Time for a key change? How we would reform Eurovision voting Eurovision is upon us once again – everyone’s favourite flamboyant celebration of Europe’s musical talent. With quite a few ERS staff members being unashamed superfans, we thought it would be a great excuse to take... Posted 12 May 2023
How can one party win all the seats in a local council election without all the votes? In May’s 2023 local elections in England, the Liberal Democrats won 72% of the seats on Bath & North East Somerset. In Broxbourne, the Conservatives won 90% of the seats that were up for election.... Posted 11 May 2023
New rules see Mayors elected without majority support Coverage of the local elections has been dominated by punditry over what the results mean for next year’s general election and the government’s controversial voter ID scheme, which saw countless people turned away from casting... Posted 10 May 2023
90% of seats on less than half the vote? That’s England’s local democracy With nearly all the 2023 local election results declared, the First Past the Post system used across England has once again failed to reflect the views of voters in who runs their local community. Rather... Posted 09 May 2023
Voters across England will be turned away from polling stations today for lacking ID May 4th 2023 was a historic local election for all the wrong reasons. For the first time, voters in England were turned away from polling stations as they lacked the right forms of ID. The... Posted 04 May 2023
Elections Cancelled: 90,000 denied any say in local elections Following the publication of candidate notices for the May 2023 English local elections, it is clear that the scourge of uncontested and guaranteed seats will once again limit the democratic choices of hundreds of thousands... Posted 02 May 2023
Nearly 119,000 signatures handed to No 10 calling for voter ID u-turn Campaign groups handed in nearly 119,000 petition signatures to 10 Downing Street this week, calling for the government to think again, and scrap its dangerous plans for voter ID. The petition delivery took place as... Posted 21 Apr 2023
Greece changes electoral law, then changes it back Greece is holding their 2023 elections on 21 May, following protests and delays caused by the deadliest rail crash in Greek history on 28 February. The crash won’t be the only thing that might impact... Posted 21 Apr 2023
Local Elections: Frequently Asked Questions In the run-up to the May local elections we often hear the same questions being asked by concerned voters. We thought we’d collect together the answers for some of the most frequently asked questions, we... Posted 17 Apr 2023
Why did the Netherlands adopt nationwide proportional representation? The Dutch prioritised proportionality above all else when creating their system of proportional representation; choosing a single nationwide constituency and a very low threshold. This is different to most countries which try to balance local... Posted 01 Apr 2023