Following the passing of the bill to deny votes in occupied Federal systems, several political analysts in the cluster agree that presidential candidate Celes Aguard may have lost one of her largest voter blocs.

“Aguard’s pledge of support for frontier settlements and low-security regions, as well as her wish for a total military effort to reclaim the lost systems gave her a strong base of support in Placid and Verge Vendor,” says Arroch Dermani, an expert at Gallente politics working for Amarr Certified News. “The disenfranchisement of those territories has denied the Aguard camp one of its strongest cards.”

“This has strengthened Jacus Roden position as a top candidate, followed by Garioss. Aguard still places high in Everyshore polls, but with the loss of these potential votes her chances of winning the presidency are slim,” comments Felisenne Olvenari, Professor of Political Sciences at the University of Caille in Aporulie.

The Scope’s own Remi Eyeleranne said in his news segment Eye on the Election: “Celes [Aguard] now has to fight an uphill battle where most of her opponents have the higher ground.” And the passing of the bill prompted him to move Aguard down from her position in his “Election Prognosis” after having been one of the front runners for many weeks.

Aguard herself was an outspoken opponent of the bill, and called Senator Vilard Garioss – supporter of the bill and one of her opponents in the race for president – “a villain who ravages our constitution with no thought of the implications for the people of the Federation.”

Lirsautton – Celes Aguard, Governor of the Mies system and candidate in the upcoming Gallente Federation presidential election, attracted a crowd numbering in the thousands for a political rally at the planet Chakaux in the Lirsautton system yesterday. Aguard spoke at length of her Jin-Mei heritage and the promise to sponsor the development of “fringe worlds and minority communities,” gaining positive reactions from those assembled.

“When frontier settlements starve under Caldari blockades, and riots and panic spreads among those who feel they are voiceless, all our leaders can say is ‘toughen up,’” said Aguard in her speech. “Fear is a powerful motivator, but it has failed to quell the governmental apathy toward the minorities of the Federation.”

Many of Aguard’s supporters agreed with this sentiment. “I am a strong supporter for maintaining the independent cultures of groups such as the Jin-Mei, Mannar and Intaki,” says Cephan Langlier, a civil rights lawyer in Lirsautton who attended the rally. “I would be ecstatic to see a president who gives more than token support to the minority cultures of the Federation.”

Governor Aguard is expected to follow her tour of the Everyshore region with several rallies and debates in the Essence region next month.