Here to Stay: Two Decades of Proportional Representation in BritainThe 6 May 2021 was a milestone for the campaign for fairer votes in Britain. The date marked the sixth set of elections to take place for each of Great Britain’s devolved elected institutions –...Posted 31 Jul 2021
After a council voted to oppose mandatory voter ID, more could follow suitA council in Scotland will write to the Prime Minister to formally oppose plans to bring in voter ID at future general elections.Posted 25 Jun 2021
A Scottish House of Citizens would be the opposite of Westminster’s institutionally corrupt LordsERS Scotland and the Sortition Foundation have ramped up calls for ‘House of Citizens’ – a revising chamber made up of ordinary voters – in Scotland, following revelations that a Conservative party donor gave the...Posted 03 Jun 2021
2021 Elections: Millions of voters to get fair representation through PROver 12 million voters have a powerful voice today, with proportional representation used in Wales, Scotland and on the London Assembly. Posted 06 May 2021
How May’s elections for the Scottish Parliament will workAmong the wave of elections that will be held on 6 May, voters across Scotland will be called to elect 129 members of the devolved Scottish Parliament for the sixth time in its history. The...Posted 19 Apr 2021
This loophole is letting lobbying go under the radar in ScotlandA major loophole in Scotland’s lobbying register is undermining transparency – with voters left in the dark about lobbying during the pandemic. Posted 04 Mar 2021
Scotland’s ground-breaking Citizens’ Assembly has wrapped up. What’s next?Scotland’s first Citizens’ Assembly, a deliberative body made up of 100 citizens reflecting the country’s demographics, concluded in January and published its visions for the future of Scotland. Citizens’ Assemblies which aim to create ‘mini-publics’...Posted 09 Feb 2021
Scotland’s local democracy is not an optional extraThe experience of the covid-19 crisis has served to underline and strengthen the case ERS Scotland has long been making for a revamped local democracy. The work undertaken in recent years – alongside a range...Posted 14 Jan 2021
It’s time to put deliberation at the heart of Scottish politicsLast Saturday the final session of the Citizen’s Assembly of Scotland concluded. The assembly, the largest deliberative event in Scotland’s history brought together ordinary people to deliberate over the issues that will shape Scotland. As...Posted 12 Dec 2020
Building a better democracy – 2020 and the Electoral Reform SocietyIt’s hard to think of a more troubling year in living memory. But the public health crisis has, perhaps counter-intuitively, put issues of democracy at the forefront. The election may feel like a distant memory,...Posted 07 Dec 2020