International Elections Standard Note: SN/SG/5274 Last updated: October 2009 Author: Kathryn Keith, Social & General Statistics This note examines recent and upcoming international elections, mainly those in Europe and certain other countries. It will look at the dates on which these are to occur, the separate electoral systems of each nation and the results of each election as they are published. It will also include some background information relating to the various different political parties of each country. Contents A. International elections timetable 2009-2011 3 B. European election results 4 1. Austria 4 2. Belgium 6 3. Bulgaria 7 4. Denmark 9 5. Finland 10 6. France 11 7. Germany 12 8. Greece 14 9. Hungary 16 10. Iceland 17 11. Ireland 19 12. Italy 20 13. Luxembourg 22 14. The Netherlands 24 15. Norway 25 16. Poland 27 17. Portugal 28 18. Romania 30 19. Spain 32 20. Sweden 34 Standard Notes are compiled for the benefit of Members of Parliament and their personal staff. Authors are available to discuss the contents of these papers with Members and their staff but cannot advise others. 21. United Kingdom 35 C. Selected international elections 36 1. Australia 36 2. Canada 37 3. India 38 4. South Africa 40 5. United States of America 42 Glossary 45 2 A. International elections timetable 2009-2011 Year Month Date Country Type of election 2009 January February 10 Israel Parliamentary March April 16 India Parliamentary (1st stage) 22 South Africa Parliamentary 23 India Parliamentary (2nd stage) 25 Iceland Parliamentary 30 India Parliamentary (3rd stage) May June 7 Luxembourg Parliamentary 12 Iran Presidential July 5 Bulgaria Parliamentary August September 14 Norway Parliamentary 27 Germany Parliamentary 27 Portugal Parliamentary October 4 Greece Parliamentary November Romania Presidential (1st round) December Romania Presidential (2nd round) 2010 January 16 Iraq Parliamentary February Greece Presidential March April Austria Presidential Hungary* Parliamentary Italy Parliamentary May June United Kingdom** Parliamentary Hungary Presidential July August September 19 Sweden Parliamentary October Poland Presidential November December 2011 January Portugal Presidential February March Finland Parliamentary April Australia Parliamentary May Netherlands Parliamentary June Belgium Parliamentary July August September Greece Parliamentary October Bulgaria Presidential Poland Parliamentary November December Source: www.parties-and-elections.de * Hungary - by May 2010 ** United Kingdom - by 3 June 2010 Standard Notes are compiled for the benefit of Members of Parliament and their personal staff. Authors are available to discuss the contents of these papers with Members and their staff but cannot advise others. B. European elections 1. Austria Most recent parliamentary election: September 28, 2008 Current ruling party: Social Democratic Party of Austria Electoral system: Proportional representation Fixed terms: Yes President – 6 years Federal Council – 5/6 years National Council – 4 years Next election: April 2010 (Presidential) Austria has both Presidential and parliamentary elections, with a bicameral Federal Assembly. The elections of the National Council (Nationalrat), a part of the Assembly, are based upon the principle of proportional representation, including a party-list element. There are 183 contested seats in the Nationalrat, with each member serving four-year terms.1 A party must win a parliamentary seat in the first stage of vote counting in order to win seats in the second and third stages. A candidate who receives preferential votes amounting to at least one-sixth of the votes his party receives wins a parliamentary seat. Votes are counted in three stages, although a voter only casts one ballot. 2 The Federal Assembly also consists of the Bundesrat with 62 members, elected by indirect vote to serve five or six year terms. Each of Austria's nine provinces elect between three and twelve members, according to provincial population. The current "grand coalition" between the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) has been and should continue to be characterized by more co-operation than the previous one. The President, currently Heinz Fischer as of April 25 2004, is elected by direct popular vote to serve a six-year term. 1 IFES election guide 2 Country Studies 4 Austrian Parliamentary election 2008 Total vote (%) Change in share Seats Party 2008 of the vote since 2006 (% pts) 2008 2006 Social Democratic Party of Austria 29.3 -6.1 57 68 Austrian People's Party 26 -8.4 51 66 Freedom Party of Austria 17.5 6.5 34 21 Alliance for the Future of Austria 10.7 6.6 21 7 Greens 10.4 -0.6 20 21 Other 6.1 --- Total 100 183 183 Source: BMI Change in share of the vote since 2006 (%pts) Distribution of seats in the National Council 2008 -10 -5 0 5 10 Austria had an early parliamentary election on 28 September 2008, following the collapse of the government, as the centre-right People's Party withdrew from the grand