When prime minister Julia Gillard announced last month the nation would go to the polls on September 14, she made political history and caught the nation off guard. She also sparked renewed debate about…
Australia is one of the only countries in the democratic world that doesn’t require political parties to report electoral expenditure.
Flickr/Mindful One
The release of political donation data from 2011—2012 has predictably generated headlines about who paid what to which Australian political parties over the past year.
In line with the Commonwealth Electoral…
Direct enrolment could mean a longer queue at the ballot box.
AAP/Dave Hunt
By Rob Hoffman, Swinburne University of Technology
Following the prime minister’s surprise announcement of a federal election for September 14, attention will inevitably fall on the role Labor’s key electoral reforms may play in the coming contest. Alongside…
“I Voted”: but in many American states, the winner-takes-all Electoral College system renders some votes wasted.
EPA/Erik S. Lesser
Every four years, bemused Australians endeavour to come to terms with the Electoral College voting system for the President of the United States. While Americans vote directly for most political officeholders…
Another free and fair Australian election – this time the recent Queensland state election – gets underway.
AAP/Dan Peled
Is there a role for deliberation about electoral rules?
For many, the answer would be “no”. For them, the notion of principled discussion informed by careful reflection is deeply incongruous with the…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott are not doing Australian politics any favours.
AAP
Imagine a country in which politics is not a struggle among ambitious individuals for power, but the community’s way of resolving conflicts and advancing its common interests.
Voters are well-educated…
The ballot paper was an Australian innovation.
AAP
One hundred and fifty years ago, the South Australian House of Assembly handed down the report of its first committee into the running of elections.
Its main purpose was to find the causes of two troubling…
