1603 Elwynnese congress election
General elections were held for Congress in Elwynn in 5138 ASC. These elections were the first elections helf since the cabbage crisis which dissolved the sessions of the Congress and Senate.
A total of 677 seats were contested in the fifteen counties. The congressional seats were proportionately allocated to the counties as follows:
| County | Seats |
|---|---|
| Agnesia | 26 |
| Akerbjorn | 1 |
| Alalehzamin | 143 |
| Araxion | 94 |
| Bjorngard | 2 |
| Brassica Major (N. Absentia) | 3 |
| Brassica Minor (M. Durtarui) | 1 |
| Cape Farewell | 41 |
| Cimmeria | 3 |
| Eliria and Utasia | 102 |
| Illumination | 48 |
| Iserdia | 122 |
| Lun Ezkaron | 37 |
| Raikoth | 20 |
| Wintergleam | 34 |
Each county was contested seperately by parties. For the purposes of the election, each county was a constituency. Parties were allocated seats based on proportional representation in each county.
Although many parties contested most of the country, many parties were single-county ones.
The biggest national parties were in the campaign considered to belong to various informal factions, the fascist, the liberal, the socialist and the conservative.
The largest fascist party, Nationalist and Humanist, was founded from the remains of the National Democratic Behsaz Party once this party dissolved once its leader Merrick was arrested for his role in the anti-constitutional coup d'état against Prince Deimos Jasonides. The other parties were the Icebears' own party, the Cabbage Farmers' Party and the strangely named Alalehzamini Coalition of the Centre.
The liberal camp traditionally consisted of the Ayreonist Independence Party and the Radicals. The differences between these two parties are generally ascribed to the question of state power versus power to the counties and communities. They share, however, their belief in Ayreonism. AIP is a 'statist' party that actively campaigns for independence. The Radicals do not believe in independence as an attainable goal and puts its energy in question of strengthening the common people against 'oppressive' authorities. In the election, the liberal camp came to encompass the new Union for an Elwynn of Many Nations (EMN). The EMN is technically a merger by the Amokolian Democratic Party and the Elfinshi People's Party. With the merger, the new EMN managed to attract a lot of attention from members of the Elw, Ardashirian and Nordic communities, especially from dissatisfied Ayreonists.
The socialist camp suffered internal battles when the whole leadership of the Ardashirshahr Labour Party was discovered to take orders from Royston Merrick. At the same time, the Communist Party was experiencing a schism between 'hard-liners' and 'soft-liners'. The result of this was that the hard-liners defected from the Communist Party and joined the former ALP ranks into founding the Hezb-e Qermez, the Red Party. The Elwynnese Workers' Party suffered a blow once the Hezb gained media coverage and attention. For the first time in Elwynnese history, the Greens confessed their allegiance to a state-planned economy and were seen as defecting from the liberal camp to the socialist camp.
The conservatives, consisting of the Conservatives of the East , reorganized from the old Conservative Party, and the Republican Party have long been seen as traditionalist, Lokiist and feudalist. Although the Republican Party has distanced itself from these notions, the reputation of the Eastern conservatives made the election difficult for the Republicans. Both parties profess an economic conservative view but fight hard with one and another on constitutional issues. The Conservatives of the East believe in a traditional Shirerithian constitutional monarchy with much power to the Prince while the Republicans are, as their name implies, staunch opponents to any monarchic association.
| Party | Votes | Share | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alalehzamini Coalition of the Centre | 1,064,144 | 1.04% | 7 | new |
| Amokolian Freedom Front | 933,153 | 0.91% | 7 | new |
| Ayreonist Independence Party | 21,633,507 | 21.18% | 140 | -6 |
| Bjorngard Party | 103,516 | 0,10% | 1 | new |
| Cabbage Farmers' Party | 390,395 | 0.38% | 4 | -4 |
| Conservatives of the East | 5,047,932 | 4.93% | 36 | -40 (Con. Party) |
| Communist Party of Elwynn | 1,022,548 | 1.00% | 7 | -9 |
| Democracy Now! | 248,295 | 0.24% | 12 | new |
| Divine Party of the Holy Icebear | 3,219,410 | 3.15% | 20 | +9 |
| Elfinshi Bloc of Araxion | 281,743 | 0.28% | 2 | new |
| Elwynnese Workers' Party | 4,708,394 | 4.60% | 31 | -45 |
| Future for Akerbjorn | 15,513 | 0.02% | ||
| Green Party | 3,188,251 | 3.12% | 21 | -23 |
| Hezb-e Qermez | 7,337,428 | 7.17% | 48 | new |
| Mina Durtarui Alliance | 96,064 | 0.09% | 1 | new |
| Moo Party | 1,718,881 | 1.68% | 12 | new |
| Nationalist and Humanist Party of Elwynn | 22,945,115 | 22.43% | 147 | +57 (NDBP) |
| Radicals | 5,963,645 | 5.83% | 40 | +22 |
| Republican Party of Elwynn | 5,231,576 | 5.11% | 26 | -38 |
| Union for an Elwynn of Many Nations | 15,636,492 | 15.29% | 106 | new |
| Utasian Allied Front | 1,482,643 | 1.45% | 9 | new |
