Rapa Pile Referendum: As It Happened6 June 4865
The Kamalata Times is providing up-to-date coverage as the Pilese people go to the polls on the issue of incorporation. They have been given a straightforward vote between the status quo and statehood as part of the Vascanian Empire. The 'yes' side, supporting statehood, is supported by the Action Party, the agricultural and fishing unions and many religious figures. The 'no' side, favouring the status quo, is supported by the Liberal Party, environmentalist groups and the student's union. Around 3,420,000 people are registered to vote, with turnout expected to be well above 80%.
8:00pm, Rapa City: The mood in both camps is very nervy as they wait for the polls to close at 9pm local time. Both sides are aware that the early results will skew towards 'yes', because they will come primarily from Datungu Island. Datungu is closer to Vascania and has long been a stronghold for the pro-Vascania Action Party, meaning that all expectations are for it to go strongly towards the statehood camp. The question is whether it will be with less than or more than 60% of the vote - if Datungu is going more than 60% for yes, that will lead to jubilation in the pro-Vascania campaign HQ.
8:47pm, Nago Valley: Just minutes before the polls have closed, there are indications of a delay in the counting of results in eastern Nago Valley. Apparently, turnout is so high in the area that the polling stations ran out of ballots. A local judge has allowed for the affected sites to remain open until 9:45pm. Each local council authority will announce its formal results when counting is complete, with Rapa City being the biggest such authority. It is expected to go narrowly in favour of the 'no' camp, as the pro-autonomy Liberals have campaigned energetically in the area and have a supermajority on the city council.
9:05pm, East Datungu Island: Unconfirmed reports are suggesting that the 'yes' side will outperform their 60% target in Datungu by as much as 5 points. If true, it will make the results on Great Pile even more important. Datungu is also expected to have higher turnout, with the Sangora Post reporting that they have been quoted a turnout estimate of 92% for the island as whole. The 'no' side are already raising suspicion about that figure, as it seems to have been given to pro-statehood media outlets before pro-autonomy ones.
9:27pm, East Datungu Island: Votes are being counted quickly on the south island, for a variety of reasons. Datungu votes are being counted at the polling place, while votes in the north island are taken to a central counting location to be monitored and tabulated. Datungu is also counting votes by hand, which is surprisingly quicker with the help of some bank clerks who have been specially recruited to give a prompt result.
9:50pm, West Datungu Island: After a speedy count in the rural party of Datungu, the first results have been announced in the West Datungu area. The council's deputy speaker confirmed a final tally of
YES: 61,385 (60.2%) and
NO: 40,631 (39.8%), in line with expectations. Turnout was at an extraordinary 93%. Regardless, it gives an early lead to the statehood camp, who are now getting increasingly optimistic that they can win this referendum.
9:58pm, East Datungu Island: Less than ten minutes after the western declaration, East Datungu has also produced its result. The figures are
YES: 120,678 (73.3%) and
NO: 43,864 (26.7%) on a turnout of 91%, well above the expectations that the pro-Vascania side had set for themselves. The results are deeply disappointing for supporters of autonomy and independence, who are now pinning their hopes on a strong showing in urban Rapa. Only the city of Datungu itself remains out on the southern island, and that will likely go towards the 'yes' side. Updated results are available below.
10:17pm, North Rapa Metro: Finally, some good news has come through for the anti-integration side. With the help of student volunteers, the North Rapa area has produced a quick result with
NO: 168,702 (58.2%) and
YES: 121,173 (41.8%). Turnout was 91%, above expectations. The North Rapa council authority included the city's biggest university, where student unions and environmentalist groups had been campaigning on a 'Keep Rapa Open' message, saying that a yes vote would close the islands off from the rest of the world. The solid margin of victory here will go some way in trying to bring 'no' back into contention.
10:30pm, North Great Pile: The smallest counting area tonight, North Great Pile, has reported its results slightly later than expected. The final numbers are
YES: 40,334 (52.8%) and
NO: 36,031 (47.2%) with a turnout of 85%, slightly below what we've been seeing in other areas. This largely rural part of Great Pile island was always thought to be fairly competitive, but the narrow victory of 'yes' suggests that they continue to have the edge as results roll in. The Liberal Party is not giving up, however, and one of their spokespeople says that the anti-integration campaign is feeling very confident in Rapa City. Up-to-date results are available below.
10:46pm, Datungu City: The counting is complete across the southern isle as Datungu City has just announced its results. As expected, it has gone heavily in favour of joining Vascania, with
YES: 383,055 (62.4%) and
NO: 230,641 (37.6%). The results confirm that across Datungu Island, 'yes' recieved 64.2% of the vote, compared to just 35.8% for 'no'. This is yet more worrying news for those supporting the special autonomous status, who will undoubtedly now require a solid victory in Rapa City to close the large gap between the two sides.
