2011 Falkland Islands electoral system referendum

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2011 Falkland Islands electoral system referendum
Flag of the Falkland Islands.svg
3 November 2011
Do you want a single constituency for the whole of the Islands?
Results
Choice
Votes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes28441.22%
Light brown x.svg No40558.78%
Valid votes689100.00%
Invalid or blank votes00.00%
Total votes689100.00%
Registered voters/turnout1,57143.86%

A referendum on reforming the voting system was held in the Falkland Islands on 3 November 2011. [1] Voters were asked "Do you want a single constituency for the whole of the Islands?" [1] The proposal required a two-thirds majority in both of the islands' constituencies, [2] but was rejected by 58.78% of voters overall; in Stanley it was narrowly approved by 50.2% of voters but in Camp it was widely rejected, with 84% voting against. [2] Turnout was 70% in Camp and just 39% in Stanley. [2]

Contents

Background

Under section 27 of the Falkland Islands Constitution, any change to the constituencies on the islands must be supported in a referendum by at least two-thirds of the vote. [3]

The proposal to create a single constituency for the islands was a response to Camp being heavily over-represented in the Legislative Assembly, electing three of the eight seats (38% of the total), whilst the remaining five seats were elected from Stanley (62.5%). [1] In 2011 there were 262 voters (17%) in Camp and 1,315 (83%) in Stanley, meaning the current arrangements provided for one MLA for every 87 voters in Camp and one for every 263 in Stanley. [4]

Originally the two constituencies had had equal representation, but had been changed as the population of Stanley increased. [2] The proposal had already been put to voters in a referendum in 2001, and had been rejected. [1] A second referendum was approved by the Assembly on 26 August 2011 by a vote of four to three. [1]

Results

The question posed by the referendum was:

Do you want a single constituency for the whole of the Islands? [4]

Falkland Islands electoral system referendum, 2011
ChoiceVotes %
Light brown x.svg No40558.78
Yes28441.22
Total votes689100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,57143.86
Source: [1]

Results by constituency

RegionNo voteNo %Yes voteYes %
Stanley constituency 25349.825550.2
Camp constituency 15284.02916.0

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Falkland-Inseln, 3. November 2011: Wahl in einem einzigen Wahlkreis Direct Democracy
  2. 1 2 3 4 Falkland Islands voters overwhelmingly reject single constituency proposal MercoPress, 4 November 2011
  3. ↑ "Official text of the Falkland Islands Constitution Order 2008" (PDF). falklands.gov.fk. 1 January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-11-23. Retrieved 2010-06-07.
  4. 1 2 Voting arrangements for Referendum of 3 November 2011 Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Government of the Falkland Islands
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