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Once again it has been an eventful day in the gameside poll for the Local Council election.  As reported earlier by Omega, Belschaft has a clear lead with twenty-three (23) votes and we are confident that he will secure a place on the Council.  Who will join him, however, is far too difficult to call at this stage.

Currently, second place is tied between four candidates, each with eight (8) votes: Aramanchovia, The Derpy Democratic Republic of Herp, Erinor and Punchwood.  Two of these candidates will probably make it onto the Local Council, but just which two remains to be seen.

This situation has arisen after another day of fresh voting and tactical vote switching and it is likely that a clear result will only be had once another round of vote switching has taken place.  Another interesting feature of this election has been the extent to which it has galvanised new nations to join the World Assembly - a requirement for voting - and the resultant endorsement sharing spurred on by current delegate Tsunamy's regular shoutouts for new WA members.  Many of these new nations seem to have flocked to Belschaft, a side of effect of his strong reputation, perhaps, or his frequent Regional Message Board (RMB) activity.  Equally the focus of candidates like Belschaft and others on increased democracy and democratic engagement for gameside nations is likely to have been a big part of his success.

SPN would like to be able to make predictions about how this last day of voting will go, but with the current results, anything is possible.  The only certainty is that it will be a closely fought battle and that tactical vote switching may be the key to success.