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Britain and Former Colonies Keep Moving Away from
Plurality
July
2002
When the United States won
independence from Great Britain more than two centuries ago, it did
not declare independence from the British "plurality" voting method
which minimizes the number of people who elect candidates of choice
and restrict choices. Decades ago, Australia and Ireland moved to
choice voting methods that expand choice and, when combined with
proportional representation, increase access to representation. New
Zealand adopted proportional representation in a national referendum
in 1993, and South Africa adopted proportional representation for
its first all-race elections in 1994. Later in the decade,
proportional representation was introduced for regional British
elections in Scotland, Northern Ireland, London and Wales and a
version of instant runoff voting was adopted for several mayoral
elections, including in London. Below is news from: Britain,
where the goverment plans to expand use of proportional
representation for new regional assemblies New
Zealand, where its
third proprotional representation election will be held this month;
Canada, where there are strong movements in several provinces,
including Quebec and British Columbia. Lesotho, where
proportional representation has been adopted
Government outlines plans
to give English regions their own assemblies
By
Jane Wardell
Associated Press LONDON - The government outlined a
plan on Thursday to give English regions their own mini-parliaments
in a bid to tackle widespread voter apathy. Regions that express an
interest in the plan will be asked about it in a referendum before
the next general election, the government said in a White Paper
presented to the legislators in the House of Commons. Such papers,
or detailed studies, are used to generate responses from concerned
parties before the government uses them as the basis of legislation.
The plan, which would require the approval of Parliament, is part
of a governing Labor Party manifesto commitment and follows the
creation of separate assemblies in Scotland and Wales that devolved
power from the central government. Prime Minister Tony Blair (news
- web sites)'s government, which must hold a national election
within the next four years, hopes the creation of elected regional
assemblies will spur greater interest by the electorate in politics
in the wake of last week's local elections. The vote, with a voter
turnout of only about 35 percent, saw a right-wing extremist party
win three council seats in northern England, thereby establishing
its first small foothold in British politics in nearly 10 years.
The opposition Conservative Party and business leaders have
criticized the mini-parliament plan, saying it would create an
unnecessary tier of government and add more red tape and
bureaucracy. Under the proposal, the regional assemblies would be
given control of sustainable development, economic regeneration,
employment, transportation, housing, health improvement and culture.
However, the existing local councils would retain control of social
services, education and other services. "Our proposals today will
give the regions of England new choices, new powers and a new
voice," said Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. "By devolving
power, we can elevate our democracy. By empowering our regions, we
can engage people more effectively. By harnessing the energy of the
regions, we can drive forward the nation's economic growth, and by
embracing diversity, we can strengthen the United Kingdom," he told
the House of Commons. The regional assembly members would be
elected by a system of proportional representation, with each area
having between 25 and 35 members, headed by a first minister. The
assemblies would primarily be funded through a central government
grant with complete freedom to spend as they wish but would have to
meet targets agreed with central government. They also would be able
to raise money through council taxes and borrowing, Prescott said.
Northeast England seen as a test bed of opinion and certain to
secure a yes vote in referendum is expected to be the first region
to be offered an assembly. Polls have suggested that the public,
particularly in northern England, supports the idea of regional
assemblies. A nationwide survey carried out for the British
Broadcasting Corp. in March found that 63 percent of people were in
favor of devolution for the English regions. Earlier Thursday,
Teresa May, the Tories' local government spokeswoman, said the new
tier of government would be expensive and make politicians more
distant from the local taxpayer. "England already has enough
politicians. Public services won't improve by creating a new type of
politician," May said. "These new politicians will not come cheap.
Based on the cost of the London Assembly, such regional talking
shops outside London could cost 200 million pounds (dlrs 290
million) a year alone," she said. Matthew Knowles, the policy
adviser for the British Chambers of Commerce, said the business
community did not see the need for regional assemblies. If business
costs rise as a result, without adding value to the process of
governing England, then jobs and the local economy will suffer, he
said.
New Zealand Calls Early
Election
By Ray Lilley
Associated Press
June
10, 2002 WELLINGTON - Prime Minister
Helen Clark on Tuesday called an early election for July 27, more
than three months ahead of the expected date for the parliamentary
poll. Clark's Labor Party holds a commanding lead in opinion polls
and is widely expected to win enough seats to rule alone. It
currently heads a center-left coalition. A poll last week showed
Labor would take up to 68 seats in the country's 120-seat
Parliament. ``I am confident that a majority of New Zealanders want
the leadership, the direction, the program of our government to
continue,'' Clark said. Labor strategists reportedly have urged
Clark to call an early vote, apparently fearing the party's support
can only weaken from current levels. Boosted by a buoyant domestic
economy and strong export sector, Clark has provided a strong,
steady hand at the helm while delivering on all the main policy
pledges made by her party at the last election in November 1999.
