2023 Haesanite general election

Haesanite general election, 2023

May 26, 2023 (2023-05-26)
All 400 deputies to the Chamber of Deputies 198 seats needed for a majority
Registered	97,304,130
Turnout	78.41% 0.73%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Sabrina Hwang Amelia Ward Mireille Kim Party Moderate Liberal Democratic New Bargain Leader since 2022 2022 2023 Leader's seat Namhae Namhae Anfa Seats before 35 23 17 Seats won 79 76 75 Seat change 44 53 58   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Seo Jun-yeong Lee Ju-ho Dr. Im Su-yeon Party Free Democratic Conservative Onwards Haesan! Leader since 2023 2012 2015 Leader's seat Suyang Sugang Haebam Seats before 97 44 11 Seats won 69 35 26 Seat change 28 9 15   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader Seo Yu-jun Devrim Köroğlu Wim Schouten Party One Haesan Social Democratic Liberty! Leader since 2020 2023 2023 Leader's seat Sinhan Suyang Ryujang Seats before 51 N/A 104 Seats won 14 6 2 Seat change 37 6 102
Prime Minister before election Jan van Deventer Liberty! Elected Prime Minister Sabrina Hwang Moderate Party

The 2023 Haesanite general election was held on Friday, 26 May 2023. All 400 members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected, although 5 seats remained vacant due to a no-contest election in Soeyan Province. The snap election was called after a vote of no-confidence in the van Deventer government after the former Prime Minister made controversial remarks on the floor of the National Assembly. Over 76.2 million people voted in this election, a turnout of 78.41% of registered voters. The returns were marked by impressive youth and urban turnout while apathy increased in rural areas of Haesan.

This election was notable for its high rate of seat turnover, with almost half of the seats switching parties. It ended in a highly divided result and a hung parliament with the highest vote getter, the Moderate Party, winning only 79 seats. The day after election returns were finalized, a coalition government was formed between the Moderates, the Liberal Democrats, New Bargain, and Onwards Haesan! after an elections result that saw left wing parties gain far beyond expectations. Moderate Party floor leader Sabrina Hwang was named the new Prime Minister.

Pre-election Process

A snap election was called on April 20th, 2023, the day following Jan van Deventer's controversial floor remarks during Question Hours in which he attacked President Kim I-seul, the Hae-pop industry, and the Korean Language Administration Act, while praising Empress Calhualyana of Xiomera due to her reaction to the eco-terrorist group Warriors of Our Earth (WOE). Those remarks led to the collapse of the right-wing populist governing coalition and to the fracturing of van Deventer's Liberty! political party. Per the Constitution of Haesan, this vote started a two week window for which parties can declare their candidate slates for the election, followed by three weeks of campaigning.

Twelve parties announced their slates to run in at least one province, with only four (the Moderates, Liberal Democrats, Free Democrats, and Conservative Party) announcing full slates of 395 deputy candidates. The Social Democratic Party appeared on the ballot for the first time in Haesan since the general election of 1940, after their last attempt to run in 2005 led to the party withdrawing after the Yeocheon Convention Massacre. The former Prime Minister Jan van Deventer surprised many political analysts for leaving Liberty! to join the right-wing nationalist Our Haesan Party.

Election Day

Polls opened at 8 am local time across Haesan on the morning of May 26th, and they closed at 8 pm local time that evening. The 26th was made a federal holiday as per accordance with law to ensure equitable access to the ballot box. The election was called at 5:08 pm CHT as the results from Sinhan Province were returned.

Extended Voting in Sinju

At 4:00 pm WHT, software malfunctions were reported across the southern districts of Sinju. These issues led to long delays at polling booths in the city, and in a few neighborhoods there were waits longer than 90 minutes. Voting rights activists submitted a request to the Sinju Provincial Courts that the voting time be extended since voters in the affected areas may have been discouraged or turned away by the long waits. During the wait for the judge's decision, votes were continued to be collected in the southern neighborhoods of Sinju, and the votes were sequestered. At 9:40 pm WHT, the judge had confirmed that those ballots were in fact legal and that standard procedure in the event of a software malfunction had indeed been followed. The sequestered ballots were allowed to be counted, and the poll closing time was set at 10 pm WHT. These irregularities led the Sinhan count to be delayed and were ultimately responsible for the province reporting last in this election cycle.

Ballot Irregularities in Eungang

In Eungang Province, there was a small scale incidence of voter fraud that caused the ballot counting to be delayed. About 20 ballots were found to be duplicates of voters in a small, rural town in the east of the province. An investigation was launched, and the morning of May 27, the perpetrator was found and arrested, and the falsified ballots were destroyed.

Results

The election led to big gains from centrist and left wing parties at the expense of the members of the previous coalition. The Moderates were the big gainers, as Hwang's strategy of personal politics saw the party win big in formerly Liberty! controlled provinces like Seocheon and Maehwa. The Liberal Democrats also were a big winner as their message of Haesan taking a stronger role on the world stage resonated at a time when voters sought both strength and stability. New Bargain, driven by massive gains in Suyang, are the first progressive party to be a member of a governing coalition during the Second Commonwealth. With benefits from positive public perceptions of the Novella Islands in Haesan, Onwards Haesan!'s message saw them gain seats in the research-dependent eastern plains.

Most of the losses came from Liberty!, which after the abdication of Jan van Deventer was thrown into crisis. Many journalistic outlets have praised the quick thinking and clever messaging of their new young leader Wim Schouten, and credit that with the fact that the party was able to maintain two deputies amidst this crowded field. Jan van Deventer did not win reelection to Hwagang after his One Haesan Party failed to win a seat.