[1682 Election] State of the Race - Pre-Polling

[Alduria]

BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE NABC POLITICAL NEWS TEAM

(left from right) Richard Douay, Jed Friedlander, Marie Duvalier, and Harold Johnston.

MARIE DUVALIER: Good evening, Alduria. This is State of the Race and I am Marie Duvalier.

I am joined tonight by the NABC's recognized election news team - Richard Douay, Jed Friedlander, and Harold Johnston.

We have packed program ahead of us, let's begin with the state of the race. Alduria is set to go to the polls in just a few days and the parties are positioning themselves to compete in a very different political arena than before.

Our polling has narrowed down support between the three major parties - yes, you heard correctly. Until this election, the Euran Destiny Party has served as the largest party and organization in Alduria that effectively organized and represented the interests of the Babkhi people in Alduria.

Its leader, the Agha Beg, has directed the Euran Destiny Party to fully boycott the elections. To ensure even lower participation, the leader of the EDP also determined that no candidates from the EDP will be fielded in the election. The total boycott by the Babkhi of this election seriously threatens the legitimacy of the election and its results.

RICHARD DOUAY: Indeed, Maria.

Many political analysts and pollsters believe that these voters are more likely to stay home or vote for an independent MP before voting for any of the other parties in this election. The wave of violence between Zurvanite extremists and the Prosperity for All Megachurch of Plenty in Alduria has brought to the forefront the worsening racial relations between the Alexandro-Caputian majority and the Babkhi.

This will significantly complicate the lay of the land in the Baatharzi Autonomous Region as the remaining parties try to capitalize on the EDP standing down electorally. The Baatharzi Autonomous Region is vote-rich and the farming heartland of the country. The parties will have no choice but to meaningfully try to reach these voters if any of them seek to govern in the next Parliament.

JED FRIEDLANDER: And for insight into where everyone stands as this election gets to its final stretch, we have a polling report from the Institute of Public Opinion and NABC News.

With the EDP out of consideration for voters, we're seeing that the Liberty and Democracy Party is leading with 34%, six points ahead of the next party, the Aldurian National Alliance. The Democratic Socialist Party is not too far behind in third place at 27%.

A sizeable independent caucus would be returned to Parliament once again, mostly representing small regional interests, centrists, communists, and some Zurvanites.

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