View source for 2019 Kingdom of Sierra CAS membership referendum

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{{Infobox referendum 
|name = Kingdom of Sierra Conference of American States membership referendum 
|title = {{box|type=transparent|Should the Kingdom of Sierra remain a member of the Conference of American States or leave the Conference of American States?}} 
|country = Kingdom of Sierra 
|date = 5 July 2019 
|flag_image = Flag of Sierra.svg
|location = [[Kingdom of Sierra]] (pop. [[Demographics of the Kingdom of Sierra|79.8 million]]) including all [[Territories of the Kingdom of Sierra|territories]] 
|outcome = The K.S. votes to remain in the Conference of American States 
|yes_text = Remain 
|yes = 32,288,885 
|no_text = Leave
|no = 26,095,215 
|invalid = 46,745 
|total = 58,430,845
|map = Map of the results of the 2019 Kingdom of Sierra CAS membership referendum by PSA.svg
|map_size = 300px
|map_caption = Map of the results of the referendum by [[PSA]].
|map2 = Map of the results of the 2019 Kingdom of Sierra CAS membership referendum by country.svg
|map_size2 = 300px
|map_caption2 = Map of the results of the referendum by country
}}
{{Sierrexit sidebar}} 
{{Kingdom of Sierra in the CAS}}
The '''Kingdom of Sierra Conference of American States membership referendum''', commonly referred to as the '''CAS referendum''' and the '''Sierrexit referendum''', took place on 5 July 2019 in the [[Kingdom of Sierra]] (K.S.) and all of its [[Territories of the Kingdom of Sierra|territories]] to ask the electorate to determine the future of Sierra's membership in the [[Conference of American States]] (CAS), mainly whether Sierra would remain a member of the CAS or withdrawal from the organization. The referendum was organized and facilitated through the [[2017 Conference of American States Membership Referendum Act]] which allowed for a referendum to be held on Sierra's membership in the CAS after it came into effect on 2 June 2018 after opposition and delay from [[Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sierra|Prime Minister]] [[Nemesis Heartwell]]. Officially labeled as Proposition 88 (Prop 88), the referendum ended in a victory for the Remain campaign with 55.3% of the electorate voting in favor of Sierra remaining part of the CAS.

The Kingdom of Sierra is a founding member of the CAS and aided in its establishment back in 1959, however the topic of Sierra's membership became a center of debate and controversy since the 1980s and became a mainstream debate subject in the 2000s under [[Matthew Braggs]] during his premiership (2000–2004). A push for a referendum would intensify in 2012 after [[Daniel McComb]] was elected [[Leader of the Royalist Party]] and began pushing for it during the federal elections of [[2013 Sierran federal election|2013]] and [[2016 Sierran federal election|2016]] and pushed for a referendum after wining the latter election. In spite of the [[Daniel McComb sexual abuse allegations|sexual abuse allegations]] and Heartwell's pro-CAS leanings, the push for a referendum continued and gained backing in 2018. On November 16, Heartwell scheduled the referendum for July 5 in 2019 and designated it as Proposition 88. 

Various political organizations and campaigns would be formed in preparation for the event including [[Vote Leave]] and [[For the Union]], the leading groups in the Leave and Remain campaigns respectively. Both campaigns were coalitions of various political organizations and groups which consisted of political advocacy organizations, 501 non-profits, labor unions, newspapers, political parties, charities and key individuals were involved in campaigning. Both camapigns' involved organizations and endorsements came from groups and individuals from across the {{W|Political spectrum|political spectrum}} and included foreign and domestic supporters alike.

Amongst the political parties, those who backed the "remain" campaign being the [[Democratic-Republican Party of Sierra]] (DRPS), the [[Social Democrats of Sierra|Social Democrats]], the [[Green Party of Sierra|Green Party]] and [[Hawaiian Sovereignty Party]] all supported the remain campaign and endorsed contuning CAS membership. By contrast, the [[Royalist Party of Sierra|Royalist Party]], [[People's Party (Deseret)|People's Party]] of the [[Deseret]], [[Royalist Association of Hawaii]] and the [[Libertarian Alliance of Hawaii]] all supported the "leave" campaign. The [[Libertarian Party of Sierra|Libertarian Party]] meanwhile took a neutral stance towards the referendum due to internal divisions among part members, officials and voters. The same position was taken by the [[Mormon Independence Party]] in the Deseret. While the Royalist Party supported leaving the CAS, Nemesis Heartwell publicly stated her opposition towards Sierrexit and support for remaining a part of the Conference. While she allowed the party to express pro-leave positions, she stated her personal stance towards the matter despite this and refused to remain quiet about it. In spite of protests from party officials, including high-raking ones, Heartwell remained defiant and publically vocal about her pro-CAS views, causing others such as [[Kenneth O'Conner]] and [[Isabelle Huynh]], both of which were cabinet members, to declare their pro-CAS leanings and caused public controversy especially after Heartwell endorsed and attended rallies and events organized by the [[Red Tory Association]] and [[Royalists for the CAS]], the main [[American unionism|American unionist]] organizations affiliated with the Royalist Party.

