2020 Robloxian presidential election

The Robloxian presidential election of 2020 was held on January 23, 2020 for the first round and January 27, 2020 for the second round. In the same day of the second round, there was a referendum sponsored by the Democratic Movement Party, which is the main opposition party, then supported by United Roblox, to increase the president's term length from 5 to 7 years in the next election. Communist Party's Mikael Yosie Nugroho/E1123f won the election with 55.3% of the votes after a heated turnout. Voter turnout was a record 94.5% in the runoff, an eleven percent increase from the previous election, with no invalid votes - mostly because of the successful propaganda and the election itself using Google Forms, which marked the first election sponsored by Google.

2 years before, the State Council went on a heated debate to combat increasing invalid votes and declining voter turnout, until Google went and sponsored the election. This also marked the first use of e-voting, as previous elections used to hold an election in a separate Roblox world.

Even though the then-incumbent President John Ling has the right to seek an another term, he rightfully declined to seek an another term in the next election in order to go back to his hometown and put more of his focus to his family. However, he planned to put his second consecutive term in the 2025 elections if possible. As per constitution, a party has the right to seek a candidate if their share is above 15% in the 2014 legislative elections. In the end, Green Party and Socialist Party have the right to seek candidates, but both cannot identify their candidate. 5 coalitions were instead made, and 5 candidates were picked.

A record 129 countries participated in the elections, with new participants from Botswana, Zimbabwe, Sudan, and Paraguay. Some nations also returned since their absence from the 2015 elections, like Belarus and Kazakhstan. As per tradition, the citizens of the capital cities of Roblox City and Bloxburg, which are only reserved for 5 million citizens also participated.

Five thousand international observers participated to observe both the presidential and legislative elections. The elections were declared free and fair, and the most peaceful of all - especially since the downfall of the leadership of United Roblox after 2 decades in power and the use of Google Forms for the elections. Some were skeptical about the Google sponsorship as Google would rig the elections. After the election, David Asher was promoted by the president-elect to become either a Presidential Adviser or Prime Minister, but Asher declined both of the offers, citing "internal party issues."

Background
As the cycle, the Robloxian presidential election would held in the same 5-year cycle, but Nationalist John Ling decided that the next president should be inaugurated on May 14, 2020, so that he can leave "as fast as possible," citing low approval ratings and personal issues. The resolution was adopted in 2018. The date was later approved to be no more than January 31, 2020 in the next year.

As per constitution, John Ling is eligible to run for a second and last term, but he declined. Dave Ling, former president and older brother of John Ling, wanted to become the candidate for the next president, but he was constitutionally barred from becoming a president for an another term. Even though John Ling also has the right to amend the constitution, he wouldn't do it to "stay for the old one" and "lead the peace".

5 candidates from 5 coalitions were picked as the president-nominate for the 2020 elections, with over 50 applications received by the Electoral Commission. No one withdrew from the election, unlike previous elections.

Preparations
Several meetings in the Electoral Commission were held from December 2018 to January 2019 to the elections. The meeting was finally done on 23 January 2019 - in which they later formed a sponsorship to Google. Later on, it was confirmed that they would use Google Forms for the election.

Registration
50 candidates for the election registered for this election, but only 5 was nominated. Most of these candidates were declined because of the personal information and data not completed, and some of them lack experiences, violating the Constitution to register as a candidate.

Campaigns
Main article: Campaigns following the 2020 Robloxian presidential election

The campaign focused mainly on social welfare and structures, gaming environment, child protection, currency redenomination, and equality on all players. E1123f's campaign focused more on multi-party issues and wanted Roblox to prosper "for evermore". His campaign reached a climax when he delivered his speech "For the People" in front of 100,000 people in the Robloxian National Stadium.

David Asher focused more onto protecting the environment, and the alliance is named "For a Better Future Evermore". highlighting the concerns for the future of the Roblox playground. These 2 candidates made their stardom to the runoff.

Presidential debates were held in 3 dates in 2019: 25 August, 18 October, and 20 November. The first discussed about the gaming environment, the second discussed about personal experiences, and the third discussed about the future of Roblox. All presidential debates were aired live in YouTube and other streaming platforms.

Preparations
Like previous elections, if one candidate did not receive a vote more than 50%, two top candidates will be picked to the runoff.

Several preparations were made for the Google Forms, and sometimes tested secretly. This included the addition of reCAPTCHA, one-time voting and protection against vote rigging.

First round
The first round of the presidential election gathered around 145,800,000 voters, or 93.5% voter turnout, a record high which was later surpassed by the runoff.

Communist Party's E1123f mostly got his support from his home country and neighbouring Southeast Asian countries, as well as socialist republics, dominant-party countries, and former Communist countries, and won a majority of 28% of the votes.

Democratic Movement Party's David Asher/Eaglefan891 mostly got his support from stable democratic countries and developed countries, making him the runner-up for the first round, gathering around 25.7% of the votes.

Roblox Avante's Edgar Lou only carried several African countries, Green Party's David Gabrillez only carried several Latin American countries, and Nationalist Party's John Malcolm only carrying 3 countries from Oceania. They all gained only a minority of 18.6%, 14.8%, and 12.6%, respectively, and failed to secure a place for the runoff.

Europe is highly divided between E1123f and Eaglefan891. Democratic countries mostly voted for Asher, but former communist countries voted for Nugroho.

Second round/runoff
The second round of the presidential election gathered around 148,000,000 voters, or 94.9% voter turnout. The top 2 candidates once again came for the election. David Asher conceded defeat and said that he had a "good fight" with him.

E1123f and Eaglefan891's response
E1123f and Eaglefan891 shook hands in-person after the election results were announced, both calling it a "good fight." The president-elect promised that it will grant his former enemy a comfortable position in his politics. Days later, he gave Asher a chance to become a presidential adviser or prime minister, but he declined both positions, but later became the Minister of Foreign and Inter-Game Affairs appointed by the later Prime Minister, David Harrison.

International observers
International observers deemed that these elections were fairer than previous elections. An observer declared that they could maintain elections free and fair while also making the electoral process easier. This allowed quick counts to be more accurate and no missed votes were cast.

Inauguration of Mikael Yosie
Main article: Inauguration of Mikael Yosie

With E1123f becoming the winner, he was sworn in as the 65th President of the Unitary Republic of Roblox at the Building of the International Council, on May 14, 2020, at 12 noon, with Ling finishing his term as the 64th President. Unlike previous inaugurations, this inauguration was not attended by any Robloxian heads of state, as it was done online.