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The 3024 Balancín general election was held on 13 April 3024 to elect the 2nd Balancín Parliament. The 1st Parliament, known as the Partial Parliament due to its lack of elected representatives, was dissolved on 28 March following the passage of the (amended) Citizen, Merchant, and Third Sector Class Representation Bill, which was granted royal assent. King Maximilian II said in the dissolution announcement that "the function of our government has been established", creating the conditions for the general election.
Despite being a general election, only half of the 24 seats in the Cortes Generales were up for democratic election. The other 12 seats were selected from various corporations, education organisations, and charities. However, the general election legally mandated anybody appointed by non-election to be re-appointed in time for the start of the new Parliament. The Citizen, Merchant, and Third Sector Class Representation Act of 3024 meant that the 12 elected seats were based on the nation's duchies, an antequated map that has no regard for population of cultural separations - and are merely based on the nobleman who governs the region. This resulted in significant democratic deficits in the election.
The incumbent government of the Rooks, led by Lord Keeper Jon Alba, fought the election seeking popular legitimacy in order to push through further devolution of power and public services to the Pontifical Church. The Rook party also opposed any reduction in power to the monarchy. In contrast, the newly formed Pawn party, led by Princess Elisa Correia, fought the election on the promise of greater political and economic freedom for the citizenry, as well as liberation for illegitimate peoples. While there were some third party candidates in some areas, the only prominent non-Rook and non-Pawn candidate was put forward by the Merchant Council as their representative (in the form of Cosmo Al Home).
The election saw the Rooks returned to power with a slim majority in the Cortes Generales. Despite their victory in the election, the opposition Pawns actually won a majority of the popular vote among the citizenry class. In his victory speech, the Duke of Alba said "Balancía represents many classes, not just citizens", and claimed the Rook victory was "a huge rejection of excessive democratisation". Speaking after the election, Princess Elisa called the result "a disappointingly expected", but said "now we have a power base to push for a free Balancía". The only third party elected to Parliament was Cosmo Al Home, who was overwhelmingly selected by the Merchant Council as thei
The resulting Parliament, the second Parliament, became known as the Foul Parliament due to the discrepency between elected MPs and the democratic popular vote.
Cortes Generales
The general election will be most prominent for the election of the Cortes Generales. Consisting of 24 MPs, the Cortes Generales is the general body of representation for the non-noble and non-clergy classes of Balancín society.
Under King Maximilian's proposal to Parliament, the 24 seats would be divided up as follows:
- Election by eligible electors residing in the Crownlands
- Election by eligible electors residing in the Principality of the Newton
- Election by eligible electors residing in the Duchy of Mountbatten
- Election by eligible electors residing in the Duchy of Valls
- Election by eligible electors residing in the Duchy of Belemadena
- Election by eligible electors residing in the Duchy of Ander
- Election by eligible electors residing in the Duchy of Shipley
- Election by eligible electors residing in the Duchy of Farleigh
- Election by eligible electors residing in the Duchy of Alba
- Election by eligible electors residing in the Duchy of Montrose
- Election by eligible electors residing in the Duchy of Carolina
- Election by eligible electors residing in the Duchy of Estaire
- Selection by the Lord Director of the Shore Incorporated Guild
- Selection by the Lord Director of the Asturias Incorporated Guild
- Selection by the Lord Director of the Obragon Incorporated Guild
- Selection by the Lord Envoy from the Northern Continental Patented Guild
- Selection by the Lord Envoy from the NorthEast Industries Patented Guild
- Selection by the Lord Envoy from the Greene Harvester Patented Guild
- Selection by the Lord Envoy from the Agency Industries Patented Guild
- Selection by the governing body of the University of Southern Bonitana
- Selection by the governing body of the University of Pembroke
- Selection by the Chairperson of the Royal Trust
- Selection by the Chairperson of the Red Cross
- Election by a vote of the Merchant Council
Criticisms of King Maximilian's proposal
When King Maximilian vetoed the Citizen, Merchant, and Third Sector Class Representation Bill, he outlined the above process for deciding each member of the Cortes Generales. However, his proposal received heavy criticism on a number of grounds.
Firstly, Patented Guilds receive their status based on royal proclamation through Letters patent. Thus, in effect, the four Patented Guilds would be sending MPs to Parliament if and only if they had the consent of the monarch. The same is true for the Royal Trust, whose chairperson is also appointed freely by the monarch. This has been seen as a reduction in the autonomy of Parliament.
Secondly, the 12 "elected" seats are based on the dukal boundaries as established in 3024. However, the dukal boundaries differ vastly in population. Thus, sparsely populated duchies will have the same voting power as densly populated ones. This has been seen as a further reduction in the democratic legitimacy of the Cortes Generales.
