Voter ID could breach fundamental rights, MPs warnThe ERS gave evidence to the committee’s enquiry with Dr Jess Garland telling MPs and Peers that it was “implausible” to suggest that fraud by personation – trying to vote under a false identity –...Posted 03 Sep 2021
Voter ID: Thousands tell the government: “Hands off our vote”Over 50,000 people have now signed the Electoral Reform Society’s petition urging ministers to scrap plans to impose mandatory voter ID – amid growing fears that millions of people could be locked out of democracy....Posted 03 Sep 2021
Barriers to entry: How do electoral thresholds work?A common feature of many Party List PR systems is an electoral threshold – a pre-set bar that parties have to reach if they want to win seats.Posted 03 Sep 2021
How do Westminster election results compare to those of devolved institutions?This May, the sixth set of elections took place for each of the devolved institutions in the nations of Britain – the Scottish Parliament, Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament) and the London Assembly. It was a...Posted 20 Aug 2021
Analysis: Police and Crime Commissioners and the Supplementary VoteThe re-run of May’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) election in Wiltshire and Swindon takes place on the 19th August, after the winning candidate was disbarred due to a historical driving conviction. The original election...Posted 19 Aug 2021
Which votes get transferred with the Single Transferable Vote?The first meetings of the Electoral Reform Society, then known as the Proportional Representation Society, quickly settled on the Single Transferable Vote (STV) as the best option for electoral reform.Posted 17 Aug 2021
Baroness Randerson on working together, Westminster’s weakness, and ‘recasting’ democracyBaroness Jenny Randerson speaks to Josiah Mortimer about reforming the Welsh and UK electoral systems and the future of devolution.Posted 12 Aug 2021
Welsh youth will be the collateral of Westminster’s voter ID lawsThe Queen’s Speech on the 17th May outlined the UK Government’s plans to implement Voter ID in UK elections.Posted 10 Aug 2021
Hare vs Droop: How to set the quota under STVThe first meetings of the Proportional Representation Society quickly attracted many leading lights of the Victorian age – including Lewis Carroll, CP Scott (editor of what is now The Guardian) and Thomas Hare (the inventor...Posted 10 Aug 2021
Conservative councillor: How the Single Transferable Vote broke open Scotland’s one-party fiefdoms"With STV, we are trying to steal a march on other parties, while at the same time cooperating for the public good."Posted 05 Aug 2021