I largely agree with the fact that there's less in-game incentives to dig into characters (Vasily and Kxenia were notably the characters I most wished I could research and had more things going on after my first run, simply because they're characters who appear several times during the story) and that I feel the turn investment needed to succeed at a personal quest is a lot heavier than similar side-quests/achievements in LLTQ, with much lighter returns (aside from the quest itself, which tend to be absolute joys to play through).
I'm not sure it's fixable within the game's current structure. Maybe if an Elector, or a non-Elector, or a member of your cabinet, came to Zorana with a request that would lead to researching/interacting with an Elector (I'm thinking of Brin's request for help with the nearby country, or the trial involving the woman accused of poisoning Kevan's sister - maybe one of Zorana's friend has a similar request)? None of the scripted events involve Electors.