New Democratic Party (Zardugal) Elections

The New Democratic Party (NDP) is one of the major political parties in Zardugal. The NDP holds elections to determine its Congressional Leader and Deputy Leader, Executive Council members and presidential candidate.

Congressional leadership elections
The NDP Congressional Caucus is made up of every NDP member in Congress. The Caucus is responsible for electing the Congressional Leader and Deputy Leader of the NDP.

Leadership elections can be precipitated by the death or resignation of the party Leader or Deputy Leader, or by a spill motion. A spill motion may be proposed by any member of the Caucus. A spill motion must have the support of 10% of the Caucus members to be brought to a vote. To be successful, it must gain the support of a majority of voting members, and 40% of the Caucus regardless of whether or not they vote. If the motion is successful, the leadership, deputy leadership or both will be vacated.

In the event of a successful spill motion, candidates may declare their candidacy. The incumbent occupant of the position being contested may stand as a candidate. Should no candidate win a majority of the vote, the candidate with the lowest number of votes will be eliminated, and another round will be held. Should multiple candidates be tied at last place, further rounds will be held until one candidate has fewer votes than all others. This process continues until a winning candidate is elected with the support of a majority of voting members. Candidates may withdraw their candidacy between rounds.

Executive Council elections
The National Convention is responsible for the election of members of the 15-member Executive Council, which controls fundraising and election strategy.

Each State branch of the NDP is represented by three Executive Councillors, with one elected every year. The National Convention elects Executive Councillors using a procedure similar to that used for the congressional leadership, which is detailed above. All candidates require the endorsement of at least 5% of the members of their respective State Conventions to stand.

Every three years, the President of the NDP is elected. Again, the above procedure is used to elect the President. Candidates for President must have the support of 5% of the members of the National Convention.

Presidential nominations
The National Convention's most important function is to decide the NDP's candidate for President at every election. The method of elimination and holding a new round is also used for the Presidential nomination process. Candidates for Presidential nominee must have the support of 5% of the members of the National Convention.