Electoral reform returns to the agenda in British Columbia British Columbia, Canada’s most Western province, has often been the site of electoral reform intrigue. In the run-up to the 1952 provincial election the Conservative and Liberal parties tried to stop the socialist Co-operative Commonwealth... Posted 18 May 2017
Fighting for fair votes around the world – lessons from the Global Greens Congress Proportional representation has been a longstanding campaign of the Greens. But not just here in the UK – democratic reform is often a key plank of Green platforms. So it was fascinating to see leaders... Posted 07 Apr 2017
How PR ‘completely transformed’ New Zealand politics: Metiria Turei, Green Party co-leader In 1996, New Zealand introduced the Mixed Member Proportion (MMP) voting system – a mixed FPTP and proportional list voting system. It was a big step forward for the fight for fair votes everywhere. I... Posted 06 Apr 2017
How will the 2017 French presidential election work? After last year’s political whirlwind, attention has turned to 2017’s elections for evidence of further shocks. Voters are going to the polls in the Netherlands, in Germany but most attention is focused on France, whose... Posted 13 Jan 2017
Maine makes history as first state to back fair votes As the world analyses the result of the US Presidential election, there’s one result you might have missed. On Tuesday one state made a symbolic breakthrough: Maine became the first US state to scrap First... Posted 09 Nov 2016
How Trump could win the Presidency even if he doesn’t win the most votes It’s election day in the United States, and that means all the pageantry and spectacle one comes to expect with democracy in the world’s most powerful nation. The spectacle of a US election also reminds... Posted 08 Nov 2016
Electoral reform is making waves across the Atlantic There’s something in the air, it seems. As I write, electoral reformers in Canada and the US have a real chance of securing a fairer voting system. As US voters prepare to pick their next... Posted 03 Nov 2016
The Return of the Gerrymander With all the media attention focusing on the upcoming American Presidential Election, it’s easy to forget that it isn’t the only election happening on that day. Voters up and down the country will be voting... Posted 30 Oct 2016
PR across the pond: the push for fair votes in the US This week is European Local Democracy Week 2016, and to mark it, we’re running a series of discussion articles on how to make the London Assembly more democratic. Yesterday we published our first piece in the series,... Posted 11 Oct 2016
In Australia, as in the UK, the voting system is at breaking point In 2010 Australia delivered its first hung parliament since 1940. A seemingly freak one-off, the election followed a period of unrest in the incumbent Labor Party (ALP) who had replaced their Prime Minister Kevin Rudd after just... Posted 04 Jul 2016