The referendum would end in a victory for the Remain campaign and was a major blow to the wider [[Sierrexit]] movement with the results being announced at 9:02 pm {{W|Pacific Standard Time|PST}}. Immediately after the results were announced, various markets in global {{W|Stock market|stock markets}} fluctuated with businesses who backed Sierrexit seeing major declines while pro-CAS business who endorsed the remain camp saw increases in their stocks. Heartwell would celebrate the results of the election while the majority of Royalist Party leadership was disappointed with many high-profile resignations taking place in response, including members of the [[Royalist National Committee]], tho RNC chair [[James Garner]] of [[Clark]] would remain as party chair. Various protests broke out afterwards and calls for a [[Proposed second Sierran Conference of American States membership referendum|second referendum]] (nicknamed Propositon 89) have been made by various journalists, political organizations, media figures and other individuals and groups have been made, but attempts to done so have been unsuccessful. Support for Sierrexit would see a major collapse in public support afterwards after peaking in 2017.
==Background==
{{Main|Conference of American States Act of 1959|Treaty of Seattle}}
The Kingdom of Sierra was one of the founding members of the Conference of American States and co-founded the organization in 1966 alongside [[Astoria]], [[Alaska]], [[Superior]] and [[Manitoba]] with the foundaiton being ratified with the [[Treaty of Seattle]] passed on August 20. Sierra formed the organization and backed its creation as a counterweight to the [[United Commonwealth]] and its allies in both the [[Landonist International]] (Landintern) and the [[Organization for Mutual Economic Assistance and Development]] (OMEAD). The Conference was founded by then-prime minister [[Henry Faulkner]] of the [[Democratic-Republican Party of Sierra|Democratic-Republican Party]] and would remain even after he lost in the [[1959 Sierran federal election|federal election]] that year. Sierra's membership in the CAS and push to create the CAS was ratified with the [[Conference of American States Act]] which formally declared the intent to create the organization and ratify the treaty to formally establish it as an intergovernmental organization. 
===Rise of the Sierrexit movement=== 
{{Main|Sierrexit|Ameroskepticism in the Kingdom of Sierra}} 
Up until the 1980s, Ameroskepticism was a fairly minor political movement with limited support and would not gain a significant following until the mid-1980s when it became a subject of significant debate. The Royalist Party was increasingly divided over the issue of the CAS and as to whether or not Sierra's membership in the Conference was a net positive. Unionists championed the CAS' ability to unify Anglo-America, integrate the economies of the region and its effectiveness as a bulwark to Landintern expansion, however Ameroskeptics accused the Conference of undermining Sierra's national sovereignty and pushed for major changes. It wouldn't be until the [[1992 Sierran federal election]] that would see Ameroskepticism gain notable mainstream attention when [[Matthew Braggs]] was [[1992 Royalist Party leadership election|elected]] [[Leader of the Royalist Party]] following the victory of [[Melinda Peters]] in the federal election earlier that year. Braggs was vocally critical of the CAS and his election as Royalist leader compelled it into mainstream attention and popularity among the Royalist base and wider [[Conservatism in the Kingdom of Sierra|conservative]] movement. 
===Push for a referendum===
{{Main|Premiership of Daniel McComb}} 
Starting in the 2010s, there would be a push for a referendum on Sierra's membership in the CAS with the biggest proponent being [[Daniel McComb]], a [[Member of Parliament (Sierra)|member]] of the [[Parliament of the Kingdom of Sierra|Sierran Parliament]], after he was [[2012 Royalist Party leadership election|elected]] [[Leader of the Royalist Party|leader]] of the [[Royalist Party of Sierra|Royalist and Federalist Party]] in 2012 and made it part of the party's platform at the [[2012 Royalist National Convention]] in [[Phoenix, Maricopa|Phoenix]], [[Maricopa]].  During the [[2013 Sierran federal election]], McComb would make Sierrexit a mainstream topic and promoted the idea of a referendum and helped garner public support during the election and later in [[2016 Sierran federal election|2016]] which saw his party win the largest plurality of seats and his election as [[Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sierra|prime minister]]. Shortly after being elected prime minister, McComb announced that he would begin negotiating with CAS officials and members of parliament to set the date for a membership referendum and to ensure that the election can be properly held and funded. One of the key figures was [[Julian Ochoa]] and [[Joe Gardner]], Royalist MPs from the [[Inland Empire]] and [[Orange]] respectively who would help craft legislation to ensure that parliament approved of a referendum. 
===Negotiations for a referendum===
==Legislation==
{{Main|2017 Conference of American States Membership Referendum Act}} 
On December 9, 2016, McComb held a press conference where he announced that a membership referendum would be approved through legislative means, an act of parliament approving of such a measure, viewing it as the necessary way to ensure that said referendum can be held. [[Speaker of the House of Commons of the Kingdom of Sierra|House Speaker]] [[Joe Miller]] would state three days later that the Royalist majority would push for a referendum and had the backing of its allies in the [[Libertarian Party of Sierra|Libertarian Party]] despite the party's neutral stance on CAS membership. 
