GUM chair election appears set to have largest field in history
The race to be the next Chair of the Grand Unified Micronational appears set to have the largest field in its history, with three declared candidates and another three expressing interest in running for the top job in the organisation.
The race to be the next Chair of the Grand Unified Micronational appears set to have the largest field in its history, with three declared candidates and another three expressing interest in running for the top job in the organisation.
Nicholas Randouler (Posaf), Thomas Bainbridge (Hrafnarfjall) and Austin Jaax (Iustus) have all definitively announced that they will be campaigning in this election, while Horatio Eden (Amissopia), James II (Aspen) and Nicolás Millán (Millania) have all expressed interest in running.
Polling opens on the 24th of June, 2019. Candidates have until then to announce and campaign, with formal nominations taking place on the 10th of June through the 17th. These dates were set at a session of the Quorum of Delegates – the legislative chamber of the Grand Unified Micronational – by current Chair Adam I of the Empire of Adammia.
If no one else announces, this election will field the most candidates since December of 2016, when Horatio Eden (then of Edenopolis, now of Amissopia) lost by three votes to Adam I of Überstadt, not to be confused with the current chair. If just one more of the candidates who have expressed interest – Eden, James II or Millán – confirm their candidacy it would become the most competitive election in a decade. If two more of the candidates announce, it becomes the most competitive GUM election in history.
There are risks to a larger crowd of candidates, however, as a candidate jumping into a crowded race could disadvantage those they are ideologically most like and jeopardise the chance of a favourable candidate taking office.
A spokesperson for Supreme Judge Horatio Eden’s office directed requests for comment to his campaign, which declined to speak on the record. Neither the office of the Amissopian President or the Amissopian Envoy to the Grand Unified Micronational were willing to comment.
CORRECTIONS: An earlier version of this article asserted that the election would become the most competitive in the GUM’s history if one more candidate were to announce. This is not the case; the June 2009 Grand Unified Micronational election also had four chair candidates.
