The birth of Hungary’s Franken-voting system The three-time two-thirds majority winning political party Fidesz has been able to reshape Hungary’s political institutions because of the 2010 election, in which it won 53% of the vote, and won its first two-thirds majority.... Posted 13 Apr 2018
Just how popular is Hungary’s Fidesz? Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party has dominated Hungarian politics since 2010. On Sunday, its dominance was confirmed, as it won its third two-thirds majority in a row, winning 134 of 199 seats. In most European countries,... Posted 12 Apr 2018
New Zealand election: Citizens make the most of fair votes Saturday saw New Zealand go to the polls for its eighth election since they ditched the broken first past the post system and adopted Mixed-Member Proportional representation (MMP) in 1993. Mixed-Member Proportional is a variant... Posted 27 Sep 2017
Electoral reform returns to the agenda in British Columbia British Columbia, Canada’s most Western province, has often been the site of electoral reform intrigue. In the run-up to the 1952 provincial election the Conservative and Liberal parties tried to stop the socialist Co-operative Commonwealth... Posted 18 May 2017
Fighting for fair votes around the world – lessons from the Global Greens Congress Proportional representation has been a longstanding campaign of the Greens. But not just here in the UK – democratic reform is often a key plank of Green platforms. So it was fascinating to see leaders... Posted 07 Apr 2017
How PR ‘completely transformed’ New Zealand politics: Metiria Turei, Green Party co-leader In 1996, New Zealand introduced the Mixed Member Proportion (MMP) voting system – a mixed FPTP and proportional list voting system. It was a big step forward for the fight for fair votes everywhere. I... Posted 06 Apr 2017
How will the 2017 French presidential election work? After last year’s political whirlwind, attention has turned to 2017’s elections for evidence of further shocks. Voters are going to the polls in the Netherlands, in Germany but most attention is focused on France, whose... Posted 13 Jan 2017
Maine makes history as first state to back fair votes As the world analyses the result of the US Presidential election, there’s one result you might have missed. On Tuesday one state made a symbolic breakthrough: Maine became the first US state to scrap First... Posted 09 Nov 2016
How Trump could win the Presidency even if he doesn’t win the most votes It’s election day in the United States, and that means all the pageantry and spectacle one comes to expect with democracy in the world’s most powerful nation. The spectacle of a US election also reminds... Posted 08 Nov 2016
Electoral reform is making waves across the Atlantic There’s something in the air, it seems. As I write, electoral reformers in Canada and the US have a real chance of securing a fairer voting system. As US voters prepare to pick their next... Posted 03 Nov 2016