Electoral Reform from 1972 to the present - and into the future
Part 2 of my "Timeline of Electoral reform"
This part begins after STV was used for the last time in a Canadian government election (Calgary, 1971).
Part 1 can be found at
1972
(1973 Northern Ireland -- election of members of local councils. 26 councils. Election by STV, in wards of 5 to 7 members (as far as I can see). (Mayor and deputy mayor elected from among councillors). Antrim Borough Council, for example, had 19 members elected in three wards, electing 7, 7 and 5 members. (2014 number of councils reduced to 11, each having 40 to 60 councillors, elected in wards of 5 to 7 members. (Simple) Gregory Method used for transfer of surplus votes. Mayor and deputy mayor elected from among councillors.) (STV in use for NI Assembly starting in 1998) see
(1975 South Australia upper house adopted list PR. (modified Largest Remainder Droop quota.) Preferential voting was such a part of the political culture that its list PR system included ranked voting. (In 1981 it was replaced by STV.)
End of totalitarian regimes in Iberian peninsula:
Portugal 1976 adopted list PR
Spain 1977 adopted list PR
1978
1978 Australia -- NSW adopted STV for election of Legislative Council. elected 15 members in state-wide contest, the largest DM since Ireland Senate election of 1925. By 1991 DM enlarged to 21 (a record DM under STV until 2010). Computer used for vote count. Compulsory-preferential voting. 1988 ticket voting added. 1999 optional-preference ticket voting adopted.)
1980 Vanuatu adopted SNTV (a semi-proportional system)
Since independence from Britain and France in 1980, Vanuatu has used SNTV to elect most of the members of its Parliament.
(1981 Australia --
South Australia upper house adopted STV in 1981. DM-11
Western Australia upper house adopted STV in 1981. DM 5-7. For transfer of surplus votes, WA uses WIGM, the whole-vote version. Although only the integer values are credited to the candidate, the fractional part that is not transferred is properly accounted for.)
1981 Cyprus adopted PR
1983 Japan adopted PR in 1983. Bicameral, it uses different systems to elect the House of Representatives (parallel system: list PR and FPTP) and the House of Councillors (parallel system: list PR and SNTV).
House of Representatives 176 members are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies by a party-list PR, and 289 are elected from single-member constituencies.
1983 Argentina regained democracy after 8 years of dictatorship, adopted PR.National Reorganization Process. The Chamber of Deputies elected by list PR. DM ranged from 5 to 70.
1985 Bolivia is using PR to elect some of its lower-house government members. As of 1985 (or perhaps earlier?) Bolivia's Cámara de Diputados (Chamber of Deputies) had 130 members elected to five-year terms, 63 from single-member districts (circunscripciones), 60 by proportional representation, and seven by the minority indigenous peoples of seven departments.
1988 Brazil -- 1988 Constitution called for use of PR for election of Chamber of Deputies.
The Brazilian Electoral Code determines that the proportional system used is a open-list list PR, where the votes are nominal to the candidates and the party lists are composed of the most-popular members of each party. Each party obtains a number of seats proportional to the sum of the votes of all its candidates, and these seats are distributed, in order, to the most-popular candidates of that party.
Seats are distributed in 27 multi-member constituencies based on the Federation Units (26 States and the Federal District), ranging from 8 to 70 seats. Seats are allocated through D'Hondt.
(1988 Cincinnati -- most voters voted against returning to STV, 55 percent to 45 percent. Reason likely was most white voters wanted to prevent blacks being elected. (see Engstrom, "Cincinnati's 1988 Proportional Representation Initiative." Electoral Studies 1990 online))
1989
Breakup of old USSR (or weakening of its grip on nations) 1989-1991
Hammer-and-sickle flag came down in 1991
These constituent parts of the USSR have become independent countries: (election systems given if known):
Armenia [(PR with majority/minority jackpot)?], (partial PR mixed system adopted in 1995 40 members at-large Largest Remainder Hare; 150 members single-member districts (TRS) (International Encyclopedia of Elections, p. 167)
Azerbaijan (partial PR mixed system adopted in 1995 25 members at-large Largest Remainder Hare; 100 members single-member districts (TRS) (International Encyclopedia of Elections, p. 167)
Belarus no PR (FPTP, appointment)
Estonia (got PR in 1989) (list PR, twelve districts DM 5 to 14)
Georgia (partial PR mixed system adopted in 1992. (parallel systems: two-round system (TRS), list PR) -- 150 members 10 regional districts, 1 at-large district, PR (type of PR unknown); 84 members single-member districts (TRS) (International Encyclopedia of Elections, p. 167)
date ? Kazakhstan, parallel systems: FPTP used to elect 29 district members, 69 seats filled overall (at-large) by list PR allocated using the largest remainder method, 5 percent electoral threshold (reduced from 7 percent in 2021) Since 2021, Constitutional Law requires parties to include on their party list at least 30 percent women, young people (aged under 29), and disabled persons. 2023 election -- Seven parties competed. Five got both district seats and PR seats. One party got just 4 district seats but its vote tally was below the threshold so it got no PR seats. One party won no seats at all.