==Referendum question==
After the federal government declared a date for the referendum, a commission was set up to organize the referendum which included proposing the question which was to be "straightforward for voters and neutral to not alienate or influence anyone in the electorate". Drafting for the question began in February and was listed in May. The question  that appeared on the ballot under the act was:
{{Quote|'''Should the Kingdom of Sierra remain a member of the Conference of American States or leave the Conference of  American States?'''}}
Below the question were two listed responses (to be marked with a single X):
{{Quote|'''Remain a member of the Conference of American States'''<br>'''Leave the Conference of American States'''}}
The question and the responses were translated into other languages, both other official languages outside of Spanish and other recognized languages. 
==Administration==
===Election date===
===Eligibility to vote===
===Territories===
==Campaign==
{{Main|Campaigining in the 2019 Kingdom of Sierra CAS membership referendum}} 
==Respones to the referendum==
===Party responses===
The tables list political parties represented in [[Parliament of the Kingdom of Sierra|Parliament]]: both the [[House of Commons of the Kingdom of Sierra|House of Commons]] and/or [[Senate of the Kingdom of Sierra|Senate]], the [[American Parliament]], the devolved legislatures in the [[Deseret]] and [[Hawaii]], and parties within the legislatures of Sierra's overseas [[Territories of the Kingdom of Sierra|territories]] at the time of the referendum. 
====Federal Sierra====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Position
! colspan=2 | Political parties
! Notes
|-
| rowspan="4" |Remain
| style="background-color: {{Christian Democratic Party of Sierra/meta/color}}" |
| [[Christian Democratic Party of Sierra]] 
|
|-
| style="background-color: {{Democratic-Republican Party of Sierra/meta/color}}" |
| [[Democratic-Republican Party of Sierra]]
|
|-
| style="background-color: {{Green Party of Sierra/meta/color}}" |  
| [[Green Party of Sierra]] 
|
|-
| style="background-color: {{Social Democrats of Sierra/meta/color}}" |
| [[Social Democrats of Sierra]] 
|
|-
| Neutral 
| style="background-color: {{Libertarian Party of Sierra/meta/color}}" | 
| [[Libertarian Party of Sierra]] 
|
|-
| Leave
| style="background-color: {{Royalist Party of Sierra/meta/color}}" | 
| [[Royalist Party of Sierra]] 
|
|}
====Hawaii====
====Deseret====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Position
! colspan=2 | Political parties
! Notes
|-
| rowspan="2"|Remain 
| style="background-color: {{Honeybee Party/meta/color}}" | 
| [[Honeybee Party]] 
|
|-
| style="background-color: {{Social Democrats of Sierra/meta/color}}" | 
| [[Social Democrats of the Deseret]] 
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|Leave 
| style="background-color: {{People's Party (Deseret)/meta/color}}" | 
| [[People's Party (Deseret)|People's Party]] 
|
|-
| style="background-color: #808080" | 
| [[Mormon Independence Party]] 
|
|}
====Territories====
In the [[Channel Islands]], the [[Unity Party of the Channel Islands|Unity Party]] sided with Leave and publically declared its support for Sierrexit inline with the Royalist Party to showcase their ideological solidarity while the [[Democratic Action Party (Channel Islands)|Democratic Action Party]] sided with the Remain camp. The [[Channelier Independence Party]] took a neutral position and instead believed that the Channel Islands be allowed to secede where Channelier voters could determine whether or not they should be part of the CAS. 
====Minor parties====
The both [[Communist Party of Sierra]] and [[Continentalist Party of Sierra]] endorsed Sierrexit and backed the Leave campaign having long since viewed the CAS as an imperialist institution and accusing it of promoting {{W|Counter-revolutionary|counter-revolutionary}} and {{W|Neoliberalism|neoliberal}} policies against the wider Anglo-American working class.  
===Cabinet members===
[[File:Nemesis_Heartwell_official_Prime_Minister_portrait.png|right|thumb|180px|[[Nemesis Heartwell]] publically opposed Sierrexit despite the Royalist pro-Leave stance.]]
[[Nemesis Heartwell]] garnered significant media attention for her vocal opposition towards Sierrexit and support for remaining in the conference. As prime minister and the leader of the Royalist Party, the leading major party pushing for withdrawal, her stance caused significant controversy with many accusing her of causing division within the Leave campaign and threatening its cause. Heartwell would be defiant in her defense of her pro-CAS position and gave a speech at a Remain campaign event organized by the [[Royalists for CAS]], a pro-unionist organization affiliated with the national Royalist Party. [[Surgeon General of Sierra|Surgeon General]] [[Isabelle Huynh]] had also endorsed remain and stood by Heartwell in her defense against accusations against her. [[Minister of Defense (Sierra)|Minister of Defense]] [[Kenneth O'Conner]] also voiced support for the CAS and the Remain campaign. All other cabinet members either endorsed the Leave campaign or were publically neutral on the issue, refusing to give a stance on the matter.

