Haifan general election, 1614
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Haifan general election of 1614 AN was the last general election held in the Free State of Haifa. Six seats in the National Parliament were filled by proportional representation under the d'Hondt method, and the Haifan Democratic Party took four seats against two for the Social Democratic Party. Three regional governorships were called at the same time, but drew no candidates and were reopened later in the year. The Parliament it returned elected Benjamin Meir Prime Minister in 1615 AN for a term of six years.
The election was administered by the Governor-General, Joseph Fauxan, whose office carried responsibility for parliamentary elections under the constitution then in force. It was conducted under the Elections Act, the statute that prescribed the d'Hondt count and that survives only by reference in the records of the poll it governed.
No further general election was held. Meir resigned the premiership within the year, no successor was chosen, and the office stood vacant until the republic dissolved itself in 1620 AN.
Background
The republic had gone through two prime ministers in the five years since Ismael Todochev lost the office in 1609 AN. Fayiz Sarraj of the Social Democratic Party formed a government and resigned within weeks, stating that he no longer commanded the confidence of his own ministers. Erlo Sinders, governor of the Wallis Islands, took the premiership after him on an interim basis and still held it when the election was called.
Meir returned to Haifan politics shortly before the poll. He was re-elected City Official of Abeis with sixty-seven percent of the vote on a turnout of seventy-eight percent, and then merged the Federation of the Natives with the earlier Democratic Alliance at a two-day convention in the capital, producing the party that contested the general election. It campaigned on a platform it called the Open Opportunity Society for All.
Electoral system
The Governor-General's notice listed five offices for the elections: all seats in the National Parliament except his own, the premiership, and the governorships of Keybir-Aviv, the Wallis Islands, and Jezeraah-dashrk-Morovia. Only the parliamentary seats and the governorships went to the electorate. Each region of the republic returned a governor, and the governors sat in the chamber alongside the city officials, so that the Parliament was drawn from the territorial units of the state rather than from a national roll.
The six parliamentary seats were allocated by the d'Hondt method. Parties nominated ordered lists of up to six candidates each. Independent candidates were not grouped together on the ballot.
The governorships were contested on a single ballot on which candidates of the same party were not grouped, nor were independents. The candidate receiving the most votes took the seat of first preference, and the second-placed candidate took the other.
The Prime Minister was elected by the Parliament rather than by the electorate. Where no candidate commanded an overall majority, the leading candidate was to have the first attempt at forming a coalition, and if that attempt failed the other parties were free to try. Once chosen, the Prime Minister was responsible for appointing a government, which the Governor-General expected to include a minister for finance, a minister for home affairs, and a minister for justice; the foreign ministry was held by the Governor-General himself under the constitution.
Campaign
Two parties registered lists. The Haifan Democratic Party nominated Meir at the head, followed by Donovan Graham, Joachim Demsky, Ava Palmieri, Adlai Garfinkle, and Eliza Hirst. The Social Democratic Party nominated Sinders at the head, followed by Ruldno Sinders, Pipon Desmon, Fayiz Sarraj, Vea Wa, and Jees Gedled. Sinders also stood for the governorship of the Wallis Islands as his seat of first preference. An Imperial Party was announced during the nomination period but registered no list.
The opening of the poll slipped past the announced date, and the Governor-General extended voting by two days to make up the lost time. Nominations for the three governorships drew no candidates on the first attempt and were reopened later in the year on terms permitting the offices to be filled by nominees put forward on a party's behalf rather than by candidates standing in person.
Result
| Party | Seats |
|---|---|
| Haifan Democratic Party | 4 |
| Social Democratic Party | 2 |
| Total | 6 |
No vote totals or percentages were published for the parliamentary count, and none survive. The Governor-General announced the allocation of seats and nothing more.
Aftermath
The new Parliament ratified Meir as Prime Minister in 1615 AN on a motion setting his term at six years, to commence immediately on passage. The Haifan Democratic Party delegation voted in favor and the motion carried.
The Meir government was formed with Fauxan continuing as Governor-General and Foreign Minister, and Sinders taking the interior ministry. Its principal act was the Treaty of St. Andre of 1616 AN with Natopia, which exchanged the principality of Walstadt for the city of Port St. Andre and which Sinders opposed in debate before voting for ratification. Meir attached his premiership to that treaty and resigned the office and his citizenship within the month of its passage.
The Parliament elected in 1614 AN was the last the republic returned. The Wallis Islands declared independence in 1617 AN, and in 1620 AN the remaining citizens concluded the Agreement of Dissolution.
