Arthur Arrives

"Seriously? Is it really that crazy?" Henris asked doubtfully. Although he knew his good friend never exaggerated, he still couldn't bring himself to believe it completely.

"Oh, God, don't you believe me? I'd bet that when I arrived this morning, at least several hundred people were already there. Before today, I'd never seen this building so packed that people were practically pressed against one another." Martin spoke with absolute certainty.

Seeing his friend put it that way, Henris believed him completely and continued asking, "Martin, so roughly how many people are running today? We won't even be able to get into the State Assembly, will we?"

The enormous number of people made even the usually confident Henris doubt himself a little. Sydney's competition was the fiercest in Australia. Even Henris, who had always been well liked, was worried that he might not even make it into the State Assembly.

"Probably more than a thousand. I'm afraid there'll be at least several thousand candidates during this week of elections. But you don't need to worry too much, Henris. In the several decades you've held office, haven't you helped hundreds of families, if not a thousand? As long as half of them still remember your kindness, you'll have no trouble winning this election." Looking at his good friend's worried expression, Martin couldn't help finding it a little amusing.

For officials from the City Government like them, running for parliament already gave them certain advantages.

After all, parliamentarians participated in the nation's development and construction through political power. Even a minor State Representative could vote for the governor and formulate the state's development policies.

This also meant that the position required a certain degree of political ability—one of the advantages they possessed over ordinary Australians.

On top of that, Henris had always been quietly helping many impoverished families in Sydney, earning him an excellent reputation in Sydney's political circles.

With all these advantages combined, Henris was one of the strongest candidates. Even if he failed to enter the Lower House, getting into the State Assembly would be well within his capabilities.

"I hope so. Anyway, parliamentary elections are held once every two years. If I can't enter the Lower House this time, there'll always be another chance, right?" After his friend's persuasion, Henris had come to terms with it and gradually relaxed.

Not long afterward, the State Assembly, which had been packed shoulder to shoulder, suddenly had a passage cleared through it. Several guards entered carrying a register and stood in the very center. After signaling for everyone to quiet down, one of them announced, "Everyone, by order of His Grace the Duke, the first Lower House election of the Australian Duchy officially begins! We have a register here. Anyone who wishes to participate may come and sign up. Once registration is complete, you will officially become a candidate. From today through the 17th, over the course of this week, you may give speeches and canvass for votes throughout the Sydney electoral district, but you may not use bribery or coercion. At the same time, every candidate's own ballot will be considered an abstention; only votes cast by others will be counted. Voting ends at midnight on the 17th, and ballots submitted after the deadline will be void. Those are the rules. Anyone who wishes to run may now line up here to register."

Scenes like this unfolded in every city designated as an electoral district. Since this was the first Lower House election in Australia, the guards were responsible not only for supervising the electoral process but also for clearly explaining the specific procedures and rules to everyone taking part.

The guards also placed particular emphasis on the prohibition against bribing people or using coercion to make them vote. This was something Arthur had explicitly forbidden throughout the entire voting process.

"Martin, let's go. If we wait any longer, who knows how long we'll have to stand in line!" Seeing that a long queue had already formed in front of the guards, Henris hurriedly urged his friend on.

For Australians, casting a vote was simple. They only needed to register their name and address, along with the candidate they supported, and the vote would be considered valid.

But for a candidate, successfully winning the election was far from easy.

After all, Sydney alone would produce at least several thousand candidates over the course of this week. Standing out among those thousands and becoming one of the few dozen ultimately entering the Lower House was a difficulty that reached the heavens.

Yet once they entered the Lower House, they would join the upper echelons of Australia's political institutions and gain the qualification to be elected into the cabinet.

If they were lucky enough to earn Arthur's trust, it wasn't impossible for them to enter the Upper House either.

Perhaps they carried the dream of developing their country with their own hands. Perhaps they wanted to fulfill their dream of becoming politicians. Or perhaps they were merely curious and wanted to try participating in an election once. Whatever the reason, this first Lower House election was welcomed by most Australians.

May 10, ten o'clock at night.

When Arthur saw Sydney's election data for the day, he was utterly stunned.

In just one day, Sydney had produced 1,342 candidates and 96,300 ballots.

The candidate with the most votes had already received nearly 500, gaining a substantial early advantage in the election.

This made Arthur extremely curious about how the election was progressing, and he decided to visit the polling site in person to take a look.

May 17, Sydney, New South Wales State Parliament.

This was the final day of the Australian Lower House election, and also the craziest day of the entire process.

After six full days of elections, Sydney alone had produced more than 5,300 candidates, with over 205,000 ballots already cast.

Although the statistical data from the other states had not yet reached Arthur because of the short timeframe, he could still infer from Sydney's figures that participation in this election was absolutely immense—far beyond his original estimate.

Since it was already the final day of the election, Arthur decided to visit the polling site in person and take the opportunity to win over some public support.

It was the familiar State Assembly. Martin and Henris were standing outside it, discussing how many votes each of them had received.

Since it was already the last day of the election, even if they gave many more speeches today, they would gain very few additional votes.

Thus, Martin and Henris had decided to leave it to fate and see whether their efforts over the previous few days had borne fruit, and whether they could enter the Lower House of their dreams.

Just then, the two of them suddenly heard a commotion in the crowd, followed by excited shouts: "His Grace is here! His Grace is here!"

"His Grace is here? Come on, let's go take a look. If we're late, we really won't be able to squeeze through." Martin instantly grew excited and forcibly dragged his friend toward the sound.

On the road outside the State Assembly, Arthur was slowly stepping down from his carriage. As he straightened his clothes, he smiled and waved at the excited, feverish crowd around him.

First update—please vote!