 |
|---|
See also:
|
|
|
Electoral reform in New York refers to efforts to change the voting and election laws in New York State. In 2021, the New York State Legislature asked members of New York state through means of ballot proposals, all of which were denied by voters.
In a 1936 referendum, voters in New York City voted in favour of the adoption of the single transferable vote method of proportional representation. In the election immediately preceding STV's adoption, the Democrats won 95.3% of the seats on the Board of Aldermen with only 66.5% of the vote. In 1941, proportional representation gave the Democrats 65.5% of the seats on 64% of the vote, with the Republicans and three smaller parties also gaining seats in proportion to their voting strength. [1] The system was repealed after the 1947 election. Despite not having proportional representation, the Conservative Party and Liberal Party continue to participate in the electoral system through electoral fusion.
As of 2021, the primaries for NY City mayoral candidates are being conducted using ranked-choice voting (Instant-runoff voting). [2]
New York disenfranchises felons both while they are in prison and while they are on parole. The Sentencing Project favors restoring these rights. New York allows absentee ballots for "registered voters who cannot make it to the polls on Election Day because of occupation, business, studies, travel, imprisonment (other than a convicted felon), illness, disability and hospitalization or resident in a long term care facility". [3]
In both 2006 and 2007, bills were introduced in the New York Legislature to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact and award the state's 31 electoral votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote. Both proposals failed. The legislation later succeeded in 2014 when New York joined the compact. [4]
A new party or independent candidate may gain ballot access for one election by collecting a set number of petition signatures for each office (or 5 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent election in the jurisdiction, if that is lower). A new party that wins 130,000 votes or 2% of the vote in the previous gubernatorial election or presidential election is recognized statewide as a political party and qualifies to participate in primary elections for two years. This total can be and often is obtained through electoral fusion. Candidates may gain access to primary election ballots by being "designated" by a relevant committee of the party or collecting signatures equal to 5 percent of the party's enrollment in the jurisdiction, up to a set number for each office. A candidate seeking the nomination of a party to which she or he does not belong – e.g. for purposes of fusion – must be authorized by a relevant committee of the party. Reformers would like to see the ballot access laws loosened.
During the 2021 New York state elections, several ballot proposals were provided. Ballot proposals #1 ("Making Various Changes to Redistricting Process"), #3 ("Allow Legislature to Pass Some-Day Voter Registration"), and #4 ("Allow Legislature to Pass No-Excuse Absentee Voting"), were all related to electoral reform. In accordance with the New York State Constitution, a referendum must be given before the New York State Assembly moved for reforms. All the above proposals were rejected by voters. The results were as follows: [5] [6] [7]
| Question | For | Against | Blank | Void | Total votes | Registered voters | Turnout | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | Votes | % | |||||
| Proposal 1: Make Various Changes to Redistricting Process | 1,202,106 | 38.42% | 1,518,442 | 48.53% | 406,974 | 13.01% | 1,236 | 0.04% | 3,128,758 | 12,318,347 | 25.399% | Rejected |
| Proposal 3: Allow Legislature to Pass Same-Day Voter Registration | 1,179,674 | 37.67% | 1,608,177 | 51.35% | 342,222 | 10.93% | 1,831 | 0.06% | 3,131,904 | 25.424% | Rejected | |
| Proposal 4: Allow Legislature to Pass No-Excuse Absentee Voting | 1,208,664 | 38.60% | 1,568,895 | 50.10% | 352,129 | 11.24% | 1,841 | 0.06% | 3,131,529 | 25.421% | Rejected | |
Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which a candidate(s), who poll more than any other counterpart, are elected. In systems based on single-member districts, it elects just one member per district and may also be referred to as first-past-the-post (FPTP), single-member plurality (SMP/SMDP), single-choice voting, simple plurality or relative majority. A system which elects multiple winners elected at once with the plurality rule, such as one based on multi-seat districts, is referred to as plurality block voting.
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions among voters. The essence of such systems is that all votes cast – or almost all votes cast – contribute to the result and are effectively used to help elect someone – not just a bare plurality or (exclusively) the majority – and that the system produces mixed, balanced representation reflecting how votes are cast.
Mixed-member proportional representation is a mixed electoral system in which votes are cast for both local elections and also for overall party vote tallies, which are used to allocate additional members to produce or deepen overall proportional representation.
Electoral reform in New Zealand has, in recent years, become a political issue as major changes have been made to both parliamentary and local government electoral systems.
The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is an independent campaigning organisation based in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It seeks to replace first-past-the-post voting with proportional representation, advocating the single transferable vote. It is the world's oldest operating organisation concerned with political and electoral reform.
