Sunday, 2 Prairial 186 08:17 LMT
Commonwealth Holds Elections for Parliament
by Richard Hawley
CH'TAALA, L'NHRAEI (LNN) – Districts throughout the Commonwealth held elections yesterday and today for the 1000 members of the Assembly, as well as a variety of local offices. The legislatures of the member worlds voted earlier this year for the 23 open Senate positions.
Six worlds, Nova, Columbia, Taefvei, Aphrodite, New Providence, and Gaea, had elections for governor.
The biggest issue in the campaign was whether to admit the systems of the Reydovan Republic as Commonwealth member worlds. Some candidates support expanding the Commonwealth, while others question whether the Reydovan systems would be suitable members, especially so soon after the Reydovan civil war. President Macpherson supports the systems joining, but has said he wants to leave the decision up to the new Parliament.
If the Reydovan systems are admitted, some candidates have proposed expanding the Assembly, while others prefer keeping it at its present size.
Another issue on many worlds was military spending. Many candidates feel the Commonwealth needs to increase spending, particularly by purchasing additional ships and more weapons research. Proposals for funding this include increasing the arrival tax and re-instating the sales tax. Other candidates support a larger military, but have said they will not vote for new taxes.
The last Assembly had 881 Libertarians, 62 Conservatives, 53 Labour, 3 Socialists, and 1 independent. The Senate had 44 Libertarians and 2 Socialists. The new Senate will retain the same balance, while the Assembly will have 878 Libertarians, 65 Conservatives, 55 Labour, and 3 Socialists.
89% of the approximately 21.2 billion registered voters cast a ballot.
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