| Union of Earth States Presidential Election 64 BBY | |
|---|---|
| Date |
64 BBY |
| Government | |
| Electorate | |
| Outcome |
Alice Ward of the Traditionalist Party is elected President of the Union States |
| Candidates |
Alice Ward Hardwin Denton Ida Fearn Melton Alred |
| Other key individuals |
|
The 64 BBY Union of Earth States Presidential Election was an election for the office of the President of the Union States held within the Union of Earth States. It was the second election to be held for the office in the Union States.
The candidates for the election were Kalland senator Alice Ward of the Traditionalist Party, Valan Republic senator Hardwin of the Federalist Party, Kanadian senator Denton of the Federalist Party, South Point senator Ida Fearn of the Traditionalist Party and Varisan senator Melton Alred of the Federalist Party.
In the eight years since the 72 BBY election, Monique's presidency allowed the Federalist Party to continue to rule over the Union States, obtaining power in the executive and legislature sections of the Union government as Monique's popularity with the public granted her an easy win in the previous election.
With 64 BBY approaching and the end of Monique's presidential term, five senators of the Senate announced that they were running for President of the Union Senate just one day after one another in 65 BBY. The first to announce was Alice Ward, the Traditionalist Party's leader who gave up her position once announcing, Denton of Kanada followed the day after as did Hardwin, Melton and Ida.
Throughout the election period of gaining public support, Alice Ward was the leading political candidate for the Presidency, angering those within the Federalist Party to the point of where they attempted two anonymous assassinations on her life, which boosted her popularity and support from the public. Throughout Alice's campaign, she promised to make changes in the Union such as decentralizing the Union's military forces and to create an armed forces council to oversee military operations rather than the Union High Council; as most of the High Council seats were filled with Federalist Party members. Ward's campaign slogans were made to cleverly and discreetly mock the Federalist Party and their members; a notion that only some of them noticed, one such slogan was "No more Feddy decisions!" which was directed at them. This was one of the reasons why the Federalists attempted the assassinations on her.
Although Alice and Ida were from the same Party, they both shook hands after announcing their runs and wishing each other good luck. However, after being overshadowed by Alice and the other candidates, Ida postponed her presidential campaign and told those who supported her to instead support Alice Ward, significantly increasing Alice's public support.
In 64 BBY, the Union Secretary of State Delwyn announced that Alice Wards had won the election with a 42% vote count from the public against Melton Alred's 25%, Hardwin's 19% and Denton's 14%, and became President-Elect of the Union States. Her victory speech mentioned that the promises she made during her campaign were going to happen for sure and that she would do her best as President of the Union States. This was also a significant defeat for the Federalist Party as Ward became the first Traditionalist to become President as most Presidents since the Union's founding were all Federalists.