Ukrainian Elections Are Another Example of Partisan Bias Caused by Winner-Take-All
Posted on What's New Sara Helmi on November 26, 2012
Think the U.S. House elections had a structural bias in favor of one party? The partisan bias in Ukraine's parliamentary elections, held just a week before the American elections, was even worse.
Read moreFrance May Introduce a Little Bit of Proportional Representation to its Legislative Elections
Posted on What's New Sara Helmi on November 12, 2012
Proportional representation may be coming to the French legislature--or at least 10% of it.
Read morePutin's United Russia Wins Resounding Victories in Local Elections
Posted on What's New Sara Helmi on October 18, 2012
As the results of Russia's October 14 local elections show, the rumors of United Russia's death have been greatly exaggerated. But did Vladimir Putin's party manipulate Russia's electoral laws to keep power?
Read moreOpposition Parties Win First Round of Lithuanian Elections
Posted on What's New Sara Helmi on October 16, 2012
Lithuania's conservative government is likely to be toppled following a defeat in the October 14 national elections. Lithuania uses a combination of open list proportional representation and a winner-take-all runoff system based on geographic constituencies to elect its legislature.
Read moreMajor Media Gets it Wrong on Hong Kong Elections
Posted on What's New Sara Helmi on September 24, 2012
Hong Kong's pro-democracy parties did not perform as well as expected in the September 9 Legislative Council elections. The New York Times would have you believe that the disappointing result can be blamed on Hong Kong's proportional representation system. But that explanation is misleading and distracts from the real problems of the city's electoral structure.
Read moreElecting Lords: A Unique Opportunity for Electoral Reform in the British Upper House
Posted on What's New on July 31, 2012
A lordship, by its very definition, has historically not been an elected office. But there is a strong movement in the British House of Commons to transform the upper house of the British parliament, the House of Lords, into a largely elected body based on proportional representation. This reform is long overdue.
Read moreLibya's 'Hybrid' Election Rules and Why They Are Less Than Ideal
Posted on What's New Arab Spring Series, Erin Ellis on July 05, 2012
On July 7, Libya will hold its first democratic elections since 1964. FairVote explains Libya's hybrid election system for the 200-seat General National Congress and how it could be better if all seats were elected by a form of proportional representation.
Read moreMexico's Divisive Presidential Election System
Posted on What's New Warren Hays on June 19, 2012
With Mexican voters set to go to the polls on July 1, the country's three-party system combined with its winner-take-all presidential elections create a recipe for popular discontent with no end in sight.
Read moreLessons Learned from Egypt's Presidential Runoff: The Case for Using an Instant Runoff Ballot
Posted on What's New Arab Spring Series, Erin Ellis on June 15, 2012
On June 14, Egypt's high court disbanded the nation's parliament elected last winter, arguing that the candidates should have run without party affiliation. The ruling makes this weekend's presidential election all the more important, as the president will become the only national government leader who has been elected and will not have a parliament to check his decisions. This blog post analysis thus takes on even greater importance.
Read moreHanging by a Thread: Egyptian Democracy After the June 18 Coup
Posted on What's New Erin Ellis on June 15, 2012
In the aftermath of a military "coup" staged on June 18, the future of Egyptian democracy looks precarious. In retrospect, the situation might have been prevented if Egypt had used proportional representation to elect its parliament in the first place.
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