One Nation candidate Rod Culleton could win Western Australia’s final Senate position, but Section 44 of the Constitution suggests he is ineligible to take his seat.
Speaking with: Graeme Orr on the festival of elections
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William Isdale speaks with Graeme Orr about the festival spirit of elections, the unique Australian culture of voting, and the history of corruption, drinking and coercion in voting worldwide.
Political funding is a fundamental public trust matter. It deserves to be debated at COAG.
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Friday’s COAG meeting is a perfect opportunity for politicians to govern in the public interest: and that should start with reforming political donations.
Queensland is set to join all other states, territories and local councils (with the exception of Tasmania) in having fixed four-year parliamentary terms.
AAP/Dan Peled
The House of Representatives is now the only lower house chamber in the Australian parliamentary system with non-fixed three-year terms. Should it change?
What does a formal ballot look like after the government’s Senate voting changes?
AAP/Richard Wainwright
Election monitoring has become an international norm for maintaining electoral integrity. A new survey finds a world of difference between the high hopes and dire realities of poll-watching.
The High Court is unlikely to be sympathetic to claims of discrimination against the microparties in the proposed Senate reforms.
AAP/Lukas Koch
A suggested constitutional challenge to the Senate reforms through the High Court is unlikely to succeed.
Some voters in New South Wales may be forced to vote in a different electorate at the next federal election following a recent redistribution.
AAP/Paul Miller
Any redistribution of electoral boundaries may significantly impact how parties are represented in the parliament. But how does Australia’s system of changing seat boundaries actually work?
The haste to deregulate political finance has led to political participation in the US becoming highly unequal.
Reuters/Jason Reed
The role of money in politics challenges rich and poor countries worldwide. Its abuse raises problems of graft, corruption and cronyism, undermining legitimacy and governance.
The O'Farrell government had a law limiting political donations struck down by the High Court.
AAP/Dan Himbrechts
It is unfortunate that it is only scandals and the perception of corruption or criminal involvement that prompt moves to reform Australia’s political finance regime.
NSW is expected to see a surge in online voting before the March 28 election – but for peace of mind, old-fashioned paper ballots are still hard to beat.
Paul Miller/AAP
The NSW election will be Australia’s biggest test of electronic voting, with up to 250,000 votes set to be cast online or by phone. But many questions remain about the integrity and privacy of those votes.
Which parties will get their lucky numbers?
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Britain’s first-past-the-post system is often defended on the grounds that it enables voters to choose between alternative governments. Two qualities supposedly give it this character. First, it gives…
If recent trends hold, early voting in Australia is here to stay.
AAP/Dan Peled
As counting for the Queensland state election continues, the Electoral Commission of Queensland has reported a record number of pre-poll votes. More than 200,000 Queenslanders cast their vote early. This…
Does Labor leader Annastacia Palaszczuk (left), Queensland Premier Campbell Newman, or someone else get your vote? Under Queensland’s electoral system, people can choose between ‘just vote 1’ or numbering more boxes.
AAP/David Kapernick
This weekend, Queenslanders are being urged to “just vote 1” by the Liberal National government, just as Labor has done in the past. Premier Campbell Newman warned that “wasted votes going to independents…
Corruption-buster Tony Fitzgerald is urging Queenslanders to lodge a protest vote against the major parties if they want to see real political reform.
AAP/Dan Peled
Tony Fitzgerald had a point when he recently urged Queenslanders not to vote for either of the major parties in the January 31 state election. The 73-year-old, who headed Queensland’s landmark corruption…
Parties who gained a very small first preference vote look set to be elected to Victoria’s upper house.
AAP/Luis Enrique Ascui
The final count for Victoria’s Legislative Council is still some days away, but it appears members elected from micro-parties will hold the balance of power in the upper house. This will be a challenge…
With a forced smile and through gritted teeth, Tower Hamlets’ elected mayor, Lutfur Rahman, has announced himself willing to accept – and even “welcome” – the intervention package set out for his borough…
NSW premier Mike Baird’s proposed changes to the state’s electoral funding laws could cost taxpayers more than $10 million extra per electoral cycle.
AAP/Dean Lewins
How much should taxpayers pay to subsidise the running of political parties and their campaigns? If the NSW government gets its way, the answer is going to be quite a lot more. While its proposed changes…
ARC Laureate Fellow, Professor of Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney and McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics, Harvard Kennedy School