Omni Hotel
Downtown, Los Angeles
3 September 2022, 23:40 PDT
The Election Act of 1962 and the Election Act of 1978 had fundamentally changed the method and length of the election process. Long gone were the days when an election required months and months of time for candidates to make their cases, often using whistle-stop tours, to the people. With radio and television, the time frame for General Elections were shortened to 12 weeks in 1962 and the Party Nomination Elections were shortened to 6 weeks.. The candidates from the two major parties and the two highest-vote-getting alternative parties in the previous election had three televised debates which the networks must air by law. Candidates were required to submit to the Department of Elections an information sheet stating the candidate’s position on a wide range of topics from taxes, the military, and the economy to personal freedoms and the state of the national health service. The information sheets were reviewed by the Citizens Electoral Commission, a group of volunteers who ensured that platform sheets were kept to only the candidate’s position and not attacking their opponents. These sheets were required to be submitted the day after a candidate was nominated and were required to be in the mailboxes of voters no later than 14 days after the nomination. Campaigns were not allowed to sling mud. Such tomfoolery, in the eyes of the government, was detrimental to the political process. Furthermore, misleading or unsubstantiated claims against a candidate in the political arena could cause the candidate who made them guilty of slander and liable in the courts. In 1978, the Election Act moved election day from the first Tuesday in September to the first Saturday in September. Polls were opened in every state from 6am on election day until 10pm on election day. If an employer had employees who would be prevented from voting on the day, they were required to give them three hours of paid time off to vote. The Federal Republic did not take elections lightly.
While the Election Acts had sought to streamline the campaign season, the net results were far more beneficial to the political process as a whole. The much shortened political season meant political candidates didn’t require massive sums of money to run their bid for office. The less a candidate seemed beholden to campaign donations, the better. It also meant that candidates had to clarify their message. No more meanderings about the past or the future. It came down to cold, hard facts about the candidate’s position and how they saw fit to implement these positions while in office. It also boosted citizen participation with the 2020 midterms reaching 96.1% turnout rate across the entire nation. Furthermore, the minimum age to vote had been lowered from 18 to 16 allowing greater representation of the future generation about to enter adulthood. It is believed that these processes had made California a more perfect union, to some degree.
So it was on this night, Tyler Ellison, the two-term mayor of Los Angeles, and former world-champion surfer, awaited the biggest night of his life. At 37 years and 17 days of age, he could become the nation’s youngest ever president, beating out the current title holder by just over 5 years. He didn’t hail from political stock. His career in surfing had given him some fame throughout California, but even that wasn’t the same level of fame as a baseball or soccer player would attain. He didn’t come from money. His father, David, was a contractor and his mother was a nurse. His maternal and paternal grandfathers were both railroad workers and his grandmothers were traditional housewives. There was nothing in the Ellison DNA that evoked political prowess. Still, in 2012 he managed to win the Progressive Party nomination for Mayor of Los Angeles, which essentially meant he was a shoe-in for the position. His two terms as the LA chief executive saw his political star rocket into the stratosphere as he obliterated political corruption, reformed the police, and somehow managed to clean up skid row through a unique partnership between the Federal, State, and local governments called Boost Up LA wherein donations from all levels of government, from charities, the business sector, and the private sector went into building housing for those without. The Ellison Apartments, as they were so affectionately called, were simple, basic, but affordable. Furthermore, Boost Up LA worked to find employment for these downtrodden and huddled masses. Rents weren’t set by corporations, but by a person’s income. No more than 33% of a person’s income could be collected as rent. Any shortfalls would fall on Boost Up LA to meet. The donations to the program from the private and business sector were deductible from State and Federal taxes as well, which always helps.
While the program became the benchmark for the nation in how to tackle those that even Californian safety nets couldn’t catch, it was not without its detractors. Maria Garcia Rivera, Ellison’s chief opponent in the presidential election, was the current Governor of Alta California. From her office, she saw the expense of the program to the already beleaguered taxpayers of California as the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. With the tax rates some of the highest in the world, she opted to run on a campaign of personal accountability. It is how she reached the highest office in the state just two years ago. The time for massive social safety nets had run its course, in her mind. On her Personal Accountability Platform, she championed lower taxes, privatization of the health service, and to invest the National Pension Scheme into the stock market. While such themes seemed antithetical to the average California citizen, there were more than a small minority who wanted to keep more of their hard-earned money than most opinion polls would suggest. And tonight, the nation would decide whose plan was the plan they thought best.