Results
The election resulted in a slim Cortes majority for the Rook government of Lord Jon Alba. Despite winning a majority of seats, more of the popular vote went to the opposition Pawns, in a blow for the Rook's political capital.
| Political party | Leader | Seats won |
|---|---|---|
| The Rooks | Lord Jon Alba, Duke of Alba | 13 |
| The Pawns | Princess Elisa Correia | 9 |
| Independents | Cosmo Al Lore (de facto) | 2 |
| Result: Rook majority government | ||
| Lord Keeper before election | The Duke of Alba | |
| Lord Keeper after election | The Duke of Alba | |
| Seat | Elected M.P. | Political party | Votes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citizenry seats | Rook | % | Pawn | % | Others | % | ||
| Crownlands | Sir Juan Carlos MP | Rook | 13,980 | 46.60% | 12,150 | 40.50% | 3,870 | 12.90% |
| Principality of the Newton | Rees Roscoe MP | Rook | 20,174 | 52.40% | 17,556 | 45.60% | 770 | 2.00% |
| Duchy of Mountbatten | Sir Henry Martell MP | Rook | 17,577 | 56.70% | 12,772 | 41.20% | 651 | 2.10% |
| Duchy of Valls | Jen Stemmer MP | Rook | 15,152 | 48.80% | 14,500 | 46.70% | 1,397 | 4.50% |
| Duchy of Belemadena | Katheryn Castillo MP | Pawn | 39,740 | 34.20% | 69,255 | 59.60% | 7,204 | 6.20% |
| Duchy of Ander | David Winston MP | Pawn | 31,779 | 32.10% | 62,776 | 63.40% | 4,455 | 4.50% |
| Duchy of Shipley | Stephen Falkner MP | Pawn | 14,368 | 30.70% | 23,587 | 50.40% | 8,845 | 18.90% |
| Duchy of Farleigh | Barney Speyer MP | Rook | 20,960 | 52.40% | 13,802 | 34.50% | 5,240 | 13.10% |
| Duchy of Alba | Guilliermo Sanchez MP | Rook | 76,744 | 56.10% | 57,866 | 42.30% | 2,189 | 1.60% |
| Duchy of Montrose | Thomas Balbridge MP | Pawn | 132,930 | 42.20% | 172,935 | 54.90% | 9,125 | 2.90% |
| Duchy of Carolina | Ibai Salazar MP | Rook | 16,162 | 55.60% | 12,666 | 43.60% | 232 | 0.80% |
| Duchy of Estaire | Dame Laura Gabasa MP | Rook | 19,712 | 51.20% | 17,017 | 44.20% | 1,771 | 4.60% |
| Total | 419,278 | 44.10% | 486,882 | 51.10% | 45,749 | 4.80% | ||
| Merchant seats | Rook | % | Pawn | % | Al Lore | % | ||
| The Merchant Council | Cosmo Al Lore MP | Independent | 10 | 25.00% | 6 | 15.00% | 24 | 60.00% |
| Total | 10 | 25.00% | 6 | 15.00% | 24 | 60.00% | ||
| Education seats | Rook | % | Pawn | % | Others | % | ||
| University of Southern Bonitana | Sir Mateo Menendez MP | Pawn | 2,177 | 43.20% | 2,192 | 43.50% | 670 | 13.30% |
| University of Pembroke | Dame Edna Mara MP | Rook | 5,134 | 55.50% | 1,184 | 12.80% | 2,932 | 31.70% |
| Total | 7,311 | 51.20% | 3,376 | 23.60% | 3,602 | 25.20% | ||
| Guild seats | ||||||||
| Incorporated Guild: Shore | Mario Giordano MP | Pawn | N/A | |||||
| Incorporated Guild: Asturias | Sebastian Javier MP | Rook | ||||||
| Incorporated Guild: Obragon | TBD | Independent | ||||||
| Patented Guild: Northern Continental Corporation | Joseph Stephenson MP | Pawn | ||||||
| Patented Guild: NorthEast Industries | TBD | Rook | ||||||
| Patented Guild: Greene Harvester | Hector Greene MP | Rook | ||||||
| Patented Guild: Agency Industries | Antoni Krol MP | Rook | ||||||
| Charity seats | ||||||||
| The Royal Trust | Sir Mark Alba | Rook | N/A | |||||
| The Red Cross | Joseph Laos MP | Pawn | ||||||
The King's Court
The general election will also constitute a reformation of the King's Court. Members of the King's Court are appointed through three main channels:
- Holding noble title of Duke, Duchess, or Lord Director, or through being the heir to a dukal title;
- Holding clergy title or position above that of monsignors, or through specific Pontifical appointment;
- Being appointed by the monarch.
