This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Bermuda |
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General elections were held in Bermuda on 16 May 1963. [1] They were the first elections to be held under the new Parliamentary Election Act and included political parties. Independents won 30 of the 36 seats in the House of Assembly, with the Progressive Labour Party, which had been established three months before the elections, winning six of the nine seats it contested. [1]
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 1,070 km (665 mi) east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; 1,236 km (768 mi) south of Cape Sable Island, Nova Scotia; and 1,759 km (1,093 mi) northeast of Cuba. The capital city is Hamilton. Bermuda is self-governing, with its own constitution and its own government, which enacts local laws, while the United Kingdom retains responsibility for defence and foreign relations. As of July 2018, its population is 71,176, the highest of the British overseas territories.
The House of Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. The house has 36 Members of Parliament (MPs), elected for a term of five years in single seat constituencies using first-past-the-post voting. Bermuda now has universal voting with a voting age of 18 years. Voting is non-compulsory. The presiding officer of the House is called the Speaker.
The BermudaProgressive Labour Party (PLP) is one of the two political parties in Bermuda. At the 18 July 2017 general election, the party won 24 of the 36 seats in the Bermudian House of Assembly to become the governing party. The party was founded in 1963, the first political party in Bermuda, and the oldest still active. It formed government from 1998 to 2012, and again since 2017.
Before the passing of the Parliamentary Election Act the franchise was restricted to property owners. The Act introduced universal suffrage, but increasing the voting age from 21 to 25.
The concept of universal suffrage, also known as general suffrage or common suffrage, consists of the right to vote of all adult citizens, regardless of property ownership, income, race, or ethnicity, subject only to minor exceptions. In its original 19th-century usage by political reformers, universal suffrage was understood to mean only universal manhood suffrage; the vote was extended to women later, during the women's suffrage movement.
A voting age is a minimum age established by law that a person must attain before they become eligible to vote in a public election. Today, the most common voting age is 18 years; however, voting ages as low as 16 and as high as 25 currently exist. Most countries have set a minimum voting age, often set in their constitution. In a number of countries voting is compulsory for those eligible to vote, while in most it is optional.
However, powerful white businessmen, who were the dominant force in Parliament at the time, also passed the Watlington Amendment, which gave landowners with rateable property in the territory a second vote in their home constituency. [2] Of the 14,896 registered voters, 8,207 could cast only a single vote and 6,689 were eligible to cast a second vote. Each of the nine parish was divided into two constituencies, each of which returned two members to the House of Assembly, making a total of 36 seats. [1]
The Parliament of Bermuda is the bicameral legislature in the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. The two houses are:
Party | Votes | % | Seats |
---|---|---|---|
Progressive Labour Party | 5,827 | 18.62 | 6 |
Independents | 25,471 | 81.38 | 30 |
Total | 31,298 | 100 | 36 |
Registered voters | 14,896 | 78.15 | – |
Source: Parliamentary Registry |
Bermuda is a parliamentary representative democratic dependency. The premier is the head of government, and there is a multi-party system.
The Alþingi is the national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world, a claim shared by Tynwald. The Althing was founded in 930 at Þingvellir, situated approximately 45 kilometres (28 mi) east of what later became the country's capital, Reykjavík. Even after Iceland's union with Norway in 1262, the Althing still held its sessions at Þingvellir until 1800, when it was discontinued for 45 years. It was restored in 1844 and moved to Reykjavík, where it has resided ever since. The present parliament building, the Alþingishús, was built in 1881, made of hewn Icelandic stone.
Elections to determine the makeup of the legislative bodies on the three levels of administrative division in the Kingdom of Sweden are held once every four years. At the highest level, these elections determine the allocation of seats in the Riksdag, the national legislative body of Sweden. Elections to the 20 county councils (landsting) and 290 municipal assemblies (kommunfullmäktige) – all using roughly the same electoral system – are held concurrently with the legislative elections on the second Sunday in September.
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Elections in Bermuda have been taking place since 1620. Bermuda's current electoral system, with a lower house elected by all Bermudian status-holders, each casting a single vote, voting in single-member districts on the first-past-the-post method, came into effect with the 1968 constitution.
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India is a federation with a parliamentary system governed under the Constitution of India, which defines the power distribution between the union, or central, government and the states.
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In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies.
Cornwall is a former county constituency covering the county of Cornwall, in the South West of England. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of England then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Knights of the Shire, elected by the bloc vote system.
There are six types of elections in the United Kingdom: elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elections to devolved parliaments and assemblies, elections to the European Parliament, local elections, mayoral elections and Police and Crime Commissioner elections. Within each of those categories, there may be by-elections as well as general elections. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday. Since the passing of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 for general elections, all six types of elections are held after fixed periods, though early elections to parliament and the devolved assemblies and parliaments can occur in certain situations. Currently, six electoral systems are used: the single member plurality system, the multi member plurality system, party-list proportional representation, the single transferable vote, the additional member system and the supplementary vote.
General elections were held in Bermuda on 22 May 1968. The result was a victory for the United Bermuda Party, which won 30 of the 40 seats in the House of Assembly. The Progressive Labour Party increased its representation by four to ten.
General elections were held in Bermuda in December 1980. The result was a victory for the United Bermuda Party, which won 22 of the 40 seats.
General elections were held in Bermuda on 4 February 1983. The result was a victory for the United Bermuda Party, which won 26 of the 40 seats.
The next general election in the United Kingdom is scheduled to be held on 5 May 2022 under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. The election may be held at an earlier date in the event of an early election motion being passed by a super-majority of two-thirds in the House of Commons, or a vote of no confidence in the government which is not followed by a vote of confidence within 14 days.
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