610 Apoxian general election

The 610 Apoxian general election was held in Apox on Thursday 22nd March 610, four year after the previous election saw Daramie Jenkins' ANP become the ruling party in Apox. The ANP suceeded in gaining a plurality of the votes once again, beating out the Green Party, led by Shadia Holzhauser and a resurgent Free Party, led by Jessica Halveston. Turnout was just over 70%, which was more than 2 percentage points lower than the previous election but still sees Apox as one of the most politically active populations in the world.

Campaigning
The election was marked by a significantly less fractious campaigning atmosphere than the previous election, the 606 general election. This was in large part due to Artur Winklebottom no longer antagonising the rest of the field and a large number of voters. His replacement as head of the Free Party, Jessica Halveston and her deputy, Ibitsaama Aas, brought a calmness and gravity which resonated with many voters. Key Free Party campaigning areas were in suburban Dwile, the North (counties like The Broads and Mountainshire) and the mid-coastline. The key aim for the party going into the election was to disrupt a number of "solid" Green Party counties more so than the ANP ones.

The ANP had a reasonably solid record to stand on over the course of their first term in office and marketed their campaign heavily to avoid losing much of the urban areas they had won so convincingly in 606. Daramie Jenkins, while a talented orator, generally stayed in the urban centres of Apox throughout the campaign, leaving many ministers to take trips to smaller towns around the country.

For Shadia Holzhauser, this was also her first election as leader of the Green Party, having taken over from Matthias Sindelar after the last election. The Green Party faced a dual threat, with the Free Party pivoting in on many of their economic platform points and having a similar social issues and environmental platform to the ANP. This meant that, despite a well marketed campaign slogan, "Keep Apox Green", they struggled to really resonate with voters outside of their more rural areas.

There was only one televised debate during the campaign, held on 12th March 606, which featured the leaders of the five "main" parties, with Daramie Jenkins, Jessica Halveston and Shadia Holzhauser joined by Vikram Treloquithack of FREEDOM.apx and Richard Gatherby of New Dawn. The debate focused on climate change, the economy, health and educational issues and Apox's position in the wider world. Richard Gatherby was widely lambasted for his views on Apox's position and his argument clinically disassembled by Daramie Jenkins - a move which such each leaders rating fall and rise in equal numbers. There were some heated exchanges between Jessica Halveston and Daramie Jenkins, and also Halveston and Holzhauser, but overall the debate was conducted in a civilised and respectful manner.