The May 3 Scotland Parliamentary Election used a mixture of single-member constituencies and proportional representation. 129 seats were up. 73 members were elected from districts, the old-fashioned way that has always been used in the U.S. (in other words, whichever candidate gets the most votes, is elected). The other 56 seats were filled proportionately.

Voters voted for a district member. Then, in a different part of the ballot, they voted for their favorite party, for the non-district seats. The results: Labor received 37 district seats but only 9 more proportionate seats, for a total of 46. The Scottish National Party won 21 district seats but 26 more seats from the proportionate part of the ballot, for a total of 47. The Conservative Party won only 4 district seats, but 13 more proportionate seats. The Liberal Democrats won 11 district seats and 5 more proportionate seats. The Green Party won 2 seats, and one independent was elected.

Even though the Scotland Parliamentary elections had used this same system in 2003, this time there was confusion. Whereas in 2003 there had been one ballot for the district seats and one district for the at-large seats, this time there was only one ballot for both types of seats. Unfortunately, the directions said “vote twice”. The people who wrote the directions meant to explain to voters to vote both for a district seat, and an at-large seat. But some voters tried to vote for 2 candidates for a district seat, or tried to make 2 choices for the at-large seats. Approximately 100,000 ballots were spoiled.

Completely separate from the Parliamentary election, were elections for local council, held all over Great Britain except for London. In Scotland, these elections used Single Transferrable Vote, which had not been used in Scotland before. It worked well.

As reported earlier, the Illinois Senate has unanimously passed SB 733, which sets the minor party and independent petition requirements at approximately one-fourth of 1% of the last vote cast. But the Illinois House has unanimously passed HB 632, which sets them at 5% of the last vote cast.

Anyone who lives in Illinois should contact state legislators and point out that 5% would give Illinois the 2nd most stringent requirement in the country, for district and county office petitions. Every other state except Georgia and Alabama has some procedure onto the general election ballot, for US House and state legislature, that is at or below 2% of the last vote cast. Sometimes that procedure is for minor or new parties; sometimes it is for independent candidates. Only Georgia, Alabama and Illinois set all routes onto the November ballot (for district and county office) at a level above 2% of the last vote cast. Alabama is at 3% of the last gubernatorial vote; Georgia is 5% of the number of registered voters.

For coordination with other Illinois activists, contact Jeff Trigg at 309-282-6139.

Hawaii’s legislature had passed SB 1956, the National Popular Vote Plan, in April. But Governor Linda Lingle had vetoed it. Since then, the Senate overrode her veto. On May 3, the Hawaii legislature adjourned, before the House had voted on whether to override the veto. The legislature will return in July to finish considering which vetoes to override. At that time, the House will vote on SB 1956. If the House does vote to override, Hawaii will join Maryland as one of the states that has approved the Compact.