Austria Parliamentary Election of 2017

Posted on by October 24, 2017
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On October 15, Austria held a Parliamentary election, using proportional representation. Five groups polled at least 4% of the vote and therefore gained representatives in Parliament. The results are: Austrian People’s 62 seats; Social Democratic 52 seats; Freedom 51 seats; New Austria 10 seats; Peter Pilz List 8 seats.

No party received a majority of the seats, so the Austrian Peoples Party formed the government with help from the Freedom Party. See the wikipedia page about the election.

The Green Party had had 24 seats, but because it only polled 3.8%, it lost its seats.

Scholars Suggest Possible Improvements in New York State Constitution, in Advance of Popular Vote on Whether to Call a Constitutional Convention

Posted on by October 24, 2017
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On November 7, 2017, New York voters will decide whether to call a state constitutional convention to consider ideas for revising the New York Constitution, which has been in effect since 1894. Every twenty years the voters of New York are given this opportunity.

Some scholars have put together a list of ideas that might be considered for a new Constitution. The publication is issued by the Rockefeller Institute of Government and Albany Law School.

Many powerful groups have passed resolutions saying the New York State Constitution is good enough now and that voters should vote “no”. They include the Association of State Court Judges, many labor unions, and the ACLU. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link. Note especially the ideas for altering election law, which start on page seven.

Maine Legislature Deals Setback to Ranked Choice Voting

Posted on by October 23, 2017
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On October 23, the Maine legislature passed LD 1646. It suspends ranked choice voting in both 2018 and 2020, and repeals it effective 2021 if the Maine State Constitution doesn’t get changed by then to permit ranked choice voting in general elections for state office. The procedure to change the Maine constitution starts with a two-thirds vote of the legislature.

The House initially passed a version of the bill that would have allowed ranked choice voting to be used for primaries, and for congressional elections, in 2018. But the Senate amended it to suspend ranked choice voting. Finally, after many votes, the House agreed to the Senate version. Here is the Senate roll call. Generally Democrats voted in favor of ranked choice voting and Republicans voted against it. The Senate vote was 19-16.

Supporters of ranked choice voting are free to launch a referendum petition against LD 1646, and they may do so. If the referendum gets enough signatures, there would be another vote of the people. The voters had passed ranked choice voting a year ago.

California Republican Party, for First Time, Will Have Mechanism to Endorse Candidates in Primaries

Posted on by October 23, 2017
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On October 22, the California Republican Party state convention voted to set up a procedure for the state party to endorse candidates in statewide primary elections, starting in 2018. See this story.

Many of the supporters of a top-two system hold themselves as being opposed to “party bosses” and “party control of elections.” The irony is that the top-two system in California has now caused both major parties to endorse candidates before the primary. At one time in California it was illegal for political parties to endorse candidates in their own primaries, although that law was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1989 in Eu v San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee. Still, even after parties gained the free speech right to endorse candidates in their own primaries, they did not begin to do so until the top-two system came into existence.