Polls open in Titulia

END OF DAY 1: Candidates tie for 1st

The polls opened at around 11pm Australian East Coast time and it's been a good start for candidates Tom Norton (IND-LRP) and Julian (RNC-LN) as citizens voted throughout the first day.

As of writing, Norton leads +1 vote to Julian - 19-18.


A good first day to polling

It's been a great turn out to the polls on day one of voting. So far 35 citizens have already cast their vote, coming in at 74% of the 50-citizen total that turned out last election. Campaigners in both houses expect this month's turnout will exceed the April-May poll to decide who will form government and lead Titulia into the next term.

Election gains for candidates

If this was a parliamentary election, Titulia might well be heading for a hung parliament. Out of the major campaign factors, Norton has proven himself to the LRP as the worthy nominee.

Julian has the strategic advantage of support from multiple party machines, but is that going to be enough to stave off the former vice president? Norton has proven capable of fighting off the harshest of critics, while Julian has yet to weather a major political tsunami to test his mettle. Judging my the day's results: this could be anyone's election.

Unconfirmed reports have emerged this may be the second time Julian has appeared on a ticket but definitely his first time on the top of a ballot. No record has been found of a successful vice presidential win for the RNC candidate, meaning that Julian has never succeeded in a nationwide leadership ballot.

This is a major campaigning strength for Norton. This is his third time on a ballot, falling short for the presidency in the early days of the republic. Later on during 2009, he succeeded in winning the vice presidency on the McVicker Progressive Federalist Party Ticket as the Social Democratic candidate.

The LRP is encouraged by the result, especially in the pick up of at least 2+ RNC-LN coalition votes and at least 2 independents.

Member Reg Ambrose categorized the race as 'too close to call'.

"It might strike some as odd but the good news is our expected voter retention from last election doesn't add up. We've lost some conservative support from the RNC which we expected since this time they have a presidential candidate".

"The good news is we've gaining since the release of our 'Better Day' strategy and lack of confidence in our opponent's handling of the Admin question is showing in the results. This had to come from some maverick voters in the incumbent parties. That has improved our standings so far by at least a net gain of around four votes. That's fantastic".

Member John Baxter was also encouraged by the outcome of the first day, but fell short of claiming a win just yet.

"The RNC ran an intense smear campaign against us and that's caused some nervousness in the population for sure. The upside to that there's also some evidence its caused a voter backlash. Not to sound defeatist, but some polling indicated this was going to be a Julian landslide and some Titulian experts had us down by 50 in a TPP [Two Party/candidate Preferred standing] before we even got out there. Win or lose from here I'm happy with the result".

Mr Baxter said he expected a surge in voting early tomorrow morning Australian time, with most benefits going to the RNC-LN campaign.

"Great turnout but tomorrow will give a clearer picture of what's going to happen and that's when the action happens. The party made a good effort despite all the other silliness and I'm sure each member is proud to be part of it".

'Admin' dominates the election agenda

Both campaigns produced and debated various policy differences, but anyone would have thought this was a three-way race. Reviewing the candidate debates and by speaking with voters, the Titulia 'Admin' came up in almost every policy question or comment. Past elders and major players returned and an open agreement was reached as Titulians of here and now openly took thought to keyboard.

What started out as a campaign of personalities soon saw a reciprocal agreement between both candidates, with Norton opting for a new direction that didn't include the website chief.

LRP communications director Renee Buchanan engaged with RNC-LN candidate Julian during the Titulia site candidate exchange, not so much over policy differences, but over his lack of understanding for change.

"Both of us agree there are changes that can be made without Admin and some that need Admin to install on the site. There is room to install some change requests now and allow Admin some breathing space without having to refuse change requests on sight and Julian's policy has no room to breathe", she said.

Outgoing President William D Money (LN) cited a potential stand off of sorts with Admin as his key reason for not standing again for the position.

Mr Norton cited the Admin policy 'meltdown' from the RNC-LN coalition was the largest problem plaguing the incumbent parties in power.

"Our biggest concern during this campaign was Julian's repeated refusal to accept new policy of working with Admin and instead opting to continue a failed approach that doesn't work. The evidence is endless that Admin isn't going to bring on these requests by themselves or at least any time soon. There is a way for that to happen now, but the next government needs to realise the current approach policy needs to be scrapped", Mr Norton said.

More on the election after day two.