(Kyrgyzstan parallel system 1993-2007, list PR 2007- president also elected (see 2007) (parallel system -- 36 seats filled through FPTP) + 54 seats filled through list PR.
Latvia list PR
Lithuania (partial PR mixed system adopted in 1992. Parallel system (two-round system/party-list PR) -- 70 members at-large, Largest Remainder Hare; 71 members in single-member districts (TRS). (International Encyclopedia of Elections, p. 168)
Moldova list PR
Russia, (Russia Federation (lower house) partial PR mixed system adopted in 1993. Parallel system (FPTP/party-list PR) -- 225 members at-large, Largest Remainder Hare; 225 members in single-member districts (FPTP). voter casts two votes. (International Encyclopedia of Elections, p. 168)
Tajikistan, (lower house) (two-round system/ party-list PR)
Turkmenistan (not PR)
Ukraine (lower house) partial PR mixed system adopted in 1997. Parallel system (FPTP/party-list PR) -- 225 members at-large, Largest Remainder Hare; 225 members in single-member districts (FPTP). voter casts two votes. (International Encyclopedia of Elections, p. 168) (see 1998)
Uzbekistan (not PR).
(see also Czech Republic (1992), Slovakia (1993), Poland (1993), Romania (1991), Bulgaria (1990))
(Three former Soviet republics got PR in 1992/3.)
1989
Estonia adopted PR (partial STV) in 1989. 27 multi-member districts of 2 to 5 DM (STV used to elect the 86 members), 15 single-member districrs (FPTP), 4 Soviet Armed Forces members. (by 1992 switched to list PR in 12 multi-member districts, to elect 101 members.)
(1989 Australian Capital Territory lower house adopted list PR. D'Hondt method. (replaced by STV in 1995)
1990 Hungary (partial PR mixed system adopted in 1990. 152 members 20 regional districts, D'Hondt; 176 members in single-member districts (FPTP). The district results are corrected by 58 national top-up members. (International Encyclopedia of Elections, p. 167)
1990 Bulgaria 1990 Grand National Assembly parallel system 400 representatives were elected: half by proportional representation and half by FPTP. (1991-2009 240 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies with a 4 percent threshold. (see 2009)
1991 Romania adopted PR in 1991 constitution. List PR used for both upper and lower houses (13 seats set aside for national minorities).
1992/1993 flurry of four countries adopting PR
New Zealand 1993 (MMP, with two systems of districts (general districts and Maori districts), plus top-up) (first MMP election held in 1996) (MMP adopted after two positive referendums)
Others formerly in USSR sphere adopted PR in 1992/1993
Czech adopted PR in 1992 (1918 adoption had been cancelled) (see 1993)
Slovakia adopted PR in 1993 (revised 1998)
Poland adopted PR in 1993 (revised 2001)
Parts of old USSR adopted mixed systems, 1992:
(see 1989 for full list of parts of old USSR)
Georgia (partial PR mixed system adopted in 1992. (parallel systems: two-round system (TRS), list PR) -- 150 members 10 regional districts, 1 at-large district, PR (type of PR unknown); 84 members single-member districts (TRS) (International Encyclopedia of Elections, p. 167)
Lithuania (partial PR mixed system adopted in 1992. Parallel system (two-round system/party-list PR) -- 70 members at-large, Largest Remainder Hare; 71 members in single-member districts (TRS). (International Encyclopedia of Elections, p. 168)
Russia (Russia Federation (lower house) partial PR mixed system adopted in 1993. Parallel system (FPTP/party-list PR) -- 225 members at-large, Largest Remainder Hare; 225 members in single-member districts (FPTP). voter casts two votes. (International Encyclopedia of Elections, p. 168)
Breakup of old Yugoslavia 1992-1993,
constituent parts adopted PR as independent countries
(Yugoslavia history: 1918-1940 (monarchy, no PR)
1946-1992 Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (Constitution amended in 1953, 1963, 1974) The Federal Assembly was composed entirely of Communist members.)
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia adopted PR in 1992.
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia made up of Serbia and Montenegro. 138-seat lower house - 108 elected in Serbia (half of them by list PR). 30 seats elected in Montenegro (6 of them by list PR.)