Entitled Lords Temporal
Below is the list of individuals who assumed their seats after the general election via their holding the noble title of Duke, Duchess, or Lord Director, or through being the heir to a dukal title. This list was unchanged from during the Partial Parliament.
- Louis, Prince of the Newton (and Duke of Talaga) [Rook]
- Prince Olaf Murcia (as heir to the Duchy of Talaga) [Rook]
- Lord Zacarias, Duke of Mountbatten [Rook]
- Princess Elisa Correia (as heir to the Duchy of Mountbatten) [Pawn]
- Lord Felix, Duke of Valls [Rook]
- Lord Albion Amerigo, Earl of the Broadlands (as heir to the Duchy of Valls) [Rook]
- Lord Jamie, Duke of Belemadena [Rook]
- Lord Michel Calvo, Earl of Jara (as heir to the Duchy of Belemadena) [Rook]
- Lord Jason, Duke of Ander [Rook]
- Lady Adria Ander (as heir to the Duchy of Ander) [Pawn]
- Lord Skylar, Duke of Estaire [Rook]
- Lord Yago Clay, Baron Clay (as heir to the Duchy of Estaire) [Pawn]
- Lady Sian, Duchess of Shipley [Rook]
- Lady Miriam Grayson-Wark, Baroness Wark (as heir to the Duchy of Shipley) [Rook]
- Lord Alec, Duke of Farleigh [Pawn]
- Lord Eric Casterel (as heir to the Duchy of Farleigh) [Pawn]
- Lord Jon, Duke of Alba [Rook]
- Lady Rose Alba (as heir to the Duchy of Alba) [Rook]
- Lord Kamari, Duke of Montrose and Earl of Claremont [Rook]
- Lord Eagan Tartary (as heir to the Duchy of Montrose) [Rook]
- Lord Luca, Duke of Carolina [Pawn]
- Lord Abril Stamos, Count of Stemmer Field (as heir to the Duchy of Carolina) [Pawn]
- Lady Samantha Bryonne, Lord Director of the Shore Guild [Pawn]
- Lord Jim Convair III, Lord Director of the Obragon Guild [Independent]
- Lord Reginald Adler, Lord Director of the Austrias Guild [Rook]
3024 general election honours
The 3024 general election honours are the appointments to the King's Court made by King Maximilian II or Pontifex Konstantin IX during the period of parliamentary dissolution. The honours are for individuals who are not otherwise automatically granted a seat in the King's Court. The new Peers would take their seats at the start of the new Parliament, effectively making them "duly elected" members. Peers appointed through honours hold their seats for life, with the exception of pontifical peerages, which fall under the grouping of Lords Spiritual and thus can be dismissed by the pontificate.
- Christina De Leon, the Lady De Leon [Rook]
- Sir Vaen Vonn [Independent]
- Lord Waldron Moor, Earl of the Redfyre [Rook]
- Lord Peter Grayve, Earl of Ronel de la Pares [Independent]
- Lord William Sandringham, Baron Sandringham [Rook]
- Yazmin Arjona, the Lady Arjona [Rook]
- Jia Lu Jintao, the Lady Lu Jintao [Rook]
- Neil Grayson, Duke of Shipley (Duke Jure uxoris) [Rook]
- Lady Nyota Tartary, Duchess of Montrose [Rook]
- Bess Calvo, Countess of Jara [Rook]
Composition of the King's Court
After the general election, there were 55 peers (members of the King's Court). 25 peers obtained their seat through noble right (i.e., holding a noble title of Duke, Duchess, or Lord Director, or through being the heir to a dukal title). 20 peers obtained their seat through spiritual right (i.e., holding a clergy title or position above that of Auxillery Bishop, or through specific Pontifical appointment). 10 peers were appointed by King Maximilian II in his general election honours.
Lords Spiritual traditionally do not have a political allegiance. Lords Temporal (i.e., noble or appointed Lords) are allowed to hold noble title, though not all do. The only Lords Temporal not to allign with either the Rooks or the Pawns is the Lord Director Jim Convair III of the Obragon Sector, Sir Vaen Vonn, and the Earl of Ronel de la Pares.
The composition of the King's Court was thusly:
| Political party | Seats in the King's Court |
|---|---|
| The Rooks | 24 |
| The Pawns | 8 |
| Independents | 3 |
| Total Lords Temporal | 35 |
| Total Lords Spiritual | 20 |