The anti-corruption group, Transparency International, says a new
preferential voting system in Papua New Guinea has dramatically reduced
election related killings.
The Limited Preferential Vote system was brought in after the last general election four years ago replacing first-past-the-post.
That system was scrapped because of concerns MPs were being elected with less than ten percent of the vote which they could often achieve by relying on clan support.
TI's chairman, Mike Manning, says his organisation is confident that the LPV system has made electoral violence a thing of the past: "In the by elections in the Highlands that have been held since the 2002 elections under the LPV system there has been little or no election related violence, whereas in the 2002 elections there was more than one death a day during the election campaign."
Radio New Zealand International
PO Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand
The Limited Preferential Vote system was brought in after the last general election four years ago replacing first-past-the-post.
That system was scrapped because of concerns MPs were being elected with less than ten percent of the vote which they could often achieve by relying on clan support.
TI's chairman, Mike Manning, says his organisation is confident that the LPV system has made electoral violence a thing of the past: "In the by elections in the Highlands that have been held since the 2002 elections under the LPV system there has been little or no election related violence, whereas in the 2002 elections there was more than one death a day during the election campaign."
Radio New Zealand International
PO Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.