Highton Legislative Election 2018

[Highton]

OOC: This replaces the retconned thread from the summer.
IC:

HIGHTON LEGISLATIVE ELECTION '18​

Link to spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Hqf_T6ab33uoIiin-RHXegeKdK-4fiY1EeE-lvAnwlk/edit?usp=sharing

Spoiler: 2016 RESULTS

Coalition: Conservative (Red), Libertarian (Yellow), Die Recht (Gray)
Minorities: Liberal (Light Blue), Royalist (Dark Blue)
No Seats: Socialist (Pink), Green (Green)

Spoiler: 2018 RESULTS

Coalition: Conservative (Red), Libertarian (Yellow)
Minorities: Liberal (Light Blue), Royal (Dark Blue), Green (Green), Socialist (Pink)
No Seats: Die Recht (Grey)

Spoiler: REPORT

Libertarians, Liberals Rise while Royals and Recht Fall​

"Say hello to the four-party system!" proclaims Libertarian Party leader Gari Jones just past midnight: his party has surpassed Highton's oldest surviving party, the Royalist Party, in seats for the first time. In the previous election, the Libertarians only had three seats, but this time secured 23. Most of the new Libertarian seats won AV elections against incumbent conservatives. The two parties remain closely allied and will form a bipartisan coalition as the combined total between the two parties increased by five. Die Recht, the right-wing party who had held one kingmaker seat in the previous election, have been voted out as Otto Heidl shockingly lost his seat in Hightonia. Conservative challenger Yaka Hünte noted in the final days of his campaign that “Die Recht's role in the government is holding Highton back on the international stage”, with the Herald reporting that Speaker Vard would consider dropping Die Recht from a coalition even if it was necessary and potentially seek a temporary cross-aisle agreement with the Liberals in case of another tie. This did not happen, the traditional coalition secured 55 seats (safely enough for a majority. The Royal Party was the big loser this time around, losing 10 of it's 18 district seats mostly to the Liberals. The oldest party in Highton has dropped to the fourth biggest party in Highton and could become a minor party if the current trends continue. In other news, the Green and Socialist Parties each won one seat, with the Green Party winning back Cocoland's 2nd after having lost it in 2016. The win of the Socialist party in one NH district is also somewhat misleading, as it was a member of the Liberal Party unhappy with the libertarian direction of the party who ran for reelection under the Socialist Party out of protest (Vran Coin). As expected, the national seats went the same way, as traditionally the 12 non-voting members remained a 6-3-3 split for the traditional big parties, although the next elections may see this change. James Vard will remain speaker after this election.