Labor also has tackled problems in health, welfare and education.
No party has ruled alone in government since New Zealand introduced
proportional representation voting in 1996. Labor holds 49 seats in
the present Parliament and its coalition partner, the leftist
Alliance Party, holds 10 seats. The independent Greens have 7
legislators. The main Opposition center-right National Party has 39
seats, the nationalist New Zealand First Party has 5, the
right-leaning reformist Act Party holds 9 seats, and United Future
1. WEB INFO: http://www.elections.govt.nz/elections/esyst/govt_elect.html
Quebec mulls proportional or
U.S.-style voting
Reuters
June 11, 2002 QUEBEC
CITY - The province of Quebec could scrap its British-based
parliamentary system and turn it into a U.S.-style presidential one,
a legislative committee said Tuesday, stressing that changes would
not be put into place in time for the 2003 election. The
nonpartisan committee will travel across the French-speaking
province of 7.3 million people starting this fall to hear opinions
from political scientists, experts and citizens. A final report is
expected by mid-May 2003, just a few months before an expected
provincial election. The options being considered include replacing
the current "first-past-the-post" system used in Quebec and the rest
of Canada with a European-style proportional system. The committee
will also look at scrapping the 210-year-old parliamentary system
and turn it into a presidential-style system like in the United
States or France. Elections at fixed dates are also being looked at,
as well as the election of the premier by the voters at large, and
not the ruling party. "Everything is on the table", said Claude
Lachance, president of the committee and a member of the separatist
Parti Quebecois government. A reform of the electoral system by
2003 is however excluded because of an "unrealistic" timing. "Such
a reform would not be ready for the next election," said Liberal
member Henri-Francois Gautrin. The "first-past-the-post" ballot
system has led to some odd twists in Quebec's political landscape
since the 1960s. The conservative Union Nationale won power in 1966
despite finishing seven points behind the Liberal Party in the
popular vote, and the Parti Quebecois was re-elected for a second
mandate in 1998 after failing to win a majority of votes. At
present, a party's victory is gained by winning the most votes in
each of Quebec's 125 electoral districts, and not on the overall
provincial vote. Elections must be held at least every five years,
but governments can call a vote at any time within that term. A
proportional system would take into account province-wide voting
patterns, which supporters argue allows better representation by
smaller, third parties and tempers the winning party's dominance in
the legislature. B.C.'s Green Party out to
change electoral system
By Alllison Lawlor
Globe and
Mail Update
July 16, 2002 The B.C. Green Party has collected more than
38,000 signatures for a province-wide petition advocating
proportional representation � far fewer than are needed to launch a
bid to change the province's electoral system. Green Party leader
Adriane Carr said Tuesday her optimism is fading that she will get
the necessary 10 per cent of registered voters in each riding before
Aug. 12 when she will deliver the petition to officials in Victoria.
But she vows not to give up trying. "I'm not going to give up until
we get a fair electoral system," she told globeandmail.com.
Discouraged by the results of last May's provincial election where
the Liberals got 97 per cent of the seats in the Legislature with
only 58.1 per cent of the vote, Ms. Carr set out to implement
changes she believed would make the system more fair. "The last
election in B.C. was kind of the end of the line," Ms. Carr said.
"It has made a laughing stock of our electoral system." It also
left voters cynical and feeling as though their votes meant nothing,
she said. She started gathering signatures for the petition on May
13 after being given the go-ahead by the province's Chief Electoral
Officer. In Ms. Carr's version of democracy, parties that poll at
least 5 per cent of the vote get seats. Instead of 79 seats in
British Columbia, there will be 68 � 34 elected as ever, via the
so-called 'first past the post' method, and 34 from lists submitted
by the parties, according to 'proportional representation.' She is
quick to dismiss the suggestion that her campaign is just a case of
sour grapes over the results of last May's provincial elections. The
Green Party failed to win a seat in the elections. Across the
province, the party attracted 12 per cent of the vote, a big
increase from the 2 per cent it won in 1996. But not enough to get a
seat. The Liberals got 58.1 per cent of the vote and 76 seats and
the NDP got 21 per cent and two seats. Under a proportional
representation system, similar to that practised in Germany, the
Green Party would have received 9 seats, and the NDP 16, with the
balance going to the Liberals, Ms. Carr said. "It's about getting a
more fair electoral system," she said. But time is running out.
Under the province's Recall and Initiative Act, the Green Party
needs about 250,000 signatures provincewide in order for the Liberal
government to introduce the proposed legislation in the Legislature.
