The Electoral System

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The Electoral System

• POLS 2103
• Australian Democracy

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(No Transcript)
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Characteristics of electoral systems
To understand electoral systems, three basic
dimensions must be considered District
Magnitude Ballot structure Electoral
Formula
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District magnitude (DM)

• District Magnitude refers to the number of
  representatives chosen from an electoral
  district.
• DM may range from one (i.e. one member is elected
  from a constituency) to the total number of seats
  (i.e. the entire province or country is one
  constituency)
• Proportional systems require some districts with
  more than one representative
• The limit to how proportional a system can be is
  determined by the district magnitude increasing
  DM size will increase the potential for
  proportionality
• There is no need for district magnitudes to be
  the same in every electoral district
• The personal connection between voter and
  representative is likely to shift as the number
  of representatives from an area changes

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Ballot structure

• Ballot structure simply refers to the kinds of
  choices voters can make on the ballot paper when
  they go to vote. The range of choices includes
• marking a single choice for a party or candidate
• indicating a set of preferences
• weighting choices by ranking candidates
• The structure of the ballot can
• influence the balance of control between the
  parties and the voters, with respect to who
  actually gets elected as a representative
• influence internal party decision-making with
  respect to nominations closed list systems give
  the party list makers significant power
• control the nomination process, especially if it
  effectively determines election prospects, can
  affect the nature and strength of party
  discipline in the legislature

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Electoral formula

• The electoral formula determines how votes are
  turned into seats given the district magnitude
  and the ballot structure. It incorporates the
  mathematics and procedures for determining how
  many votes are required for election, and just
  who gets elected. It may also specify some kind
  of minimum electoral success or threshold
  before a party can gain any representation. While
  electoral formulas vary widely, they tend to be
  grouped by three basic principles plurality,
  majority, and proportional representation.

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Questions to consider
?? If elections are a contest, who are the
contestants? Political parties or candidates?
?? Do you want a proportional system? If so,
how proportional must it be? ?? Do you want to
provide for local representation? If so, how big
should the area represented be? How many
representatives should it have? ?? What kind of
choices should voters have on their ballots? ??
How important is it that the mechanics of the
systems be simple and transparent?
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Arguments in favour of compulsory voting

• Voting is a civic duty comparable to other duties
  citizens perform (e.g. taxation, compulsory
  education, or jury duty).
• Parliament reflects more accurately the "will of
  the electorate."
• Governments must consider the total electorate in
  policy formulation and management.
• Candidates can concentrate their campaigning
  energies on issues rather than encouraging voters
  to attend the poll.
• The voter isn't actually compelled to vote for
  anyone because voting is by secret ballot.

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Arguments against compulsory voting

• It is undemocratic to force people to vote - an
  infringement of liberty.
• The "ignorant" and those with little interest in
  politics are forced to the polls.
• It may increase the number of "donkey votes".
• It may increase the number of informal votes
  (ballot papers which are not marked according to
  the rules for voting).
• It increases the number of safe, single-member
  electorates - political parties then concentrate
  on the more marginal electorates.
• Resources must be allocated to determine whether
  those who failed to vote have "valid and
  sufficient" reasons.

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Free and fair elections

• Australian electoral administration has an
  enviable reputation. In particular, the
  professionalism of the Australian Electoral
  Commission (AEC) and the efficiency of its work
  have made it a source of best practice
  internationally.
• Elections are held regularly and different
  voting methods are used for upper and lower
  houses of parliament.
• This makes those houses that use proportional
  representation (usually upper houses) more
  representative of the population and their
  opinions than those that use single-member
  electorates and the alternative vote (AV).
• Turnout remains high by international standards,
  thanks to efficiently administered compulsory
  voting.

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But

• On the downside, Australia has fallen behind
  comparable democracies in the regulation of party
  finance and has made electoral enrolment more
  difficult, particularly for new voters.

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Parliamentary terms (lower houses)
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Federal elections that changed the government
since World War II
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Political parties

• Although the centrality of political parties to
  Australian democracy was established by 1910,
  parties scarcely existed in a Constitutional or
  legal sense and were regarded as purely private
  organisations. They were not mentioned in the
  Commonwealth Electoral Act until 1984, when
  provisions were introduced for party
  registration, public funding and the inclusion of
  party names on ballot papers.
• The lack of party names on ballot papers had
  constituted a serious disadvantage for minor
  parties unable to provide workers for thousands
  of polling places across Australia. Without booth
  workers distributing how-to-vote cards, potential
  voters for minor parties had little chance of
  finding out who to vote for.

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Bias against independents

• The rise of Independents, particularly in rural
  and regional seats, is attributed to
  disillusionment with the major parties. Despite
  this rise in support for Independents, in general
  they do not experience a level playing field in
  systems designed for and by parties.
• For example, they are generally precluded from
  the popular option of above the line or ticket
  voting where that exists. The bias is least in
  the case of the South Australian Legislative
  Council where Independents are not only allowed
  to appear above the line but may have five words
  in addition to Independent with which to
  describe themselves. Past examples include
  Independent No Nuke Dumps No Pedophiles. In
  Western Australia Independents can also
  participate in the ticket voting option, which in
  that State is beside-the-line.

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Access to media

• Unlike countries such as New Zealand and the UK,
  Australia does not control political parties
  purchase of political advertising time in the
  electronic media. The public broadcasters do
  provide free time in accordance with a formula
  similar to that in other democracies. However, on
  top of this, parties that can afford it can
  purchase unlimited amounts of paid advertising in
  the electronic media. The cost of television
  advertising, in particular, has caused an
  exponential increase in the cost of election
  campaigns and the increased dependence by the
  major parties on corporate donations.

