Elections and Representative and Responsible Government
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Compulsory Voting in Australian National Elections
Parliament of Australia Department of Parliamentary Services Parliamentary Library RESEARCH BRIEF Information analysis and advice for the Parliament 31 October 2005, no. 6, 2005–06, ISSN 1832-2883 Compulsory voting in Australian national elections Compulsory voting has been part of Australia’s national elections since 1924. Renewed Liberal Party interest and a recommendation by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters that voluntary and compulsory voting be the subject of future investigation, suggest that this may well be an important issue at the next election. This research brief refers to the origins of compulsory voting in Australia, describes its use in Commonwealth elections, outlines the arguments for and against compulsion, discusses the political impact of compulsory voting and refers to suggested reforms. Scott Bennett Politics and Public Administration Section Contents Executive summary ................................................... 3 Introduction ........................................................ 4 The emergence of compulsory voting in Australia ............................. 5 Compulsory voting elsewhere ........................................... 8 Administration of compulsory voting in Australian national elections ............... 8 To retain or reject compulsory voting? ..................................... 9 Opposition to compulsory voting ......................................... 9 Support for compulsory voting .......................................... 11 The political impact of compulsory voting -
1 Exhausted Votes
Committee Secretary Timothy McCarthy Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Dear committee, I am a software engineer living in Melbourne. Over the last few months, I have developed a tool for analysing Senate ballot papers, using raw data made available by the AEC on their website. In this submission, I will present some of my results in the hope that they might be of use to the committee, particularly in evaluating the success of changes to the recent changes to the Electoral Act. The key results are as follows: • Of the 1,042,132 exhausted votes, 917,379 (88%) were from ballots whose first preference was for a minor party or independent candidate. • 25% of the total primary vote for minor parties exhausted, compared to just 1.22% for major parties. • Nationally, donkey votes made up only 0.15% of the vote. The Division of Lingiari had an unusually high number of donkey votes (2.32%), mainly from the remote mobile teams in that division. • Despite the changes to above-the-line voting, 290,758 ballots still marked a single '1' above the line. • 1,046,837 ballots (7.56% of formal ballots) were saved from informality by savings provi- sions in the Act. 1 Exhausted votes Changes in the Electoral Act prior to the election introduced optional preferential voting both above and below the line. These changes introduced the possibility of ballots exhausting, something that was exceedingly rare under the previous rules. At the 2016 Federal election, there were just over 1 million exhausted votes, about 7.5% of the total. -
Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Inquiry Into the Conduct of the 2013 Federal Election
11 April 2014 Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Parliament House Canberra ACT Please find attached my submission to the Committee's inquiry into the conduct of the 2013 federal election. In my submission I make suggestions for changes to political party registration under the Commonwealth Electoral Act. I also suggest major changes to Senate's electoral system given the evident problems at lasty year's election as well as this year's re-run of the Western Australian Senate election. I also make modest suggestions for changes to formality rules for House of Representatives elections. I have attached a substantial appendix outlining past research on NSW Legislative Council Elections. This includes ballot paper surveys from 1999 and research on exhaustion rates under the new above the line optional preferential voting system used since 2003. I can provide the committee with further research on the NSW Legislative Council system, as well as some ballot paper research I have been carrying out on the 2013 Senate election. I am happy to discuss my submission with the Committee at a hearing. Yours, Antony Green Election Analyst Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Inquiry into the Conduct of the 2013 Federal Election Antony Green Contents Page 1. Political Party Registration 1 2. Changes to the Senate's Electoral System 7 2.1 Allow Optional Preferential Voting below the line 8 2.2 Above the Line Optional Preferential Voting 9 2.3 Hare Clark 10 2.4 Hybrid Group Ticket Option 10 2.5 Full Preferential Voting Above the Line 11 2.6 Threshold Quotas 11 2.7 Optional Preferential Voting with a Re-calculating Quota 12 2.8 Changes to Formula 12 2.9 My Suggested Solution 13 3. -
The Caretaker Election
