Coalition Announced

The Franklin Times
5/17/09

TPP Leader Blake Chaffins submitted and King Guy accepted a governing coalition proposal. The governing coalition looks to include the TPP, FP and MDP. The Center-Left coalition will have a firm hold on the General Assembly, controlling 243 seats in the 350 seat chamber.

This will give the coalition control of 69.4% of the seats. This super majority control will surely give the TPP led coalition tremendous power to move forward with its agenda.

The coalition will become official in the coming week when the 3rd National Assembly convenes. In that session, Prime Minister Chaffins will bring forward a series of resolutions to quickly begin his legislative agenda.

This agenda will likely include calls to quickly pass an economic stimulus package, a troop withdrawal from Iraq, civil rights legislation, and a healthcare package.

The core of the coalition seems to be strong. During the campaign the TPP and FP seemed to share many similar values. The wildcard will be the MDP. Many political watchers were shocked by the MDP's entry into the coalition. In the agreement that is emerging it appears that the TPP will control 9 of the 13 cabinet level positions, the FP will control 3 (including the powerful Foreign Ministry) and the MDP will only control one. Some analysts are wondering if MDP Leader Knipper joined the coalition to only assure a government position for himself (Speaker of the National Assembly). The coming weeks will reveal whether this decision will cost him support within his own party or whether he will be able to keep his members in line to support the coalition government's agenda.

Prime Minister Chaffins has also recently announced the initial resolutions to be offered:


GA Resolution 1: A resolution formally approving and recognizing the coalition government comprising of the Team PAPI Party (TPP), the Fanatical Party(FP), and the MAD Party(MDP). This resolution also formally recognizes the TPP leader, Blake Chaffins, as the nation's 4th Prime Minister. This Resolution also recognizes the Prime Minister's Cabinet as submitted. This resolution grants all powers to the government that it is entitled to in accordance with the constitutional laws established in the Franklin Compact.

1. Prime Minister Blake Chaffins, TPP
2. Deputy Prime Minister Taylor Jeromos, FP
3. Foreign Minister Rachel Koons, FP
4. Defense Minister Bobby Gaytz, TPP
5. Treasury Minister William Gaines, TPP
6. Justice Minister Scottie Zornes, TPP
7. Homeland Minister Libby Rull, TPP
8. Commerce and Trade Minister Nick L. Endime, TPP
9. Health Minister Patrick McHealthy, TPP
10. Education Minister Lauren Hensley, TPP
11. Environmental Minister Kelsey Dillon, FP
12. Agricultural and Mining Ministry Red Scott-Taylor, TPP
13. Speaker of the National Assembly Jordan Knipper, MDP


GA Resolution 2: A resolution to pass a $200 billion stimulus package to stabilize the economy and support domestic spending. The package will include increased government spending on national infrastructure programs, development of green technology and industries, and education. Spending will also provide additional benefits for those citizens in need of job training and those who recently lost their jobs.


GA Resolution 3: A resolution to completely withdraw all troops from Iraq and deploy them into Afghanistan. Implimentation of the redeployment plan will occur within the Ministry of Defense. With a more concentrated amount of troops in Afghanistan in coordination with current NATO operations, the easier the Taliban will fall. The resolution will maintain military funding at its current level.

Final Election Results

The Franklin Times
5/11/09

The NEC has released the results for the seven states with outstanding results. Results by state can be found below. The NEC has also confirmed that turnout was at 81% of eligible voters.

Capital State: 30 Seats

FP: 25% 7 seats
MDP: 20% 6 seats
MP: 8% 2 seats
RKP: 12% 4 seats
TPP: 35% 11 seats

Conover: 42 Seats

FP: 19% 8 seats
MDP: 17% 7 seats
MP: 8% 4 seats
RKP: 17% 7 seats
TPP: 39% 16 seats

Gearhart: 22 Seats

FP: 19% 4 seats
MDP: 17% 4 seats
MP: 9% 2 seats
RKP: 19% 4 seats
TPP: 36% 8 seats

North Riegel: 26 Seats

FP: 21% 5 seats
MDP: 15% 4 seats
MP: 5% 1 seats
RKP: 26% 7 seats
TPP: 33% 9 seats

