Scoitan legislative election, 2008

The legislative election for the Georgeland island state of Scoita will be held on February 8, 2008 following the dissolution of the state legislature on January 10 after a constitutional crisis. The election will be held approximately eighteen months before the expiration of the current legislative term - a new election had not been expected before June-July 2009.

Chief Minister the Hon. Brad Zimmerman

The incumbent Conservative government, led by Chief Minister Brad Zimmerman, will be attempting to win a fourth term of office, though it will be the first election fought since Zimmerman became leader.
The opposition Liberal Democrats will be attempting to win power in the state for the first time, and to form the first non-Conservative government in Scoita since 1996. The Leader of the Opposition and Liberal Democratic candidate for Chief Minister is Neil Connors.

File:Connors.jpg

Opposition leader Neil Connors

Election timetable

• January 10: Dissolution of the state legislature.
• January 12: Issue of electoral writs by Governor Mendez. Candidate nominations begin.
• January 19: Enrollment closes - those who fail to register to vote by this date are ineligible to vote.
• January 25: Candidate nominations close.
• February 8: Polling day.

Party standings

At the 2005 election, the parties won the following numbers of seats:

• Conservative: 52
• Liberal Democrat: 19
• Scoitan Labour: 5
• Georgeland Alliance: 5
• Free Scoita Party: 3
• Greens: 2
• Independent (Ken Romani): 1

In 2007, Romani was elected to the United Islands Senate. The Conservatives won his constituency of Emilypolis Central, giving them 53 out of 87 seats in the legislature.
In order to form government, the winning party will need to win 44 seats. For the Liberal Democrats, this will be extremely difficult, as it would require them to win an additional twenty-five seats.

Background

The election was not scheduled to be held until July 2009, as the Scoitan legislature has a four-year term. However, on December 15, 2007, the government introduced the Police Powers (Terrorism and Deliquency) Act and the Scoitan Security Review (Police and Judiciary) Act, two pieces of legislation designed to significantly increase police powers relating to terror suspects and, in particular and contraversially, juvenile offenders. The acts also cut down on administrative and judicial oversight for sentencing.

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Governor Don Mendez announces he will veto the government's legislation.

The state's Governor, Don Mendez, elected in September, expressed his dissatisfaction with the legislation in late December. On December 29, he stated that if the legislation was passed he would not give it his assent, effectively vetoing it. He later clarified his position and declared he would use the governor's official veto power, which the legislature cannot override.
The government passed the bills in the unicameral legislature on January 8. The same day, Governor Mendez refused to sign the bills, though he did not use the veto power as he had indicated he would. On January 10, Zimmerman announced that by agreement, the Governor had dissolved the legislature rather than use his veto power. Though not explicity stated, Zimmerman implied Mendez had agreed to allow the bills to pass if the government were to be re-elected.

Result

House of Commons
Registered Voters	TBD
Votes Cast	TBD		Turnout	TBD	TBD
Informal Votes	TBD		Informal %	TBD	TBD
Party	Leader	Seats contested	Primary Votes	%	Swing	Seats won	Change
Liberal Democratic Party of the United Islands	Neil Connors	87	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Conservative Party of Georgeland	Brad Zimmerman	87	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Georgeland Alliance	Frances Shuttleworth	87	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Green Party of Georgeland	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Scoitan Labour	Sean McMinn	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Free Scoita Party	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Others	Various	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
Total	TBD	87	TBD	TBD	TBD	87	TBD

Previous election 2005

General Elections in Scoita 2008

Next election 2012 Presumed date