Canada holds elections for legislatures or governments in several jurisdictions: for the federal (national) government, provincial and territorial governments, and municipal governments. Elections are also held for self-governing First Nations and for many other public and private organizations including corporations and trade unions. Municipal elections can also be held for both upper-tier and lower-tier governments.
In the politics of the United States, elections are held for government officials at the federal, state, and local levels. At the federal level, the nation's head of state, the president, is elected indirectly by the people of each state, through an Electoral College. Today, these electors almost always vote with the popular vote of their state. All members of the federal legislature, the Congress, are directly elected by the people of each state. There are many elected offices at state level, each state having at least an elective governor and legislature. There are also elected offices at the local level, in counties, cities, towns, townships, boroughs, and villages; as well as for special districts and school districts which may transcend county and municipal boundaries.
A referendum was held in the Canadian province of British Columbia on May 17, 2005, to determine whether or not to adopt the recommendation of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform to replace the existing first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP) with a single transferable vote system (BC-STV). It was held in conjunction with the BC Legislative Assembly election of 2005. Voters were given two ballots at that time: a ballot to vote for a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA) in their constituency and a referendum ballot. The referendum received considerable support from the electorate but failed in meeting the 60-percent threshold that had been set. A second referendum was held in 2009.
A referendum was held on October 10, 2007, on the question of whether to establish a mixed member proportional representation (MMP) system for elections to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The vote was strongly in favour of the existing plurality voting or first-past-the-post (FPTP) system.
Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a voting method used in single-seat elections with more than two candidates. Instead of voting only for a single candidate, voters in IRV elections can rank the candidates in order of preference. Ballots are initially counted for each elector's top choice, losing candidates are eliminated, and ballots for losing candidates are redistributed until one candidate is the top remaining choice of a majority of the voters. When the field is reduced to two, it has become an "instant runoff" that allows a comparison of the top two candidates head-to-head.
The Politics of British Columbia involves not only the governance of British Columbia, Canada, and the various political factions that have held or vied for legislative power, but also a number of experiments or attempts at political and electoral reform.
Elections in California are held to fill various local, state and federal seats. In California, regular elections are held every even year ; however, some seats have terms of office that are longer than two years, so not every seat is on the ballot in every election. Special elections may be held to fill vacancies at other points in time. Recall elections can also be held. Additionally, statewide initiatives, legislative referrals and referendums may be on the ballot.
Electoral reform in Virginia refers to efforts to change the electoral system in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia has undergone much electoral change since its settling in 1607, many of which were required by federal legislation. However, it remains a relatively conservative state in this respect compared to California and others which have experimented with various alternative systems.
Electoral reform in California refers to efforts to change election and voting laws in the U.S. state of California.
Scotland uses different electoral systems for elections to Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and to local councils. A different system was also in use between 1999 and 2019 for United Kingdom elections to the European Parliament. Historically, only First Past the Post (FPTP) was used for all elections in Scotland, but this changed in 1999 both with the introduction of D'Hondt elections to the EU Parliament and the inception the same year of the devolved Scottish Parliament. Two of the devolved legislatures in the United Kingdom - the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd - use the Additional Members System (AMS). AMS has been used for every Scottish Parliament election since 1999, with the most recent being in 2021.
Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems which alters how public desires are expressed in election results.
Electoral reform in Oregon refers to efforts to change election and voting laws in the West Coast state of Oregon.
An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections may take place in business, non-profit organisations and informal organisations. These rules govern all aspects of the voting process: when elections occur, who is allowed to vote, who can stand as a candidate, how ballots are marked and cast, how the ballots are counted, how votes translate into the election outcome, limits on campaign spending, and other factors that can affect the result. Political electoral systems are defined by constitutions and electoral laws, are typically conducted by election commissions, and can use multiple types of elections for different offices.
Dual-member proportional representation (DMP), also known as dual-member mixed proportional, is an electoral system designed to produce proportional election results across a region by electing two representatives in each of the region’s districts. The first seat in every district is awarded to the candidate who receives the most votes, similar to first-past-the-post voting (FPTP). The second seat is awarded to one of the remaining district candidates so that proportionality is achieved across the region, using a calculation that aims to award parties their seats in the districts where they had their strongest performances.
A referendum on electoral reform took place by mail-in ballot between October 22 and December 7, 2018, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. 61.3 percent of voters supported maintaining the first-past-the-post voting system rather than switching to a proportional representation voting system, which was supported by 38.7 percent of voters. This was British Columbia's third referendum on electoral reform, following ones in 2005 and 2009.