(in 2006 FRY divided into Serbia and Montenegro - each became independent countries, with PR. (see 2006)
Bosnia-Herzegovina adopted list PR in 1992. lower house elected through list PR. Members of the Parliamentary Assembly are chosen according to PR. DM 14 and 28
Croatia (unicameral) adopted list PR in 1993. DM 14. Some seats reserved for minorities and Croatians living abroad. Electoral threshold of 5 percent.
Montenegro (formerly part of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) (unicameral) list PR. DM 5, 76. (see 2006)
Slovenia (unicameral) 88 seats by party list. (see 2000)
Macedonia (North Macedonia) adopted PR in 1991, at time of independence. (six 20-seat MMDs, no top-up). (see 2014)
================
1993
1993 Jordan - used SNTV from 1993 to 2016.
1993 Czechoslovakia broke into two
1993 Slovakia adopted PR at founding of country. unicameral - 150 members elected through PR.
1993 Czech Republic adopted PR at founding of country, for election of the lower house.
(1993 -- Malta Local councils adopted STV. 2015 reform abolished staggered terms and half-council elections. New District Magnitude ranged from 5 (Mosta) to 13 (Birkirkara)).
1994
1995
1995 Parts of old USSR adopted partial PR
(see 1989 for full list of parts of old USSR)
1995 Armenia adopted partial PR mixed system. 40 members at-large. Largest Remainder Hare; 150 members single-member districts (TRS) (International Encyclopedia of Elections, p. 167) (described as PR with majority/minority jackpot)
1995 Azerbaijan (partial PR mixed system adopted in 1995. 25 members at-large Largest Remainder Hare; 100 members single-member districts (TRS) (International Encyclopedia of Elections, p. 167)
1995 Kyrgyzstan adopted partial PR parallel system for lower house. lower house 45 members by FPTP, 15 by nation-wide list PR with 5 percent electoral threshold. President and upper house elected by FPTP. PR dropped in 2005 (see 2007)
(1995 Australian Capital Territory lower house adopted STV. WIGM (see 1980)
(1995 Australia -- New South Wales (Australia) used large-DM STV to elect its upper house, half of 42-seat house elected each election. 21 elected at a time in state-wide district. system still in use as of 2023. (see 1978)
1996
1996 Japan adopted partial-PR parallel system. 300 (now 289) members of the House of Representatives are elected using FPTP in single-member constituencies, while 200 (now 176) members are elected in regions using list PR.
(1997 to 2016 Hong Kong (part of China since July 1997) used PR. Half the members elected through list PR. Largest remainder, Hare quota, DM of 3 to 9. (see 2021))
1997 Ukraine (an independent country since August 1991) adopted fair voting in 1997. (guaranteed mixed representation/guaranteed minority representation even if not proportional)
Ukraine (lower house) partial PR mixed system adopted in 1997. Parallel system (FPTP/party-list PR) -- 225 members at-large, Largest Remainder Hare; 225 members in single-member districts (FPTP). voter casts two votes. (International Encyclopedia of Elections, p. 168) (see 2020)
(1998 United Kingdom -- Northern Ireland adopted STV to elect members of the new devolved NI Assembly. Six members in each of 18 districts. The 18 districts were the Westminster districts, which each elects just one UK MP. (Simple) Gregory Method used for transfer of surplus votes. (DM dropped to 5 later.)
(1999 United Kingdom -- Scotland adopted regionalized version of MMP for members of Scottish Assembly. 73 constituencies being grouped together to make eight regions (of eight to ten constituency members each), each electing seven additional members to make a total of 129.)
(1999 United Kingdom -- Wales adopted PR. (regionalized MMP/regonalized AMS. four top-up in eight-seat region (perhaps some variation). Revised 2023 and 2024.)
2000
2000 Slovenia adopted PR
88 seats by party list. Eight 11-seat constituencies. District seats allocated by Droop quota if possible. Any unallocated seats are apportioned by national parties to make up 11 seats in each constituency but not necessarily one member for each district. (4 percent electoral threshold)
plus two seats by Borda Count (see Montopedia blog "explanatory notes") to represent Hungarian and Italian-speaking minorities.
2001
2001 Albania used Mixed-Member Proportional - 100 elected in districts, through FPTP; 40 elected through list PR.
(2001 New Zealand -- some cities adopted STV. Meek's variant of STV.)
2002 Lesotho adopted MMP (party-list)
(2003 Australia -- Victoria upper house adopted STV. DM 5. Inclusive Gregory method used for transfer of surplus votes.)