Pennyroyal: 68 Seats

FP: 29% 20 seats
MDP: 12% 9 seats
MP: 1%
RKP: 17% 11 seats
TPP: 41% 28 seats

South Riegel: 28 Seats

FP: 14% 4 seats
MDP: 7% 2 seats
MP: 4%
RKP: 37% 11 seats
TPP: 38% 11 seats

Wayne: 48 Seats

FP: 20% 10 seats
MDP: 13% 6 seats
MP: 4% 2 seats
RKP: 19% 9 seats
TPP: 44% 21 seats

Total: 350 Seats

FP: 67 seats 19.14%
MDP: 54 seats 15.42%
MP: 17 seats 4.85%
RKP: 90 seats 25.71%
TPP: 122 seats 34.85%

Governing Coalition Must Control at least 176 Seats or 50.29%

Election Results: The Team Papi Party has captured the most seats in the General Assembly. The TPP will control 122 seats in the 350 seat chamber or 34.85%.

King Guy has now charged the TPP Leader, Mr. Blake Chaffins with the authority to form a coalition government.

Mr. Chaffins and his party are now free to enter into negotiations with any of the other political parties as they attempt to form a working coalition that controls at least 176 seats in the General Assembly.

If such an attempt fails, the RKP, which finished in 2nd place, will be given authority to form a coalition.

The following positions must be filled:

Prime Minister:
Deputy Prime Minister:
Foreign Minister:
Defense Minister:
Treasury Minister:
Justice Minister:
Homeland Minister:
Commerce and Trade Minister:
Health Minister:
Education Minister:
Environmental Minister:
Agricultural and Mining Minister:
Speaker of the National Assembly:

Election Analysis:
With the TPP the clear victor in the election over the past weekend, it is time to analyze the reasons behind the electoral results. The nation's third election cycle revealed a number of factors.

1) The Power of Organization: Organization was pivotal to the electoral results. The TPP's early investments in party headquarters and organization resulted in dramatically high turnouts among its likely supporters. The TPP message was widely received and accepted by voters, especially in the seven most eastern states. The TPP garnered at least 30% of all votes in these seven states resulting to huge electoral pluralities. This effect was most pronounced in the states of Pennyroyal and Wayne. These pluralities more than offset the RKP's huge advantage in the more conservative but more sparsely populated west. The TPP's party organization was able to create a get-out-the-vote drive that when combined with organized labor's voter machine was able to overwhelm the opposition.

2) Conservatives have problems in the East: For the second consecutive election, conservative parties have been unable to compete in the eastern suburbs or urban areas. In the 2007 election cycle, the Free Conservative Party was able to develop a message that attracted suburban, moderate, and women voters. This enabled the FCP to remain competitive throughout the east while racking up huge majorities in the West. This election cycle, the RKP seemed to adopt a purely turnout-the-base strategy. Their highly conservative policies, while popular throughout the western states failed to attract suburban swing voters.

3) Economy Rules: The economy was clearly the dominant issue as unemployment continues to grow. The caretaker government's inability to take proactive measures to deal with the worsening crisis seemed to only persuade more voters that direct action was necessary. These events seemed to coincide with the TPP's message. Election results are often reflections of the times and events in which they occur. This election seems to only confirm the pattern, for this cycle events simply assisted the TPP message.


Mr. Blake Chaffins now has a weighty decision on his hands. He must decide which party or parties to include in his coalition. The more parties he allows in, the larger his majority. However, large coalitions with diverse party interests often have stability problems as the different factors controlling ministries fight among each other. A smaller coalition is more stable but will make party loyalty that much more important. Additionally, Chaffins will have to weigh the competing interests of his party members and supporters with those of his coalition partners. Potential partners may demand a high price and sizable control of the government in exchange for their support.

Election Results

The Franklin Times
5/10/09

The NEC is releasing the following state results. These states have confirmed that all ballots have been counted. Eligible absentee ballots (voters are allowed to vote up to 30 days before the election and ballots must arrive by election day) counting began two days ago and those totals have been combined with those cast over the weekend. All released results should be read as final tallies. Party seat allotment is based on a proportional system within each state. State seat allocation is based on the state population. In order to win any seat, a party must clear the five percent popular vote threshold.


