Zongongia has voted 67% to 33% against unifying with the neighbouring Matriarchy of Kerlile, but with several border regions recording votes in favour. Spoiled and otherwise invalid votes were also at a record high, even compared to the earlier referendum on carbon rationing, with a full 21% of votes deemed invalid, following a widespread online campaign calling on men to boycott the vote in protest.
Two regions in the north-east of Zongongia recorded slight “yes” votes (54% and 51%) – these areas also had the largest percentage of invalid votes. Recounts took place in each of these areas – in Ljungalland, where 51% of valid votes were in favour of the union, seven recounts took place, delaying final results by three days, as count staff reached the legal hard limit on continuous working time and had to be granted a twelve-hour rest break. It should be noted, however, that these are the two least populous regions of Zongongia, with strong mountainous territory.
The Council of Kerlile responded to the results by releasing a statement saying: “this vote was initiated on the initiative of Zongongians themselves, which we of course would have respected had the vote gone in favour of union. The fact that two regions of Zongongia voted in favour is indicative of the desire for many in the patriarchal countries to experience our system of women’s empowerment. We hope that the coalition in Zongongia will listen to the desires of these regions and implement changes which assist women living in these areas to experience true liberation from patriarchy.”
Reports have suggested that the widespread online campaign calling on men to boycott the vote originated abroad, with networks of automated bots posting content in favour of the boycott. Suspicions against both Kerlile and Xiomera have been expressed. Unlike the carbon rationing vote, where it has been proposed that most invalid votes were out of disinterest or a lack of understanding, most experts are agreed that the volume of invalid votes in the Kerlian union vote are due to a boycott – especially given that most of the spoiled ballots were spoiled due to text or images written and drawn on the ballot paper, as opposed to carbon rationing’s predominantly blank ballots.
The geographic disparity is more notable as it was not present in the other four referendums – in the other four, votes were evenly spread across the country, and all regions agreed with the overall result. It is also notable that both regions that voted for union presently border Kerlile – which may raise fears that Kerlile could take action to implement these region’s votes despite the overall result – and despite the fact that almost all the invalid votes would have gone in the “No” column if there had not been a campaign to boycott the vote.
