Queensland state election called early – for last time?
The Legislative Assembly of Queensland has been dissolved for an early election – possibly the last time a state premier can casually choose an election date in Australia. Once the … Continue reading
Electoral reform movement spreading across United States
Amid one of the most turbulent periods in US political history, campaigns for reforming the nation’s legislative election systems have been springing up across the nation in recent years. In … Continue reading
Complaints of both chaos and corruption in PNG elections
Elections taking place in Papua New Guinea are tainted by both chaos and corruption, according to a leading independent election observer. Elections for the 111-member National Parliament are run over several … Continue reading
Canadian conservatives weight members’ votes in choosing new leader
On Sunday the Conservative Party of Canada elected its new national Leader, using a highly unusual weighted preferential voting system which gave heartland party supporters relatively low vote weights. Members … Continue reading
Maine preferential voting reform back to square one
A judicial interpretation of mid-19th century terminology has trashed the desire of the citizens of the US state of Maine to start electing their politicians by preferential voting. In November … Continue reading
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
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
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
Maine voters endorse preferential choice voting
Amidst the drama of the historic presidential election on November 8, voters in the US state of Maine endorsed a ballot measure to adopt preferential voting. Using a public referendum, Maine … Continue reading
Americans are voting, perhaps in record numbers
Across America – and around the world – there is the clattering sound of dice rolling today. And the dice are loaded. All forecasters agree that Hillary Clinton is much more … Continue reading