The Ellison camp was set up at the Omni Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. Large projection screens stood flanking the central stage upon which was a podium. The backdrop is nothing more than a black curtain. Over the backdrop between the screens a sign which read Ellison 2022. In front of the small stage was a vast open meeting room at the downtown hotel which could hold around 1,000 people in a standing-room only orientation. The screens showed news reports streaming in from around the country as talking heads did what they did best: talk. The crowd itself, some 800 at this point, continued to swell as time ticked by. The various people in the crowd wore suits and dresses, some carrying Ellison placards, others wearing buttons with the same. Meanwhile the Garcia camp entrenched itself at the Capital Hotel in Sacramento. Both would watch the returns pour in from across the nation as the night pressed on.
On the screen, the talking heads pontificated about the election. Most of the chat revolved around perceived gaffes by both candidates. The things that could potentially sway enough voters one way or another. Other reporters stationed around the republic spoke with voters as they left the polls trying to ascertain the mood of the country and whether the Progressives had finally nominated the candidate that would end their 45 year rule. The overall summation was that the time had come for a new direction as Ellison was too young and inexperienced. At the base of the screen, the vote totals were on full display. Every so often the numbers would change reflecting the amount of votes per candidate. With polls having closed less than two hours ago, few votes had yet to be counted.
“Tommy,” Tyler said. “Thanks for everything. Regardless of the outcome, you did an awesome job. I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Three million for Garcia, one and a half million for me,” Tyler said.
“You remember when we talked about the returns, right?” Sanchez said.
“Yeah, the small towns come in first, the big cities come in later.” Ellison said.
“Mostly right, Mr. Mayor. The rural counties and states tend to count first. Not because they’re faster, but they’re less populated.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Tyler said with a wave of his hand as he sat glued to the California Broadcasting Corporation, the nation’s largest public broadcaster. “But President Martinez, she never trailed in 2018. Not for a second.”
Sanchez walked behind Tyler and put his hand on Tyler’s shoulder, almost as if comforting him in a time of grief. “You’ve got this, Mr. Mayor. Trust the process.”
Capital Hotel
Downtown Sacramento
3 September 2022 23:57
“This is good,” Governor Garcia said with a slight smile as she knocked back a can of diet cola. “The fact we’re ahead so early is very good. Internal polling is right on track, right Brenda?”
“Yes, Madam Governor,” Brenda Henderson said. “Polls in Houston, Dallas, and New Orleans also show that what returns we have from those precincts are giving you a slight edge over the surfer boy.”
Garcia looked over at Brenda with a stern scowl, “Don’t underestimate him. That last debate was a disaster. An epic fucking disaster. The fact we were so ill-prepared for it is the reason Felix was canned. He’ll be lucky if he’s a campaign advisor for a dog catcher in Oklahoma next election cycle.”
“Madam Governor, is there anything else?” Brenda said.
“No, just let me be alone for a while. It’s going to be hours before this is over. I need a nap.” she said.
Brenda smiled and exited the suite. The staffers for the Garcia campaign had the adjacent suite, which had a door that connected the two. Brenda slinked through the door just as Governor Garcia began to stand up.
“How did things go with the Dragon Lady?” one pencil pusher asked.
Brenda chuckled slightly as she poured herself into a chair, “Mark, you do have a way with words. It went as well as it could. She’s convinced the numbers will eek her out a victory. I’m not convinced, but as long as the Dragon is happy.”
“Convinced?” Mark said as he poured over data on the laptop, “We’re still missing thousands of precincts from the areas that the Progressives haven’t lost since 1963, and many of those precincts are more populated than ever before. If we don’t lose this one, we’ll be considered the most gifted campaign staff in Californian history. When those finally start coming in, just remember you’re going to be the one to have to tell her if it looks like a loss is imminent.”
“Fucking hell, Mark,” Brenda said angrily, “where’s the weed?”
