Roden Wins Gallente Presidential Election with Convincing Majority

Having secured a convincing majority of 58.7% of all votes cast in the December 1st election and easily gaining the required number of districts, Jacus Roden is now President-elect of the Gallente Federation. With votes from all participating districts checked and tallied by the morning after polling day, the Federal Elections Commission was able to declare Roden the outright winner in its formal communication of results to the Gallente Senate.

President-elect Roden ran on a broad-based and relatively simple platform that included pledges to root out corruption in government, improve strained relations with the Minmatar Republic, reform the Gallente Navy, and include capsuleers more closely in the war effort. His most pointed campaign pledge, however, was his promise to recover Caldari Prime and restore Federation control throughout the Luminaire system. Polling evidence suggests that many citizens consider the Luminaire situation to be an "open wound," citing corrupt and incompetent political and military leadership. His comfortable majority indicates the success of his campaign in playing to these concerns among the electorate.

Roden's closest challenger for the presidency was Governor Celes Aguard of the Mies system, who polled 31.2% of the vote. Governor Aguard personally transmitted her concession to Jacus Roden this morning and pledged her support for "all policies of the Presidency that uphold the interests of the entire Federation." Some analysts believe that the votes of many frontier worlds excluded from the election process due to the "No Vote" law may have significantly increased Aguard's share of the vote and denied Roden an outright majority. Others have noted that the endorsement of her campaign by Admiral Darien Fasio appears to have had a negative effect on Governor Aguard's poll ratings, suggesting that Fasio's hardline militarist image resonated poorly with some sections of the governor's electoral base.

The other significant challenger, after Fasio's withdrawal from the race, was Senator Vilard Garioss of the Nexus constellation. Senator Garioss polled 8.8% of the vote. According to polls and focus groups, Garioss's campaign never quite recovered from what many citizens perceived as a confused and "overly academic" platform. Senator Garioss issued a brief statement conceding defeat shortly after Governor Aguard made her concession.

The remaining 1.3% of votes cast were accounted for by votes for protest candidates and spoiled ballots.

President-elect Roden will assume office at his inauguration before the Gallente Senate, following the formal relinquishment of power by President Souro Foiritan.