Prime Minister Costas Simitis has put forward plans for electoral reforms in Greece in the face of an opposition outcry. The proposed changes include electoral boundaries being redrawn and moves to separate votes for parties and individual candidates. There are suggestions for new guidelines on pre-election political alliances. The existing requirement for a political party to gain three percent of the vote to enter parliament remains unchanged. The draft of the new electoral law is expected to be submitte d to Parliament in November, but the new laws will not hit the statute books until after the next general election in 2004. Mr Simitis says the reforms will make government more stable and parliament more representative through a fairer electoral system. But the opposition New Democracy (ND) party, currently leading opinion polls, has refused to take part in the debate and has accused the government of disrespecting democratic procedures. ND president Kostas Karamanlis accused the Prime Minister of insecur ity and opportunism. The opposition KKE party took a similar line. Government spokesman Christos Protopappas said that Mr Karamanlis seems to have forgotten it was he who first raised the issue of electoral reforms three years ago. The Coalition of the Left and DIKKI insisted on the introduction of proportional representation, but they said they would take part in talks. The smaller left-wing parties repeated their demand for the introduction of a proportional electoral system.
IRV Soars in Twin Cities, FairVote Corrects the Pundits on Meaning of Election Night '09
 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. And as pundits try to make hay out of the national implications of Tuesday’s gubernatorial elections, Rob Richie in the Huffington Post concludes that the gubernatorial elections have little bearing on federal elections. Links
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