26. The Results and the Pendulum Malcolm Mackerras The two most interesting features of the 2010 election were that it was close and it was an early election. Since early elections are two-a-penny in our system, I shall deal with the closeness of the election first. The early nature of the election does, however, deserve consideration because it was early on two counts. These are considered below. Of our 43 general elections so far, this was the only one both to be close and to be an early election. Table 26.1 Months of General Elections for the Australian House of Representatives, 1901–2010 Month Number Years March 5 1901,1983, 1990, 1993, 1996 April 2 1910, 1951 May 4 1913, 1917, 1954, 1974 July 1 1987 August 2 1943, 2010 September 4 1914, 1934, 1940, 1946 October 6 1929, 1937, 1969, 1980, 1998, 2004 November 7 1925, 1928, 1958, 1963, 1966, 2001, 2007 December 12 1903, 1906, 1919, 1922, 1931, 1949, 1955, 1961, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1984 Total 43 The Close Election In the immediate aftermath of polling day, several commentators described this as the closest election in Australian federal history. While I can see why people would say that, I describe it differently. As far as I am concerned, there have been 43 general elections for our House of Representatives of which four can reasonably be described as having been close. They are the House of Representatives plus half-Senate elections held on 31 May 1913, 21 September 1940, 9 December 1961 and 21 August 2010. -
Optional Preferential Voting for the Australian Senate
ELECTORAL REGULATION RESEARCH NETWORK/DEMOCRATIC AUDIT OF AUSTRALIA JOINT WORKING PAPER SERIES OPTIONAL PREFERENTIAL VOTING FOR THE AUSTRALIAN SENATE Michael Maley (Associate, Centre For Democratic Institutions, Australian National University) WORKING PAPER NO. 16 (NOVEMBER 2013) 1 Introduction This paper explores the possible use of optional preferential voting (OPV) as a way of dealing with concerns which have been crystallised at the 2013 Australian federal election about the operation of some aspects of the Senate electoral system. Its main emphasis is on the extent to which full preferential voting no longer enables voters to express their preferences truthfully, and the role which OPV could play in correcting this.1 In a number of respects, the election was remarkable. • The 40 vacancies were contested by a record number of candidates, 529. • The percentage of votes polled by parties already represented in the Parliament dropped significantly from 2010. • In five out of the six States, a candidate was elected from a party which had never previously been represented in the federal Parliament. • For the first time ever, the seats in one State, South Australia, were divided between five different parties. • In Victoria, a minor party candidate was elected after having polled only 0.5% of the first preference votes cast in the State. • In Western Australia, a partial recount of ballot papers was ordered, and in the aftermath of its conduct it was revealed by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) that some 1,375 ballot papers “all of which had been verified during the initial WA Senate count … could not be located, rechecked or verified in the recount process”. -
Voting in AUSTRALIAAUSTRALIA Contents
Voting IN AUSTRALIAAUSTRALIA Contents Your vote, your voice 1 Government in Australia: a brief history 2 The federal Parliament 5 Three levels of government in Australia 8 Federal elections 9 Electorates 10 Getting ready to vote 12 Election day 13 Completing a ballot paper 14 Election results 16 Changing the Australian Constitution 20 Active citizenship 22 Your vote, your voice In Australia, citizens have the right and responsibility to choose their representatives in the federal Parliament by voting at elections. The representatives elected to federal Parliament make decisions that affect many aspects of Australian life including tax, marriage, the environment, trade and immigration. This publication explains how Australia’s electoral system works. It will help you understand Australia’s system of government, and the important role you play in it. This information is provided by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), an independent statutory authority. The AEC provides Australians with an independent electoral service and educational resources to assist citizens to understand and participate in the electoral process. 1 Government in Australia: a brief history For tens of thousands of years, the heart of governance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples was in their culture. While traditional systems of laws, customs, rules and codes of conduct have changed over time, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to share many common cultural values and traditions to organise themselves and connect with each other. Despite their great diversity, all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities value connection to ‘Country’. This includes spirituality, ceremony, art and dance, family connections, kin relationships, mutual responsibility, sharing resources, respecting law and the authority of elders, and, in particular, the role of Traditional Owners in making decisions. -
Australia's System of Government
