by Cimino | 10 Sep 2014 | Election turnout, MMP, Youth voting
mmp permits youth to be given lifetime licence to vote Before 1996, it mattered—in order to participate in an election, a person needed to be registered in an electorate. This requirement reflected the Westminster system whereby the extent of a voter’s democratic...
by Cimino | 8 Sep 2014 | Coalition democratisation, MMP, Parliament, Representation
It must be exercising the mind of ‘Mattiavelli’ McCarten. Simply give the job of prime minister, post the election, to ‘Wily’ Winston. After all, it is entirely up to the winning bloc as to who the prime minister should be. Across all voters, Winston Peters would...
by Cimino | 1 Sep 2014 | Coalition democratisation, MMP
It might be politicians maintaining the miracle It has happened only once. That the people, rather than the politicians, of an established democracy have led the change to a more proportional system. In fact, Aotearoa in 1993 elected to change from a sometimes...
by Cimino | 1 Jul 2014 | MMP
Undemocratic, unnecessary and now, in Germany, unconstitutional. In last month’s European Parliamentary elections, most member countries, and for the first time that included Germany, faced no explicit electoral threshold. In February, Germany’s top court had found a...
by Cimino | 25 Oct 2013 | Concurrent elections, Election turnout, MMP, Online, STV
Another local body election, and another uninformed swipe at STV. While it is probable that the at-large, single-transferable-vote, district health board elections are the single biggest reason only a third of Aucklanders returned their ballots, the explanations for...
by Cimino | 9 Sep 2012 | Coalition democratisation, MMP
Cure for ills of democracy is smarter democracy As submitted 7 September to MMP Review, except where noted Aotearoa is still very near to having the world’s smartest electoral system. If, as is entirely probable, the Electoral Commission’s proposals become its...
