New Ingrean general election, 2016

2016 General Election

5 March 2016
All 128 seats in the House of Assembly 38 (of the 68) seats in the Senate
First party Second party   Leader Matthew Jones Kristine Dawkins Party Democratic Party National Party Leader since 22 December 2008 17 March 2012 Leader's seat Woolcaster Uxbridge East—Te Waiatawai Last election 73 seats 39 seats Seats before 71 40 Seats won 68 51 Seat change 5 12 Popular vote 731,502 654,502 Percentage 40.85% 36.55%
Composition of the House of Assembly chamber after the election. Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results
Prime Minister before election Matthew Jones Democratic Party Elected Prime Minister Matthew Jones Democratic Party

The New Ingrean general election of 2016 for all seats in the House of Assembly and 38 seats in the 68-member Senate was held on Saturday, 5 March 2016. The poll saw the election of the 57th Parliament of New Ingrea.

Under the provisions set out in the Electoral Act, an election are held on the first Saturday in March, which itself must be between thirty and forty days after the King has issued the writ for the election of a new Assembly.

Key dates

Date	Event
27 January 2016	Writs issued by the Sovereign to proceed with an election.
5 March 2016	Polling day, between the hours of 08:00 and 18:00.
18 March 2016	Return of the writs and formal declaration of results.
4 April 2016	57th Parliament assembles.
5 April 2016	State Opening of Parliament.

Background

In 2012, the Democratic Party won a majority at the general election, and was able to form an administration with a comfortable majority of 18 seats. This was the first time the Democrats had won an election since 2000.

The campaign

Week 1: Opening shots

The campaign began with the Democrats leading in all published national opinion polls. On 31 January, the Sunday New Ingrea published a poll gave the government a lead of 44% to 40% nationwide, which would translate into a comfortable win for Democrats in terms of seats. Most commentators, however, expected the election to be very close, pointing out that the Nationals have been slowly drawing closer since their shock by-election win in Stanhill in 2014.

The campaign itself opened with official launches by each of the three major parties on the 1 February. The Democrats launched their campaign at the Kingsbury Convention Centre. The Nationals travelled to the key battleground of Port Frederick, whilst the Labour Workers opted for an open air press conference in the Sandon Parklands.

At the Democratic Party launch, the Prime Minister was greeted by hundreds of enthusiastic supporters. Key promises at the launch included:

• Fixing the maximum rate for the Tertiary Education Loans Scheme to 1% p.a.;
• Reduce recidivism in the criminal justice system; and
• Halving the rate of youth unemployment within the next term of parliament.

Results

Votes summary

Popular vote
Democratic			40.85%
National			36.55%
Social Democratic Labour			4.02%
Christian Democrats			3.42%
Outdoor Alliance			2.33%
Independents and others			12.83%

House of Assembly

New Ingrean general election, 5 March 2016 House of Assembly << 2012 – 2020 >>
Enrolled Voters		2,096,509
Votes Cast		1,902,373		Turnout	90.74%	-2.46%
Informal Votes		111,669		Informal	5.87%	+0.43%
Summary of votes by party
Party		Primary Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Democratic Party	731,502	40.85%	-1.75%	68	-5
	National Party	654,502	36.55%	+1.20%	51	+12
	Labour Workers Party	71,986	4.02%	-2.00%	4	-8
	Christian Democrats	61,242	3.42%	+1.01%	0	±0
Total		1,790,703			128

Opinion polling

Date(s) conducted	Polling organisation	Sample size	Democrat	National	Labour Workers	Others	Lead
02016-01-3131 January 2016	Sunday New Ingrea	1,000	44%	40%	4%	12%	4%
02015-12-1919 December 2015	The New Ingrea/ITN	500	43%	40%	4%	13%	3%
02015-12-055 December 2015	Lassiter-Kettering	750	42%	38%	6%	14%	4%
02015-11-2121 November 2015	The New Ingrea/ITN	500	43%	39%	5%	13%	4%
02015-11-077 November 2015	Lassiter-Kettering	750	44%	40%	3%	13%	4%
02012-03-022 March 2012	General Election results	805,411	42.6%	35.35%	6.02%	16.03%	7.25%