10:51pm, Kamalata, Vascania: Watching the results as they roll in, the Vascanian cabinet are eagerly anticipating a victory for the pro-integration campaign. Reporters from the Kayal Journal have quoted the Prime Minister as being 'extremely confident', and a loud round of cheers were heard from the cabinet office when the results in Datungu were finalised. Despite their likely victory tonight in the voting, the sharks are already circling abroad. Deltarian officials are almost certainly watching the results as well, as are Selucians and Badarans who asked for international observation of the counting process. If a yes vote is confirmed, the reaction from Majatra and Dovani will probably be mixed to say the least.
11:02pm, New Nago City: Two hours after the polls closed, the third largest urban centre on the Pilese islands has announced their tallies. The results stand at
YES: 149,000 (53.9%) and
NO: 127,548 (46.1%) with a turnout of 84%. The Liberal city council leader was visibly shocked when the numbers were read aloud, with the 'no' side having presumed that the city would vote for them after a well-organised canvassing effort and the support of popular local figures. One of the Action Party's shadow representatives to the Vascanian Parliament has told the Kamalata Times that she is sceptical of claims that the results in Rapa City will make up the difference between the two camps, and predicts that by the end of the night every area outside of the Rapa Metro will have voted to join the Vascanian Empire. Up-to-date results are available below.
11:16pm, North West Great Pile: Results have come in from the remaining two counting areas outside of the Rapa Metro: North West Great Pile and Nago Valley. The results in NW Great Pile were
YES: 82,679 (53.8%) and
NO: 71,103 (46.2%) at 85% turnout. The tallies in Nago Valley, which experienced delays due to high turnout, stand at
YES: 110,663 (51.4%) and
NO: 104,604 (48.6%). Both were highly competitive and tipped to vote 50-50, though they have resulted in two more victories for the 'yes' campaign. The anti-integration cause is looking bleak, with the Sangora Post having already called the referendum as a victory for Vascanian unity.
11:20pm, Rapa City: The Kamalata Times is calling the referendum for 'yes'. Our election analysts have been working to determine the quantity of outstanding votes, and we have been given a 99.9% chance of victory for integration. An estimated 1.2 million ballots remain to be counted or announced as part of a results declaration, out of likely more than 3 million cast, all of which are in the Rapa metropolitan region. Our analysts say that the 'no' side would have to win 61% of the outstanding vote to be victorious, but they are unlikely to win more than 55%. As such, the Kamalata Times makes this projection. VascaniaNews has also called the vote for 'yes'.
11:35pm, Rapa City: The results have been announced for the West Rapa Metro, and they are bitterly disappointing for the pro-autonomy campaign. The numbers are
NO: 213,071 (50.2%) and
YES: 211,602 (49.8%), a far smaller victory for 'no' than had been expected. The Liberal Party has conceded that they have been beaten and congratulated the opposing side. The two major student unions, and the environmentalist group GreenRapa, have all refused to acknowledge a 'yes' victory and called into question the legitimacy of results in the southern island, which were counted by hand at the polling stations. Some polling stations are alleged to be unmonitored and staffed by Vascanian citizens, though the leaders of the Datungu councils deny these charges and say that Rapa Pile police were present at each and every counting station to prevent electoral fraud. The official tally is updated below:
12:00am, Rapa City: At the auspicious stroke of midnight, the results have been formalised with the declaration in Rapa City Centre. The numbers are
NO: 400,636 (54.1%) and
YES: 340,473 (45.9%), with a turnout of 90%. This is around what analysts had expected, even though many in the pro-autonomy camp had been optimistic at the start of the night that the city would deliver a 15%+ victory for their cause. The overall turnout is therefore 89.4%, suggesting a massive level of engagement on the referendum question. The mismatch between the 'no' side's expectation and the reality has led some on the losing campaign to accuse Vascania of fraud, though no solid evidence has been presented and a number of judges have already agreed to give legal approval to the counts in their local jurisdictions.
12:20am, Kamalata, Vascania: Just twenty minutes after the final results, the Vascanian Prime Minister has given a press conference to assembled reporters. He started by congratulating the Pilese people for 'choosing a hopeful new future as part of Vascania' and said that 'no serious organisation can question the results'. The Prime Minister repeatedly reaffirmed the fairness of the vote, saying that Vascania has no history of 'fudging' results and pointing to the extensive involvement of the Pilese people in the referendum process. Regardless, the PM will be facing heavy criticism internationally for any of a number of things, though the accusations of fraud seem spurious at the moment. It is primarily the results in Datungu that are questioned by the opposition. Without Datungu's results, the islands would have voted to stay. Datungu also departed from the main island is a number of ways, including its use of paper ballots and its less formal counting process. The exact reaction of foreign officials remains to be seen, however, as the government says it will proceed with the integration process in the new year.
Final results on a turnout of 89.4%:YES: 1,621,042 (53.0%)
NO: 1,436,831 (47.0%)The Kamalata Times is a Vascanian newspaper based in Kamalta City with nationwide and international circulation.