2016 UnitedTerra presidential election

The 2016 UnitedTerra presidential election is a public election to decide who will be the next President of UnitedTerra. It is the 2nd ever presidential election of the country following the first one in 2004. The election was held on August 31, 2016 in New Club Penguin, where the voting occured. The winning candidate was officially appointed the following day on September 1, 2016. President Ninjinian will be succeeded by whichever candidate wins the election. The election marks a revolutionary moment in UnitedTerra history as it is finally changing their president after twelve long years (not including 2 extra years as a non-elected leader).

The winning candidate, Lofty Crepsley, became the second ever president of UnitedTerra.

It coincidentally occurred the same year as the USA presidential election which happened three months later.

The rules of a UnitedTerrain election differ substantially from a typical presidential election. A Terrain presidential election is held every 12 years during which the president serves a 12-year term without disruption, unless there is an exclusive reason to do so. Once the term is complete the incumbent cannot serve as a candidate and thus cannot be re-elected (as 12 years was plenty). Furthermore there are more than two candidates involved representing their respective political parties.

12 years a President
The election has been anticipated for many years. During the lead-up to the election at the start of 2016 a documentary series reflected on Ninjinian's long reign as President of UnitedTerra.

We Move On
Simultaneously with the 12 years a President "campaign", there was the "We Move On" campaign to build up towards the future of UnitedTerra. This involved the candidates.

Voting system
A UnitedTerrain election happens every 12 years. The incumbent president cannot be a candidate in the election. There is typically 4 main parties involved in the race for presidency. Each party is represented by a presidential figure who is running for president on behalf of the party.

As UnitedTerra is a democratic country, the public vote on who they want to become president. Citizens go to their local polling station on Election Day and have one vote for who they want to become president. The votes are then counted up and the candidate with the majority of the votes becomes president.

Lofty Crepsley
A new politician on the scene, Lofty emerged after his father Mayor Crepsley encouraged him to join the country's main and biggest party, the Cookie Baker's Party. After climbing up the ranks Lofty was chosen to represent the party in the presidential election and become UnitedTerra's new president. Because he was the face of the strongest party of the nation, Lofty did well from the start of the campaigns, almost consistently remaining the favourite to win the election. This was because he drew notable comparisons to Ninjinian due to his unique look and bubbly personality. The penguins of UnitedTerra, so used to their cookie-loving, enthusiastic president, felt that Lofty was the closest replacement to those characteristics compared to the other candidates.

John Churchill
The candidate for the Progressives is John Churchill, a renown UnitedTerrain politician. He had no major opponents during the primary season and he won every primary state, carrying 98% of the vote in total. He was nominated at the party convention.

Diana Lite
The vice presidential nominee for the Progressive Party is Diana Lite, famous Terran civil and human rights activist. Churchill picked her as the running mate shortly before the Progressive National Convention.

Rex Goodwin
The richest penguin in the country, Rex Goodwin, decided to run for president to challenge himself and take his endeavours to the next level.

Purple Party
A 'Third Way' party with left-wing (liberal) views on social policies and right-wing (conservative/capitalist) view on economic policies. With the party's demand for protectionist economic policies, it's promise of educational and environmental reforms, and it's slogans of "A Better Future for Our Fatherland" and "An End to Ineffective Bureaucracy for a Better Tomorrow", the party, despite its new age, is gaining popularity but also criticized by social conservatives and hardline social democrats alike for its views of a more centralized national government and drawing voters away from their parties.

Snowy Mayfield
A prominent lawyer and the founder of the lawyer firm "Barristers for Equality", Snowy is notable for winning several high-profile cases regarding women's rights and puffles' rights. Her views on more environmental regulations on the industries and tritium mining, as well as alternative sources of renewable energy and her personal slogan of "Empowerment through Education and Science" have made her very popular. She's currently the party's nominee for president. If she's elected, she will be the first female president of UnitedTerra.

Results
The results were revealed in the morning of September 1, 2016. In first place was the charismatic Lofty Crepsley, the favourite to win, achieving 42.4% of the total votes. The runner-up was John Churchill, popular for his catchy slogans, winning 27.6% of the votes. Businessman and entrepreneur Rex Goodwin received 20.4% of the votes, potentially because he did not give enough dedication to his campaign. In final place was Snowy Mayfield with 9.6% of the votes.

Debates
A number of debates occurred across the country on live national television between leading candidates. In the debates they discussed their policies in front of an audience and debated amongst each other.

Trivia

 * The next UnitedTerra presidential election will be in 2028.