(2004/2005 In 2004 British Columbia Citizens Assembly recommended STV for use in BC provincial elections. STV received 58 percent of the votes in the 2005 referendum. WIGM was the precise form of STV on offer. (perhaps STV advocates did not understand how complicated surplus vote transfers are under WGIM.) https://www.fairvote.ca/stvbc/)
(for more PR referendums, see Wiki "Electoral reform")
(2004 - New Zealand - District health board elections had to use STV from 2004 and were changed to at-large elections (no districts).
As well, ten district or city councils used the STV method for the 2004 local elections:
Kaipara, Papakura, Matamata-Piako, Thames-Coromandel, Kāpiti Coast, Porirua, Wellington, Marlborough, Dunedin, and the Chatham Islands." (Even more switched to STV in 2024)
See Montopedia blog "2024 New Zealand cities...")
2005 Somaliland used PR in the country's first multi-party parliamentary election. The 82 members of the House of Representatives were elected by open-list P.R.
Six multi-member constituencies based on the regions. DM ranged from 10 to 20.
2006 Breakup of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia into Serbia and Montenegro. (see 1992)
2006 Montenegro used PR in parallel system. 71 seats in Parliament. 64 were elected by PR at-large; seven were elected in a special district for minority lists. Electoral threshold 6 percent. Seats allocated using d'Hondt. Closed lists were used with a single list for both systems, although parties required to award only half their seats according to the order of the list, with the other half free to be allocated as they chose at the moment.
2006 Republic of Serbia -- Closed-list list PR. The whole country is one electoral district. 250 seats are distributed between the lists using d'Hondt. Electoral threshold of three percent - only party lists that get more than 3 percent of the votes are awarded seats. There is no threshold for the ethnic minority lists.
(2006 Australia -- since the 2006 election Victoria's Legislative Council has used STV to elect 40 members, elected from eight districts, each returning five members.)
(2006 - New Brunswick - A electoral reform referendum was announced for 2008, but government defeated only a few months later. Proposal to be voted on was MMP - 36 members elected through FPTP; 20 additional top-up members elected from 4 regions, using closed lists, to produce proportionality. Threshold for top-up seats to be 5 percent of provincial vote.)
2007
2007 Kyrgyzstan approved a new electoral system, parliament enlarged to 90 members, elected through parallel system (FPTP/party-list PR).
Out of the 90 seats in the Supreme Council, 54 are elected by PR in a single country-wide constituency, and 36 in single-seat districts. To win seats, parties must pass a national electoral threshold of 7 percent of valid votes (later 5 percent) and receive at least 0.5 percent of the vote in each of the seven regions. The lists are open, with voters able to cast a single preferential vote. No one party is allowed to be given more than half of the proportional seats. Party lists are required to have at least 30 percent of the candidates from each gender, and every fourth candidate had to be of a different gender. Each list is also required to have at least 15 percent of the candidates being from ethnic minorities and 15 percent of under 35 years old, as well as at least two candidates with disabilities.
[mixture of IRV and list PR?]
(2007 Ontario - Electoral reform referendum 67 percent of votes cast in favour of maintaining FPTP, 37 percent in favour of MMP)
(2007 United Kingdom -- Scotland adopted STV for local authorities. First use of WIGM in a public election anywhere in the world. (see STV WIGM Count Description. James Gilmour. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE STV COUNT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RULES IN THE SCOTTISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS ORDER 2007).
2007 1222 members in
see https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/2007-Scottish-local-elections.pdf
2017 - 32 local councils, electing total of 1223 members in 353 ward contests, each electing 3 or 4 members in each ward.
As of 2018, DM allowed to range from 1 (a district covering the whole of a small island) to 5. 1.9M votes cast in 2022 election.
Prior to STV, about half of voters did not see their vote elect anyone. Using STV, three-quarters of them have that pleasure. Thanks to STV, they have a much higher chance the councillor they talk to will actually agree with them and are incentivised to work hard to ensure they are ranked high by that voter next election.
2008 Nepal adopted parallel system - FPTP and list PR.
Nepal elected Constituent Assembly in 2008 and in 2013 (the eighth and ninth general elections of Nepal.)
General election was held in 2017 to choose the members of House of Representatives.
(in 2008, 2013 and 2017, Nepal used parallel system - about half elected through FPTP; about half through list PR).
(Shrestha, Position of Nepali Congress... (online) researcherjournal,+4_Amrit_Kr_Shrestha)
(see 1992)
2009 Bulgaria 209 representatives elected by proportional representation and 31 through first past the post; seats (districts?) corresponding to the provinces and the largest cities.