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Responding to the existing arms race the
federal government attempted in 1991 to ban the
purchase of paid political advertising and
substitute blocks of free time proportional to
primary vote share at previous elections. The
legislation was generally welcomed and supported
by minor parties and Independents, subject to the
free airtime being allocated in a way that
encouraged diversity. Their support is easy to
explain on grounds of political equality.
Broadcast advertising is expensive and only
available to well-funded parties, lobby groups or
corporations. In the case of parties, only those
seen as business-friendly can attract
sufficient donations to engage in significant
paid advertising.
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But

• Australian Capital Television took the 1991
  legislation to the High Court, which struck down
  the ban in 1992.
• The High Court found the ban contravened an
  implied freedom of political communication in the
  Constitution.
• Consequently the situation with regard to the
  electronic media reverted to that previously,
  with a ban on political advertising for the 48
  hours prior to polling day (from midnight on
  Wednesday) being the only real limitation.

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Canada

• In the important case Harper v Canada (2004) the
  Supreme Court found that restrictions on the
  right to freedom of expression might be necessary
  in the interests of electoral fairness.
• In Canada there has been a ban on corporate
  political donations in force since 2003 and a cap
  on third party election spending, to prevent
  private money finding its way through other
  channels. It was the limit placed on third-party
  election advertising that was being challenged in
  Harper v Canada.
• The Court determined, however, that the
  restriction on freedom of expression was
  necessary to maintain a level playing field for
  political discourse and prevent wealthy voices
  from overwhelming others. The restriction of some
  voices was necessary so that others could be
  heard.

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Public funding

• some, but not all, Australian jurisdictions have
  introduced public funding to assist political
  parties to communicate with voters during
  election campaigns.
• In three jurisdictions (South Australia, Tasmania
  and the Northern Territory) there is no public
  funding of parties and candidates for election
  purposes.

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Political equality?

• While Australian public funding systems maintain
  the principle of political equality and the level
  playing field reasonably well (despite drawbacks
  in being retrospective) they are undermined by
  the large corporate donations given to some
  parties.
• While all parties may receive around 2 per vote
  in public funding (if they are over the
  threshold), major parties are receiving five
  times as much this per vote once private
  donations are added in.

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Public and total funding of main political
parties, 2000-03
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Incumbency benefits

• Incumbents have access to significant campaign
  resources relative to non-incumbent political
  candidates and incumbent governments have even
  greater access. Parliamentarians have the
  advantage of substantial parliamentary allowances
  for printing and postage, which are often used
  for electioneering purposes.
• They also have electorate and other staff whose
  travel is paid for even during campaign periods
  (conventionally up until the formal campaign
  launches, which now occur well into the period).
• The late Independent federal MP, Peter Andren,
  proposed that all parliamentary entitlements stop
  as soon as an election is called, but this
  proposal fell on deaf ears.

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Electoral systems

• Australian electoral systems are all
  preferential, whether the single-member
  alternative vote (AV) systems used in most lower
  houses or the STV form of proportional
  representation used for most upper houses. Under
  AV, if no candidate has won a majority of the
  votes, preferences are distributed, starting with
  the lowest-polling candidate, until one candidate
  has a majority.
• STV uses multi-member electorates and candidates
  need to achieve a quota to be elected surplus
  votes and then the votes of lowest polling
  candidates are distributed according to
  preferences indicated by voters. These
  preferences may be allocated across party lines
  as well as between candidates of the same party.
• In the Tasmanian and ACT versions of Hare-Clark
  casual vacancies are filled by countback of the
  votes cast for the departed member to ascertain
  the next preferences. This is claimed to be the
  most democratic system in the world as the same
  minority that elected the member elects their
  successorrather than it being left to a party or
  to a majority of voters at a by-election.

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Electoral systems of Australian parliaments, 2008
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House of Representatives Elections won with a
minority of votes
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Average enrolled voters per federal electoral
division before 1983, after 1983 and at the 2007
federal election
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How far does the legislature reflect the social
composition of the electorate?

• Australian parliaments have never been a mirror
  of the population groups that are significantly
  under-represented include women, Australians from
  non-English speaking backgrounds, blue-collar
  workers and Indigenous Australians.
• Although Australia was the first country in the
  world where most women could both vote and stand
  for the national parliament (under the
  Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902), Australia soon
  fell behind European countries in terms of
  womens entry into parliament.
• As of 30 September 2008 Australia ranked 30th in
  the world in the Inter-Parliamentary Unions
  league table of representation of women in
  national parliaments

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Composition of Australias nine parliaments by
gender and party, 30 October 2008
Source Parliamentary Library, Parliament of
Australia
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Turnout of registered voters
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Problems

• In terms of fair elections, it is often difficult
  to achieve reforms because governing parties
  regard existing arrangements as being in their
  political interest. Often major scandals are
  required to prompt action.
• One example is the lack of effective regulation
  of corporate donations to political parties and
  the consequences of this both in terms of an
  equal basis for electoral competition and
  equality of access to political influence.
• A number of scandals built up momentum for change
  and in 2008 reform initiatives were being
  introduced both at federal and State levels

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Free and fair elections

• Strengths
• Tradition of non-partisan electoral
  administration
• Compulsory voting ensuring high turnout
• Some element of proportional representation in
  most jurisdictions

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Free and fair elections

• Weaknesses
• Elections sometimes won with a minority of votes
• A shrinking electoral roll
• Parliamentary under-representation of women,
  immigrants and Indigenous Australians