61 Australia’s system of government Australia is a federation, a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy. This means that Australia: Has a Queen, who resides in the United Kingdom and is represented in Australia by a Governor-General. Is governed by a ministry headed by the Prime Minister. Has a two-chamber Commonwealth Parliament to make laws. A government, led by the Prime Minister, which must have a majority of seats in the House of Representatives. Has eight State and Territory Parliaments. This model of government is often referred to as the Westminster System, because it derives from the United Kingdom parliament at Westminster. A Federation of States Australia is a federation of six states, each of which was until 1901 a separate British colony. The states – New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania - each have their own governments, which in most respects are very similar to those of the federal government. Each state has a Governor, with a Premier as head of government. Each state also has a two-chambered Parliament, except Queensland which has had only one chamber since 1921. There are also two self-governing territories: the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The federal government has no power to override the decisions of state governments except in accordance with the federal Constitution, but it can and does exercise that power over territories. A Constitutional Monarchy Australia is an independent nation, but it shares a monarchy with the United Kingdom and many other countries, including Canada and New Zealand. The Queen is the head of the Commonwealth of Australia, but with her powers delegated to the Governor-General by the Constitution. -
Report of the Redistribution Committee
The 2009 Proposed Redistribution of Queensland into Electoral Divisions Report of the Redistribution Committee Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 Section 68 Table of contents Executive Summary 1 Direction for a redistribution of Queensland electoral divisions 2 Quota 2 Enrolment projections 3 Appointment of the Redistribution Committee for Queensland 4 Invitations to submit public suggestions and comments 4 Statutory requirements for the making of a proposed redistribution 6 Technical procedures 8 Analysis of population trends 8 Enrolment in existing divisions as at 19 February 2009 9 Analysis of enrolment trends 10 Enrolment projections for existing divisions as at 9 July 2012 12 General strategy 15 Public suggestions and comments 17 Guidelines for the naming of divisions 19 Name of new division 19 Proposed redistribution of Queensland – by division: 20 Proposed South-East Queensland (South) divisions 22 Proposed South-East Queensland (North) divisions 27 Proposed Country divisions 30 Conclusion 34 Table 1 – Determination of the quota 2 Table 2 – Enrolment projections at 9 July 2012 3 Table 3 – Queensland regions for proposed redistribution 16 Table 4 – Summary of movement of electors between divisions 17 Table 5 – Themes 18 Table 6 – Divisions in order of discussion 21 Table 7 – Enrolment of existing divisions 35 Table 8 – Summary of proposed divisions 36 Table 9 – General description of how proposed divisions are constituted 37 Graph 1 – Queensland population quotas from 1997 to 2009 9 Graph 2 – Variation from the enrolment quota as at end 19 February 2009 for existing divisions 11 Graph 3 – Variation from projected average enrolment as at 9 July 2012 for existing divisions 13 Map Projected enrolment for existing divisions as at 9 July 2012 14 Enclosures Sheet 1 – Maps 1 and 2 Sheet 2 – Map 3 Sheet 3 – Map 4 CD – Containing the public suggestions received and comments received on those suggestions. -
The Supreme Court and Responsible Government: 1864–1930, 40 Neb
Nebraska Law Review Volume 40 | Issue 1 Article 3 1960 The uprS eme Court and Responsible Government: 1864–1930 Roscoe Pound Harvard Law School Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr Recommended Citation Roscoe Pound, The Supreme Court and Responsible Government: 1864–1930, 40 Neb. L. Rev. 16 (1961) Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr/vol40/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law, College of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Nebraska Law Review by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. The Supreme Court and Responsible Government: 1864-1930* Roscoe Pound* * I. INTRODUCTION A just balance between the general and the local government is of the very essence of a federal polity. What is general and for the general government, and what is local and for the local govern- ment, must be distinguished clearly and maintained consistently. But what is general and what local is not always and everywhere indicated by an exactly drawn line and may vary from time to time or place to place, so that lines have to be redrawn in view of changes in economics, industry, and commerce. Moreover, a federal polity calls for constitutional law. A con- stitution is not a mere body of constitutionally prescribed rules; rules prescribing mode of choice, terms of office, powers, remunera- tion, and causes and modes of removal of officials; nor of rules of policing, definition of offenses, such, for example, as treason, and fixing and imposing penalties. -
Stories of Confederation Reference Guide
