Year 25 Day 240
Change is coming! In an unprecedented result, a droid has been elected governor of a planet for the first time in recorded history. After a very bitter campaign, Droid BD-17209 ,a member of the newly founded Automation Unity Party, defeated Challenger Zynra Rin of the Green Glasses Party by a 5% margin with 97% of districts reporting results on Hassaria III. Some pundits had been claiming a potential droid win for months, but many recent polls had suggested a much tighter race, so the results tonight were very much a surprise for most.
The Automation Unity Party (AUP) grew out of a very atypical set of circumstances. As industrialization quickly expanded across Hassaria III, the number of active droid units surpassed the population of sentient beings. The Emancipate Droids movement led to universal support of the droid suffrage, and this created a unique situation. Droids had been able to vote throughout CIS space for at least the last 2 cycles, but suddenly the influence that droids had on election outcomes had come into question. As discontent spread through the Hassaria System, the AUP capitalized on this, promoting peace, equality and an environmental agenda that spoke to the native Hassarians, both synthetic and organic.
The AUP movement is currently just limited to the Hassaria System but, as the production complexes across CIS space continue to pump out droids at an unprecedented rate, some ask if other planets will soon fall into similar situations.
When informed of the results, Governor-Elect BD-17209 released the following statement, “ Roger! Roger!” The Governor-Elect will officially take office at the turn of the year.
Yet there are some hold outs, looking to challenge the election results and others still speculate if a droid should even be eligible to run a planet. “I don’t think a droid, no matter how well programmed, is capable of running a sector, let alone an entire region.” claimed Rau Tuiaki, a representative of the Green Glasses Party (GGP). “ I think we saw it during the Clone Wars. The government relied too heavily on the T-Series products for strategy. In the end, they all crashed and burned and our movement failed. What if this is the same way! Hell, what if there was a Killswitch or worse, what if their program was corrupted? It could make the CIS an easy target!” Many in the GGP are not so enthusiastic about the future of the system. Originally founded on the Hassaria System, support has dried up for the GGP, forcing some of the party leadership to look to move the party headquarters out of Sector according to inside reports.
Others from inside the AUP see additional change on the horizon. At a celebration party held at the AUP HQ on Hassaria III, a protocol droid was happy to agree to be interviewed. “The Govenor-Elect has not even taken office and is already so gracious. I cannot wait to see the change he brings to Hassaria III. And who knows, maybe governance of the system is next, or even challenging for Regional Magistrate!”
Legal experts do not seem to think that any loopholes exist that should prevent the Governor-Elect from taking office, and it is unclear if the AUP can garnish enough support to challenge Magistrate Siejo Kutol. Only time will tell!