Atrium: 15 Seats

FP: 6% 1 seat
MDP: 19% 3 seats
MP: 16% 2 seats
RKP: 43% 7 seats
TPP: 16% 2 seats


Bennett: 12 Seats

FP: 7% 1 seat
MDP: 21% 3 seats
MP: 9% 1 seat
RKP: 45% 5 seats
TPP: 18% 2 seats


Gerke: 12 Seats

FP: 9% 1 seat
MDP: 9% 1 seat
MP: 3%
RKP: 57% 7 seats
TPP: 22% 3 seats


Hampton: 15 Seats

FP: 6% 1 seat
MDP: 17% 3 seats
MP: 7% 1 seat
RKP: 47% 7 seats
TPP: 23% 3 seats


Hunter: 12 Seats

FP: 5% 1 seat
MDP: 11% 1 seat
MP: 8% 1 seat
RKP: 49% 6 seats
TPP: 27% 3 seats


Schenck: 20 Seats

FP: 22% 4 seats
MDP: 20% 4 seats
MP: 8% 2 seats
RKP: 23% 5 seats
TPP: 27% 5 seats


Total Seat Allocation Through 6 States: 86 of 350 seats allocated

FP: 9 seats
MDP: 15 seats
MP: 7 seats
RKP: 37 seats
TPP: 18 seats

Election Results

The Franklin Times
5/10/09

The NEC is beginning to release state by state results. Since the number of General Assembly seats won is determined by a proportional system, numbers cannot be projected until all ballots have been counted. This will delay the projections in many heavily populated eastern states. Because of this state results will be released as soon as the NEC has confirmed all ballots throughout the state have been counted. This means final results will not be known until late Monday. However, results will be published as they become available.

Election Results

The Franklin Times
5/10/09

Voting has concluded in all precincts throughout the country. It is becoming clear that the nation's 3rd democratic election was a success. The NEC is predicting a high turnout, between 80-83%, very high compared to other western democracies.

The Wallup Polling Institute is also releasing result from its exit polls. The economy was named the number one issue by 57% of voters, followed by healthcare 14%, and foreign affairs 13%. Preliminary numbers also reveal a ideological breakdown throughout the country. Twenty-seven percent of voters described themselves as liberal, forty-three percent described themselves as moderate, and thirty percent described themselves as conservative.

Debates Raise Questions

The Franklin Times
5/08/09

After two days of nationally televised debate the decision now rests in the hands of the voters. This game also now shifts to a new phase - the turnout. Which party is able to turnout its supports the best will surely do well over the election weekend. Also of note is the high undecided vote. The undecided vote pool has been steadly in the double digits. How these undecided voters break over the weekend will help or hinder the electoral dreams of the parties.

Wallup Poll 5/7/09

Wallup Tracking Poll 5/7/09

If the election were held today, which party would you support?

TPP - 29%
RKP - 27%
FP - 21%
MDP - 5%
MP - 5%
Don't Know - 13%

*Half of this polling sample was conducted before the national debate.

Wallup Tracking Poll

Wallup Tracking Poll for 5/6/09

In the lead up to the last debate this is how the race currently stands:

If the election were held today, who would you vote for?

TPP - 27%

RKP - 27%

FP - 20%

MDP - 5%

MP - 5%

Don't Know - 16%

Final National Debate Rules

The National Debate Commission

The commission's final debate session rules are as follows:

Opening: party leaders will be given 2 minutes to answer the following prompt: Why should voters support your party?

Round 1: party leaders will answer questions from members of a live audience.  These questions could be about any issue or policy.  The respondent will have two minutes to respond to the question asked.  The moderator will reserve to right to throw out any question asked.

Round 2: the moderator will ask final followup questions.  These questions can be on any topic and respondents will be given two minutes to respond.

Closing: party leaders will be given one minute for final remarks.

Final National Debate Rules

The National Debate Commission will host the last national debate on May 7th and 8th.  The debate will be held in the nation's capital and will consist of two debate sessions.  

The first session will follow the following structure:

Opening: Each party will be allotted two minutes for opening remarks

Round 1: Each party will be given a five minute question period.  During this period the party leader will be permitted to question other party leaders of their choice.  They may question all other party leaders, just one, or any combination.  The questioning is totally up to them and may ask about any topic.  The questioner also will be able to cut off the leader being questioned.

Round 2: Each party leader will be given two minutes to respond to anything from Round 1.

Closing: Each party leader will be given one minute to deliver any closing remarks. 

Wallup Daily Tracking Poll

Wallup Daily Tracking Poll 5/4/09

If the election were held today which party would you support?

TPP - 28%

RKP - 28%

FP - 20%

MP - 5%

MDP - 3%

Don't Know/No Opinion - 16%