|
1. To follow through on our decision to design our system of government from the bottom up, it now seems appropriate to look at voting systems and elections.
2. In Tasks 7 and 8, we examined the advantages and disadvantages of mini electorates to provide more intimate representation and more effective accountability. In Task 9 we will examine the pros and cons of various voting and electoral systems. In so doing, our aim will be to ensure true democracy, intimate representation, accountable representatives and good governance.
3. Our current constitution makes no mention of elections or voting systems. Since Federation, we have relied, both federally and in the States, on legislation to prescribe this part of our system of governance. As a result, we have seen manipulation of election legislation by politicians to achieve their own ends. In particular, the electoral system has been manipulated to provide major parties with a distinct advantage over minor parties and independents. The different, often contradictory systems used in State and Federal elections lead to voter confusion and subsequent disenfranchisement.
4. Many expert commentators favour inclusion of electoral law in the Constitution to ensure elections are conducted how the People want them conducted rather than how the major political parties would like them conducted. It is another example of how the sovereignty of the People can be reinstated.
5. Although an independent statutory authority, the Australian Electoral Commission, was established in 1984, there is wide dissatisfaction with the legislation because of lack of accountability for the integrity of the system and the impracticality of being able to challenge the veracity of any aspect of the electoral system. The appointment of an Electoral Ombudsman to provide an avenue of challenge is widely promoted as a remedy for these deficiencies. This issue has gained momentum following the revelation of widespread 'roll stacking' in Queensland.
6. Also central to this issue is whether or not voting should be compulsory. Australia is one of the few countries in the world that has compulsory voting. This in itself is not surprising. Australia is known worldwide as a leader in matters of governance. Although introduced almost by accident in 1924, it has become very much part of the Australian culture. There is much debate about the advantages and disadvantages of compulsory voting. However, it is probably fair to say that we still have it because it provides yet another advantage to major political parties. On the other hand, it is well established that it is the newly enfranchised that are most likely not to vote in a voluntary system. Thus a voluntary system tends to disenfranchise young people - those reaching voting age. There is also strong evidence to suggest that a compulsory system does give members of the society an incentive to take an interest in what is happening on the governance side of society.
7. However, a more contentious issue is the voting system. There are many voting systems in use around the world and it is a complex issue. Simplistically, the broad options could be stated as plurality, majority, proportional representation and the list system.
8. Plurality is a system in which the successful candidate is required to receive more votes than any other candidate. This is the simplest system but has the distinct disadvantage that, with five candidates, the successful candidate could have the support of only 20% plus one of the electorate.
9. The majority system is one in which the successful candidate is required to win more votes than all the other candidates put together; ie, 50% plus one. This system ensures the successful candidate has the support of more than half of the electorate. It is most effective when combined with a preferential system to ensure an eventual winner, after preferences are distributed, even though one candidate did not receive more than 50% of primary votes.
10. Proportional representation is designed to ensure that minorities gain a measure of representation according to their number. The key ingredient of proportional representation is multiple-representative electorates. This system has the advantage of providing representation for minorities. That is, representation for relatively minor parties or independents and even representation for ethnic or religious minorities if these groups are in significant number. The big disadvantage of this system is that it usually entails having large electorates. Thus an ethnic minority, for example, may gain representation because of the cohesion inherent in the ethnic group, but a minor party may fail because of insufficient resources, (lack of funds for advertising, etc) to reach people of like mind spread over a large electorate.
11. Finally, the list system is one in which each party is granted seats in accordance with the number of votes received. Once again, the big disadvantage is that the system tends to favour the larger political parties. There are various methods of counting votes in this system; the best known of which are the d'Hond't rule and the largest remainder rule.
12. In our Federal Lower House elections, we currently use the majority system coupled with compulsory preferential voting in single-member electorates. That is, a system in which the voter is compelled to express a preference for each of the candidates. If no candidate receives a majority of primary votes, the successful candidate is decided after preferences are distributed.
13. In Australian Senate elections, a voter has a choice of expressing his or her own preferences or, alternatively, a voter can vote 'above the line'. In the latter case, by voting for just one candidate (or Party), the voter authorises distribution of preferences according to the predetermined wishes of the candidate (or Party). Senate elections use proportional representation; ie, representation is gained according to the percentage of votes received. In State elections a variety of systems are used.
14. In our House of Representative elections we have single-member electorates of approximately 80,000 voters. In our Senate elections, the electorates are the whole of each State and Territory and there is equal representation of each of the States by 12 Senators with two Senators representing the ACT and the Northern Territory. Thus there are 12 Senators representing the 330,000 voters in Tasmania, 12 Senators representing the 2,276,000 voters in Queensland and 12 Senators representing the many more voters in NSW and in Victoria. This is a legacy of the compromises necessary to persuade the six independent Colonies to create the Australian Federation. Although probably quite justified at the time of Federation, this anomaly is one that we should address as we strive to devise a better system of government. The adoption of 60 or 70 regions as a basis for Senate elections is one way of resolving this disparity of representation.