Once it is introduced it becomes something like a private member's
bill, she said. While hope is fading that the needed signatures
will be collected, Ms. Carr said that the work she and the more than
3,800 volunteers now canvassing across the province are doing will
not be for naught. A large part of the campaign � which has cost
more than $50,000 � has been about educating the public about
electoral reform. Ms. Carr said the party's work will also be
useful when the Liberal's launch their Citizens' Assembly on
Electoral Reform, which she expects will be announced in the fall.
As part of B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell's so-called New Era
platform, he promised to appoint the assembly to look at "all
possible models for electing MLAs including preferential ballots and
proportional representation and our current electoral system." The assembly will hold public hearings across
the province. If after doing so it recommends changes to the
current electoral system than that option will be put
to a provincewide referendum, the government says.
Lesotho Kingdom Votes, Hopes for
Fresh Start
By Wambui Chege
Reuters
May 25, 2002 MASERU - Huge numbers of Lesotho
citizens voted Saturday under a new electoral system they hope will
usher in an era of stability and prosperity after years of political
turbulence. Crowds in the impoverished mountain kingdom queued long
before dawn to take part in the election, held for the first time
under a combined first-past-the-post and proportional representation
system designed to give smaller parties a voice in parliament.
Lesotho, which is encircled by South Africa, has been in political
limbo for the past four years after violent opposition protests and
an army mutiny nearly overthrew the government. Free and fair
elections in the tiny state will boost southern Africa's democratic
credentials, after elections condemned by international observers as
highly flawed in Zimbabwe and Zambia in the last six months,
analysts said. Voting ended in most of Lesotho at 5 p.m. (11 a.m.
EDT) but an extension of several hours was granted to three
constituencies where the opening of polling stations had been
delayed. Constituency results are expected to begin trickling in
from midnight Saturday, but IEC officials said they did not expect a
final result before Wednesday. Electoral officials said turnout was
high, up to 90 percent of eligible voters in some areas. In the
small town of Berea, just 40 km north of Maseru, voters
enthusiastically waited for their turn to vote. "I feel this new
system will do away with some of the problems of the past. The
proportional system will create a balanced parliament which will
ensure that everyone gets heard," 65-year-old pensioner Neo
Mapeshoane said. Electoral officials said they were pleased with
the overall voting process, but said late delivery of equipment and
materials had been reported at a couple of polling centers. "It is
a very isolated concern," said spokesman Rethabile Pholo, who said
counting would begin soon after polling closed. Long Queues Most
voters stood in long queues wrapped in blankets. Women stood
chatting with children strapped to their backs. "Our main problem
is that the queues are long and we are having to wait for long
periods. The process is extremely slow," 40-year-old accountant
Motlong Masia said. Electoral officials said they had found no time
to educate voters on the system before the poll, and were having to
explain how the system worked before voters could cast their
ballots. International and regional observers say that if
successful, the poll model would be recommended as a solution for
the conflict-ridden young democracies of impoverished Africa. "This
will be one of the most transparent elections. We have a home-brewed
solution. The electoral model itself is reconciliatory," said Mafole
Sematlane, a commissioner of the Independent Electoral Commission
(IEC). An estimated 840,000 voters from a population of nearly two
million are expected to vote in 80 constituencies. They will also be
casting a second vote for the party of their choice. Chequered History
Since independence from Britain in 1966, mountainous
Lesotho with a figurehead monarch has known little political
stability. Its history is checkered by coups and military rule.
Moreover, its enclosure by South Africa made it vulnerable to
bullying by the former white apartheid regime, which often sponsored
raids into its tiny neighbor. The last election in 1998 was won by
the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), but disputed as
fraudulent by opposition parties. The LCD won by a landslide,
scooping 79 out of the 80 parliamentary seats. Arch-rival Basotho
National Party won the remaining seat. An army mutiny several
months later nearly overthrew incumbent Prime Minister Pakalitha
Mosisili's government but was crushed by South African and Botswanan
troops who intervened in the name of the Southern African
Development Community in September 1998. Under the new system, the
national assembly has been expanded to 120 seats, with the
additional 40 seats to be allocated proportionally. Electoral
officers said the model had borrowed elements from New Zealand and
Germany. "We have to leave 1998 behind us and go into elections
peacefully," Lesotho's foreign minister, Tom Thabane, said.
Mosisili's LCD is widely expected to return to power, albeit with a
reduced majority. The opposition BNP, headed by former military
ruler Justin Lekhanya, 64, is his biggest rival. Competition is
also expected from the Lesotho People's Congress (LPC), whose leader
Kelebone Maope, 55, was deputy prime minister until November 2001
when he broke away, accusing the ruling party of corruption and
nepotism. |
