What strikes me as interesting is that people seem to accept, at least to some degree, the excuses given to delay the election at all.
Consider that there have been countless events in the past, each presenting significant risks to the security or stability of the Federation, albeit at different scales, none of which impacted the democratic process.
A civil war raged for decades in Lirsautton, and yet the people continued to elect their local representatives to the Senate without issue.
Sansha’s Nation invaded countless systems and kidnapped billions across New Eden, and I don’t recall any reports of the democratic process being put on hold in any Federal district.
The Caldari State under Heth invaded large swathes of the Federation, and the Presidential election schedule continued without pause.
Of course in that infamous election, the Federation saw fit to simply deny the right to vote to billions of its citizens in the systems impacted by State forces in system, regardless of which side was actually in control.
(Except Luminaire of course. An enemy capital ship in system will have held no influence on the voters in Luminaire at all).
And that denial of the right to vote completely changed the result of the election, and is widely credited with granting Roden his first term.
Even terrorist attacks took place during the last two presidential elections, many of which claimed the lives of the actual candidates themselves (clones notwithstanding) and/or members of their security teams, and still the ballot went ahead unimpeded.
No, I am not convinced by President Aguard’s excuses, and the lack of any official statement, which should take no time at all to draft and issue publically, is not reassuring.