Chapter Text
Election Night (Sunday 11th of August, 2013)
"Good evening and welcome to our inaugural election night special, coming to you live from our studio in Diagon Alley" Fred Weasley grinned at the camera in front of him, then looked at his twin brother "With me tonight is my brother George, and throughout the evening we will be joined by various guests and pundits to give us their opinion on how things are going and what we can expect from tonight"
"The polls close.... sorry - closed about five minutes ago, and we are expecting the results pretty soon" George grinned "For those of you who are unaware of how the magical elections work, here is a brief recap" He waved his hand, and a display of graphics appeared behind the twins.
"For the first time since The Unification, all four elections are taking place at the same time" Fred pointed to the graphics behind them "First, the ninety nine elected seats in The Wizengamot. These are divided in to the thirty three electoral districts in Magical Britain, each one returning three members"
"Second - the thirty three Department Heads for The Ministry" George pointed to the second area of the graphical display "Again, these are voted for by the districts, with each district returning one person to act as a Department Head" He paused "But it is important to remember that they are not elected to serve in a specific Department. That decision is made by The Minister of Magic"
"Which, by co-incidence, is the subject of our third election" Fred grinned "The Minister of Magic is elected by a popular vote. Whoever gets the most votes wins, and serves for the next three years. It is important to note that even though the votes are broken up by the same thirty three districts, it is the overall result that counts, not who wins the most districts" He paused "This year there are four candidates - Amelia Garner - who is running as an independent, Ronan Pond - leader of The Bumblebees, Antonin Dolohov - member of the..... traditionalist COP and finally Luna Potter, the incumbent Minister of Magic for the past twelve years, looking to win her fifth term"
"And finally, we have The Chief Warlock of The Wizengamot and First Lord of The Ministry" George said with a smile "There are only two candidates for this position - again elected by popular vote. The first is Lucius Malfoy, father of Draco Malfoy - Chairman of The Board of Governors at Hogwarts. He is standing against the incumbent Chief Warlock of three terms, Harry James Potter"
"The polls close..... sorry - I should say the polls closed at ten o'clock, which was about ten minutes ago" Fred continued "Normally, because the results are counted magically, the results would all come in at the same time. However that would be pretty dull, and what kind of hosts would we be if we didn't entertain you for the next four hours or so"
"So instead, a draw was made earlier this morning to determine in which order the results would be counted and announced" George said with a grin "They will still be counted magically, so as to protect the integrity of vote, however the actual counting will not start until after the previous district declares" George glanced at his brother "Have we covered everything?"
"I think we have" Fred grinned "The draw was made by The Chief Justice of The Wizengamot at ten o'clock this morning, and he will be bringing the order over shortly" He paused, then looked over his twin "So - while we are waiting for His Most Honourable Justice Percival Ignatius Weasley to bring the order over, perhaps we can discuss some of the major events of the past ten months - those that defined the campaigns of the various candidates for Chief Warlock and Minister and could possibly define the four and three years of their respective terms"
"Such as the dinosaur attack in Hogsmeade?" George replied "Although, come to think of it, that didn't have an affect on the campaign so much as on our little brother"
"I was thinking more of the re-appearance of another Founder's Heir" Fred admitted "Do you think that her joining the Dolohov campaign hurt Minister Potter in any way?"
"According to some of the tracking polls, it had less of an effect than the fact The Head of The WPS - a good friend of Mr and Mrs Potter, not to mention one of the driving forces of The Unification - decided to take an action under Clause 4" George shook his head "The after shocks of that are still being felt, with support for The WPS only just recovering from an all time low"
"Do you think that Ronan Pond's campaign was helped or hindered by The Bumblebees attempts to paint Professor Dumbledore as being an innocent victim of a massive conspiracy, as opposed to the rest of the magical world who believe he was an utter lunatic who attempted to kill an eighteen month old child just to maintain his position in the magical world?" He paused "Not that I am making judgements on the validity of their claim - must stay inside the editorial guidelines after all" George grinned.
"I think that it must have had some affect, Fred, because the last tracking poll put Mr Pond's percentage of the vote in less than double digits" George paused "Which was actually the highest that they managed since he declared himself"
"So you aren't holding out much hope for a huge electoral upset that will see Mr Pond take a 9th Floor office then?" Fred smiled.
"Not really, no" George shook his head "Although stranger things have happened - that cat that ruled England for five years, for example"
"True" Fred nodded "But of all the things that have surprised me in the past ten months, I'd have to say it was the promises that Minister Potter and Chief Warlock Potter made during their announcements" He waved his hands again, and the graphics changed to show a video of Luna Potter stood behind a podium.
"......and so, because I think that election campaigns should be about the candidate, I stand with my husband and promise you here and now that I will not mention my opponents - whoever they might be - unless I am asked a direct question about them. I will tell you what I plan to do, not what they do not plan to do. I will tell you how I will solve our problems, not how they will add to them" She paused, then smiled "I believe campaigns and elections should be about substance, rather than slander, and issues, rather than insults" There was a massive round of applause, then she continued "My name is Luna Potter, and I am announcing my candidacy as the next Minister of Magic"
"Chief Warlock made a similar announcement - that his campaign would be about him, and not any of the then undeclared candidates" Fred continued "And from most of the stories coming out during the last ten months, it seems the public appreciated their promises and the fact they stuck to them"
"It's true" George agreed "While there were other factors, I think the fact the other candidates refused to make such a pledge hurt them - maybe not a lot, but enough to be noticeable"
"So why do you think they made such a pledge?" Fred asked "I mean - their previous campaigns were conducted in the same way, so why did they make a point of saying it this time?"
"That is a good question, young Fred" George said "Perhaps, once all the results are in, we could ask them about it" He paused, then looked to one side "But such topics of interest will have to wait for a while, because His Most Honourable Justice Weasley has arrived, and so we can - at last - kick off tonight's festivities" The camera moved backwards as George stood up to let Percy take his seat "Percy - how are you this fine election evening?"