent staff promotions.

## Nominations and candidates

### Final candidates

#### Finolian

*Further infomation: Finolian 2022 HHW presidential campaign*
Finolian, commonly known by their name Alex, and an administrator of the wiki at the time of candidacy, decided to run for president without party affiliation. They chose SpaceZeta as their running mate. The two ran a progressive campaign, calling for administrative reform, increased staff transparency, and leniency regarding suicide joke rules. They also supported implementing stronger, more specific rules regarding basin neutrality.

#### StrawberryMaster

*Further information: StrawberryMaster 2022 HHW presidential campaign*
StrawberryMaster, often abbreviated by his initials SM, a chat moderator and former bureaucrat, ran a moderate campaign. They argued against suicide joke rule leniency, certain administrative reforms, and basin neutrality, claiming that many ideas suggested "already existed" in the HHW policies and guidelines, but supported stronger action against users who are considered immature or disruptive in the chat.

#### Bobnekaro

Bobnekaro, a former bureaucrat, ran a moderately conservative campaign. Most notably, Bobnekaro was staunchly against basin neutrality, claiming that users should be able to be open about their tracking biases and that there "should not be rules forcing users to talk about certain basins". He also supported bringing back the environment of 2016, stating "let's bring back the chill and relaxed discussions of 2016!".

### Candidates eliminated in the primaries

#### Not a hurricane master lol

During the primaries, NAHML received 10% of the total vote, shocking many voters. NAHML had been an editor of the wiki for several months at his time of candidacy; as such, he was not nearly as popular as some of the other candidates on the ballot. Despite this, he overperformed and won 4th place in the primaries, just behind StrawberryMaster. He ran a slightly conservative campaign that advocated for stricter, more authoritarian policies on the wiki and server. He stated that the server should be led by himself only.

#### GiedriusforCat5

GiedriusforCat5 ran with the Cube Conflicts party. He tied SolarisPenguin for 5th place, winning 6.67% of the popular vote during the primaries.

#### SolarisPenguin

SolarisPenguin, often referred to as Solaris, ran with the Diet party and tied with GiedriusforCat5 for 5th place in the primaries, receiving 6.67% of the vote.

#### AC5230

AC5230 ran with the New Democratic Party and advocated for progressive reforms. However, AC's lack of name recognition and staff experience seriously hindered his campaign, and was overshadowed by Finolian who was the more well-known progressive candidate.

#### Nyssus

Nyssus ran for election in the primaries, however he was disqualified following his ban on the HHW Discord server. Fabian resigned from the race shortly after.

## Results

With 55 percent of the popular vote and 35 total electoral votes, Finolian won the election, arguably in a landslide. The next highest candidate, StrawberryMaster, won 30% of the popular vote and 13 electoral votes. Bobnekaro came in third with 15% of the popular vote and 3 total electoral votes. Following the release of the final results, Finolian was given the honorary role of "HHW President", and their transition into the role was peaceful. StrawberryMaster and Bobnekaro conceded following the announcement.

### Polling

**2022 Presidential Election polls (popular vote %)**

55

30

15

Finolian-SpaceZeta

StrawberryMaster

Bobnekaro

**2022 Presidential Election polls (popular vote)**

11

6

3

Finolian-SpaceZeta

StrawberryMaster

Bobnekaro

## Notes

1. ↑ Although technically the winner of the 2015 presidential election, Ryne was never sworn in due to the Douglas scandal.