15. The next area of concern is the integrity of the electoral roll and the ability of the system to obviate voting fraud. Currently, in the opinion of many expert commentators, our current system leaves a lot to be desired. Just as one needs '100 points of identification' to open a bank account, it is argued the same proof of identity should be required before being listed on the electoral roll. Similarly, proof of identity should be required before one casts a vote. Currently, we have an absolute secret ballot system. Under this system it is virtually impossible to correct any electoral fraud. In Victoria in 1856, a Mr H S Chapman drafted the world's first effective secret ballot legislation. It was a limited secret ballot system. The limited system is traceable, with court-supervised scrutiny, and thereby the extent of fraudulent voting can be assessed. With our present untraceable absolute secret ballot, we condone fraud.
16. Then there is the problem of funding. Currently, there is a requirement for political parties and candidates to disclose the source of donations. However, there are widespread anecdotal indications that loopholes in the legislation are exploited. Furthermore the allocation of public money to candidates achieving more than a set percentage of votes favours large political parties and is quoted as a cause of the lack of electoral reform in recent years.
17. We have already discussed the cost of print, radio and TV advertising necessary to reach voters in State-wide and 80,000 voter electorates; and the inability of independents and small parties to compete with large parties in this area. The major parties can, and do, expend vast sums on advertising, confident of recouping these costs from the public purse. This is just one of the anomalies that ensures our 'democracy' is reduced to a choice of either a Labor or a Coalition government. This problem could be overcome by removing this subsidy. However, one argument for the subsidy is that it facilitates public education and information about current issues. Perhaps a better solution is smaller electorates. Smaller electorates would have the effect of 'leveling the playing field' for small parties and independent candidates, would provide a wider distribution of funding and would promote a wider debate of issues.
18. Currently, our practice is to conduct elections for the whole of the House of Representatives and half the Senate every three years. Although this gives some continuity in the Senate, the House of Representatives must endure a total upheaval every three years.
19. An alternative arrangement would be to conduct elections in just part of the country more often. For example, if we had 144 members of the House of Representatives we could conduct elections for just 12 seats each quarter or 4 seats each month. Candidates could still be elected for three years but there would not be wholesale change at the one time. The government would still change when the ruling party no longer commanded a majority in the Lower House. Such a system could provide a steady stream of new representatives in both houses. There are many advantages of such a system in addition to the absence of upheaval. One advantage is that the government would be provided with a continual barometer of its performance.
20. It is not possible here to debate or even describe the advantages and disadvantages of the alternatives in each of these aspects of electoral and voting systems. You must do your own research to arrive at your own conclusions. To provide some quantifiable data on which to base our model constitution, we ask you in this Task to answer the following questions. However, we suspect that you may wish to provide written submissions to better express your opinion on these complex issues.
21. Questionnaire
| Topic |
Agree |
Disagree |
a. Electoral systems should be specified in the Constitution.
b. Voting systems should be specified in the Constitution.
c. The Constitution should specify an Electoral Ombudsman.
d. The Constitution should specify the role, responsibilities
and powers of the Electoral Ombudsman.
e. The Constitution should establish an independent, Australian
Electoral Commission.
f. The Constitution should specify the role and responsibilities
of an independent Australian Electoral Commission.
g. Registration for voting should be compulsory.
h. Proof of identity and residence should be compulsory when
Registering for the electoral roll.
i. Voting should be compulsory.
j. Proof of identity should be required at polling booths.
k. The 'limited secret ballot' should be used for all elections
l. The number of Senators and Members of the House of Reps
should be specified in the Constitution.
m. The whole-of-State Senate electorates are too large.
n. The disparity in Senate representation should remain.
- o. Senate representation should be decided on the basis of;
- (i) State boundaries
(ii) State Boundaries modified by population figures
(iii) Regions modified by population figures
(iv) One of the above plus representation from large
nation-wide orgs, e-g (ACTU, Business Council of Aust, etc)
p. Senate and H of Reps electorates should be the same.
q. The same system of voting should be used for all elections.
- r. Of all the electoral systems, the best is:
- (i) The successful candidate is the one with the largest
number of primary votes.
(ii) Compulsory preferential with single member electorates.
(iii) Compulsory preferential with multiple members.
(iv) Voluntary preferential with single member electorates.
(v) Compulsory preferential with multiple members.
(vi) Proportional representation (large, multi-member
electorates.)
(vii) Proportional representation (small, multi-member
electorates.)
(viii) The list system.
s. Senate and Lower House elections should be conducted
at the same time.
- t. Elections for the whole of the Senate should be conducted;
- (i) Every two years
(ii) Every three years
(iii) Every four years
(iv) Every five years
(v) Every six years
(vi) Less often than every six years
u. Elections for the whole of the House of Representatives should be conducted;- (i) Every two years
(ii) Every three years
(iii) Every four years
(iv) Every five years
(v) Every six years
(vi) Less often than every six years.
v. Partial elections should be conducted more often in both
Houses to provide a trickle of new politicians and avoid upheaval.
w. Members of the House of Representatives should serve
for a term of three, four, five, six, more years? (specify)
x. Senators should serve for a term of, four, six, eight,
more years? (specify).
y. There should be no public funding of elections.
z. There should be only public funding of elections. |
|
|
22. Please discuss these very complex issues with your friends.
·===============  ===============·
|