Heartwell's pro-Remain stance would cause a minor controversy, even among many of her ardent supporters and fans. [[Emil Alexandrescu]], a [[Romania|Romanian]]-born {{W|Alt-right|alt-right}} journalist and ardent supporter of Heartwell, would publically express his surprise and disappointment in her stance due to his pro-Sierrexit stance, but would continue to support her inspite of it. The Royalist National Committee later released a statement that the party would respect Heartwell's pro-CAS positions and that of other Royalist officials calling it "essential for true democracy and diversity of thought". 
===Businesses===
===Stock markets and exchange rates===
===American responses===
The referendum was supported by the Anglo-American right, conservative movements and far-right. [[Richard Abbott]], leader of the [[National Conservative Party of Brazoria|National Conservative Party]] in [[Brazoria]], described the possibility of Sierrexit as the "modern day fall of the Iron Curtain" and claimed that such a move would be "marvelous and essential for the fight for true American freedom". A poll done in June 2019 showed that 61% of Brazorians favored Sierra remaining in the CAS. [[President of Superior|President]] [[Jennifer Granholm]] of [[Superior]] voiced her support for Sierra remaining in the CAS and called on Sierran voters to reject Sierrexit, which she denounced as a "right-wing ploy" against democracy. 

Sierran politicians, including [[Member of the American Parliament|members]] of the [[American Parliament]], voiced their stances on the matter. [[Joshua Garrett]] and [[Evan Hutchison]], Sierran MAPs of the [[American Conservative Coalition]], both endorsed Sierrexit and called on voters to support Sierrexit. Garrett called the referendum the "modern day Battle of Britain" and Hutchison claimed the referendum would "shake the CAS to its core" and "force it to bend to the wills of the Anglo-American people".

===Non-American responses===
==Opinion polling==
{{Main|Opinion polling for the Kingdom of Sierra CAS membership referendum}} 
==Controversies and issues==
==Media coverage and responses==
{{See also|Media bias in the Kingdom of Sierra}} 
==Results==
{{main|Results of the 2019 Kingdom of Sierra CAS membership referendum}} 
===Results by region and country===
===Results by territory===
===Voter demographics===
==Reactions and responses==
{{Main|International reactions to the 2019 Kingdom of Sierra CAS membership referendum}} 
==See also==
*[[Acts of Parliament in the Kingdom of Sierra relating to the Conference of American States]]
*[[Causes to vote in favor of Sierrexit]]
*[[Proposed second Sierran Conference of American States membership referendum]]
*[[Opinion polling on Sierran membership in the Conference of American States (2019–present)]] 
*[[Referendums in the Kingdom of Sierra]]
*[[Referendums related to the Conference of American States]]
*[[Withdrawal from the Conference of American States]]
{{Elections in Sierra}} 
[[Category:2019 Kingdom of Sierra CAS membership referendum]]
[[Category:Referendums in the Kingdom of Sierra]]
[[Category:Referendums related to the Conference of American States]]
[[Category:2019 in Sierran politics]]
[[Category:2019 in the Kingdom of Sierra]]
[[Category:2019 in the Conference of American States]]
[[Category:July 2019 events in the Kingdom of Sierra]]
[[Category:2019 referendums]]
[[Category:Sierrexit]] 
[[Category:Kingdom of Sierra and the Conference of American States]]