coalition with Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer's Social Democrats on 7 July 2008. Due to widespread public dissatisfaction with the grand coalition and the two main parties, it was expected by many to be a realigning election3, with gains for the opposition and up to seven parties expected to be in the National Council after the election. The Social Democratic Party of Austria again emerged as the largest party in the general election. However, they and the Austrian People’s Party both had their worst election result in history, losing a combined 26 seats in the National Council. This resulted in strong gains for the far-right, who took 29% of the vote. Neither the Liberal Forum nor the Citizens’ Forum Austria, who were both considered to have a high chance of gaining seats) gained as much as 2% of the vote. 3 Derstandard.at 5 2. Belgium Most recent parliamentary election: June 10, 2007 Current ruling party: The New-Flemish Alliance Electoral system: Proportional representation Fixed terms: Yes – 4 years Next election: June 2011 (Parliamentary) The Belgian Parliament is divided into two chambers – the Chamber of Representatives with 150 members and the Senate, with 71 members. The Chamber is the more powerful of the two, with control over state finances. All members of the Chamber of Representatives are elected using proportional representation, for four-year terms, with a five-percent minimum threshold needed. In the Senate, forty members are elected by direct popular vote, with the remaining thirty-one members being elected indirectly, both serving four-year terms. The electorate have two votes (one for each chamber) with voters being given a list of candidates from each party. They are able to either vote for a particular list or choose specific candidates from it. For elections to the Chamber of Representatives, parties have lists for each of Belgium's ten provinces and the Brussels region. The number of seats available depends on each province's population. The Senate has two lists, one for the Dutch-speaking Flemish community and one for the French-speaking region of Wallonia. Residents of Brussels choose from one of the two lists. Belgium's small German-speaking community select from the Walloon list.4 4 Reuters – Factbox, 2007 6 3. Bulgaria Most recent parliamentary election: July 5, 2009 Current ruling party: Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) Electoral system: Closed-list proportional representation Fixed terms: Yes – 4 years Next election: October2011 (Presidential) Bulgaria has a unicameral legislature, the National Assembly, with 240 directly-elected members from thirty-one multi-member constituencies, distributed according to the population of each area. In each general election held, 209 members are elected using the closed-list proportional representation system and 31 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies, both to serve four-year terms. 7 Bulgarian Parliamentary election results 2009 Party Total vote (%) Change in share of Seats 2009 the vote since 2005(%pts) 2009 2005 Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) 39.7 - 116 Coalition for Bulgaria (CB) 17.7 -13.3 40 82 Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) 14.5 1.7 38 34 National Union Attack 9.4 1.2 21 21 Blue Coalition (BC) 6.8 -7.3 15 Order, Lawfulness, Justice (RZS) 4.1 - 10 Other 7.8 Total 100 240 137 Source: CIK Distribution of seats in the Bulgarian National Assembly, 2009. The most recent election in Bulgaria was for all 240 seats in the National Assembly, and was held on July 3, 2009. These elections saw the debut of a parallel voting system with a lesser plurality vote element. 209 of the 240 seats were distributed according to the proportional system, while the remaining 31 were allocated using First Past the Post. The centre-right GERB party led by Boiko Borisov was the clear winner, gaining 39.7% of the proportional vote and 26 of the 31 majority vote seats. The Socialist Coalition for Bulgaria’s share of the vote decreased to 17.7%; down 13.2% from the 2005 general election. 8 4. Denmark Most recent parliamentary election: November 13, 2007 Current ruling party: a coalition of the Liberals and the Conservative People’s Party Electoral system: Open-list proportional representation Fixed terms: Yes – 4 years Next election: November 2011 (Parliamentary) Denmark has a unicameral legislature (the Folketinget) with 175 seats. There are three electoral regions: Metropolitan Copenhagen, the Islands, and Jutland containing multi- member constituencies. In the Parliament 135 constituency tier members are elected by open list proportional representation in multi-member constituencies to serve four-year terms. In addition, the remaining forty compensatory tier members5 are elected using the same method to serve four-year terms. There are also four Faroe Islands and Greenland, members of which are elected by the same open list proportional representation.