Western Australian election shows weaknesses of Australian electoral laws
Counting has finished in the state election for Western Australia. The result is a pair of only partially satisfactory democratic assemblies. Western Australia has a fairly standard form of Australian … Continue reading
Pro-EU government survives in Bulgaria
The Bulgarians have snuck an early election into the 2017 calendar, after their governing party lost control of the nation’s presidency and parliament late in 2016. The Bulgarian Narodno Sabranie (National … Continue reading
German state swings right, but not far-right
Voters in the small German state of Saarland have swung behind national Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party. The centre-right CDU party will fall just short of a majority in … Continue reading
First German test for the far-right
Elections in Germany during 2017 begin this weekend with the poll for the state assembly of Saarland. All eyes will be on the performance of the far-right Alternative for Germany … Continue reading
Anti-immigrant revolt fails to fire in the Netherlands
The results of yesterday’s election in the Netherlands have seen several realignments, but did not see the rise of the populist anti-immigrant political right that had been predicted for several … Continue reading
Dutch first to vote on populist challenge
Voters in the Netherlands will tomorrow elect their national parliament, possibly making the nationalist and populist Freedom Party led by Geert Wilders the largest faction in a deeply divided chamber. … Continue reading
Removal from elected office takes out innocent colleague
A Melbourne City Councilor, one of nine originally elected in last year’s election under the single transferable vote system (STV), has been removed from office after a technical – and … Continue reading
Struggle over Melbourne City election countback
A complex legal dispute is underway about the proper manner to replace a Melbourne City Councillor, initially declared to be elected in 2016 but later to discovered to be ineligible to run. The … Continue reading
Unfair voting system in Australia’s West
Voters in the Australian state of Western Australia are about to elect a Legislative Council using a built-in mechanism to bias the election in favour of non-urban voters. Voters go … Continue reading
Northern Irish well-represented
The Northern Ireland Assembly, re-elected last week, is one of the most representative legislatures in the world, with over 82% of those who voted represented by their preferred political party. … Continue reading
On Elections 