Library and Archives Canada, C-000733 Stories of Confederation Reference Guide Use this reference guide in tandem with our online educational package. Find it at historymuseum.ca/teachers-zone/stories-of-confederation. Act of Union, 1840 Passed by the British Parliament in July 1840 and proclaimed in February 1841, the Act of Union brought Upper and Lower Canada (present-day Ontario and Quebec) together under a single assembly and government, as recommended in the Durham Report. The two were now called the United Province of Canada, and were subdivided into Canada West and Canada East. Each region received an equal number of seats in the assembly; English became the sole official language. British Empire The term British Empire refers collectively to Britain’s overseas territories and colonies. At its height in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the British Empire spanned the globe, and came to be known as “the empire on which the sun never sets.” Britain supported Confederation because it believed that a single dominion would be easier to defend, and less costly to administer, than several small, separate colonies. British North America British North America refers collectively to the British colonies and territories of northern North America. The term was used mostly between 1783 and 1867, but it has a longer history. British North America The British North America Act was a law passed by the British Parliament Act, 1867 to create the Dominion of Canada as a domestically self-governing federation. The Act divided law-making powers between one federal parliament and several provincial legislatures, and it outlined the structure and operations of both levels of government. -
The Constitutional Conventions and Constitutional Change: Making Sense of Multiple Intentions
Harry Hobbs and Andrew Trotter* THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE: MAKING SENSE OF MULTIPLE INTENTIONS ABSTRACT The delegates to the 1890s Constitutional Conventions were well aware that the amendment mechanism is the ‘most important part of a Cons titution’, for on it ‘depends the question as to whether the state shall develop with peaceful continuity or shall suffer alternations of stagnation, retrogression, and revolution’.1 However, with only 8 of 44 proposed amendments passed in the 116 years since Federation, many commen tators have questioned whether the compromises struck by the delegates are working as intended, and others have offered proposals to amend the amending provision. This paper adds to this literature by examining in detail the evolution of s 128 of the Constitution — both during the drafting and beyond. This analysis illustrates that s 128 is caught between three competing ideologies: representative and respons ible government, popular democracy, and federalism. Understanding these multiple intentions and the delicate compromises struck by the delegates reveals the origins of s 128, facilitates a broader understanding of colonial politics and federation history, and is relevant to understanding the history of referenda as well as considerations for the section’s reform. I INTRODUCTION ver the last several years, three major issues confronting Australia’s public law framework and a fourth significant issue concerning Australia’s commitment Oto liberalism and equality have been debated, but at an institutional level progress in all four has been blocked. The constitutionality of federal grants to local government remains unresolved, momentum for Indigenous recognition in the Constitution ebbs and flows, and the prospects for marriage equality and an * Harry Hobbs is a PhD candidate at the University of New South Wales Faculty of Law, Lionel Murphy postgraduate scholar, and recipient of the Sir Anthony Mason PhD Award in Public Law. -
LARGEST REMAINDER (Not Quite Quota Notes) No
Occasional newsletter of Electoral Reform Australia LARGEST REMAINDER (Not quite Quota Notes) No. 26 July 2015 In this issue count right through to the end. o In this issue...............................................1 Gaming of the system is rife. Unprincipled o President’s Report to the Annual General backroom deals are made between parties Meeting of Electoral Reform Australia....1 who should ostensibly be on opposite ends of o Address by Guest speaker........................2 the political spectrum. Excessive and o Is the Robson Rotation a Turn too Far? ...2 pointless formality requirements force voters into supporting party tickets despite knowing o Queensland Simulation ............................6 that such deals may have been arranged. o Future Meetings .......................................7 One would think that as electoral results after President’s Report to the Annual electoral results, right across this country, General Meeting of Electoral show the failure of the current system, reform would be easy. But no! The latest ridiculous Reform Australia idea, from the Federal Joint Standing In Australia, there is general acceptance that Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM), is proportional representation is worthwhile, at to impose on the Senate the same system that least for upper houses and local government, has just failed in the latest NSW Legislative and we don’t normally have to debate the Council election, as indeed it did in previous merits of PR versus such ridiculous voting elections. systems as first past the post. The JSCEM proposal retains above-the-line Our task is much more subtle and therefore voting, retains compulsory preferences below probably more difficult. We have to persuade the line, and hopes that voters will give politicians and most of the self-styled preferences to different groups in the above- psephologists that they are wrong: that all the the-line boxes.