(2009 BC's second referendum on electoral reform for provincial elections -- STV or FPTP. FPTP won -- FPTP 61 percent; STV 39 percent. STV system DM was to be in the 2-7 range. The form of STV on offer was to conduct transfer of surplus votes using the Inclusive Gregory Method (or perhaps WIGM), which likely would have required computer vote-counting machines.
For more information see https://rangevoting.org/BCSTVdefn and
(see 2018)
(2010 Iceland used STV to elect 25-member Constitutional Assembly (an elected body performing the role sometimes done by a citizens assembly). At-large district covering whole island. 232,374 voters. 83,531 voted, which was 36 percent turnout. 522 candidates ran for the 25 seats (this record DM is to be shadowed by West Aus. election in 2025).
Weighted Inclusive Gregory Method used for transfer of surplus votes.
As well, rough gender parity was ensured -- 40% gender-balance rule was applied after the STV-PR election for the 25 places had been completed. If candidates of either gender do not have at least 10 of the 25 seats (“two-fifths”), additional seats were to be allocated to the under-represented gender to bring representation of that gender up to “two-fifths”, subject to a limit of six additional seats. These additional seats were to be allocated to the required number of the last eliminated candidates of the under-represented gender. Thus it was possible for 31 members to be elected.
(The Supreme Court invalidated the results of the election on 25 January 2011 following complaints about several faults in how the election was conducted pertaining to secrecy (the faults were not related to the workings of STV). It was decided on 25 February 2011 that Parliament would appoint a Constitutional Council, which would perform the role intended for the Constitutional Assembly. Parliament appointed the people who had been elected in the STV contest -- one delegate declined the position and was replaced with the next candidate in line.) See
2011 New Zealand referendum held on replacing its MMP system, which had been adopted in the 1990s. 58 percent voted to maintain MMP.
(see Montopedia blog "explanatory notes" for more information)
2014 Macedonia (North Macedonia) adopted PR prior to 2014 election.
(six 20-seat MMDs, no top-up).
Of the 123 seats in the Assembly of the Republic, 120 are elected from six 20-seat constituencies using closed-list list PR, with seats allocated using the d'Hondt method. Three seats are filled by Macedonians outside country if enough votes are cast
2015
2015 Chile adopted PR (closed-list list PR) through multi-party agreement. (began using party-list PR in 1925, suspended in 1973, 1991? began to use binomial two-seat districts and single voting) PR reborn in 2015 -- list PR - Senate districts between 2 and 5 DM, Chamber of Deputies districts of 3 to 8 DM. D'Hondt method. Party lists and lists of coalitions used. (said to be open-list PR) Staggered terms. Casual vacancies filled by the party.)
(2015 a majority of PEI voters voted in favour of MMP as replacement for FPTP. Change never conducted.)
(2016/2017 Australia -- optional-preferential voting adopted in more places. Above-the-line voting (a form of group ticket voting) was discontinued in elections for the Australian Senate and South Australia's Legislative Council in 2016 and 2017 respectively. (All other Australian legislatures, except for Tasmania's Parliament and the A.C.T., have above-the-line voting and the associated group ticket voting, which distorts representation. (https://prsa.org.au/hareclar.htm)) (see 1948)
(2016 PEI electoral reform referendum - MMP received more than 52 percent support on the final count. IRV was used to establish winner. Government ignored the result)
2016 USA -- In November 2016, the voters of Maine passed Question 5, approving instant-runoff voting for all elections. This was first put to use in 2018. This was the first use of ranked votes in a statewide election in the U.S. (from Wiki "Ranked voting")
2017 June -- Lebanon adopted PR
2018 -- Nepal used STV to elect National Assembly (national upper house) in indirect election. In each province, members of the House of Representatives and mayors/deputy members of cities in the province composed an electoral college that used STV to elect Assembly members. Votes cast by HofR and city officials' votes were weighted differently.
(see Montopedia blog)
(2018 BC's third referendum on electoral reform. Choice was FPTP or change, and if change, which system would be its replacement -- Rural-Urban PR (some elected by STV or list PR, some by FPTP, with top-up members added overall), Dual-Member PR, MMP.
in first question FPTP won a majority of votes, versus change.)
(STV, a part of the RUPR system, was to use the Weighted Inclusive Gregory Method (WIGM). but it seems to me those who endorsed it did not reallze how complicated surplus vote transfers are under WGIM. (For info on WIGM, see the Montopedia blog "Gregory method" )
(2018 London ON used IRV in its city election. This is first time ranked votes have been used in a Canadian government election at any level since 1973. No proportionality; winner in many wards won with less than half of votes cast in the ward; large number of exhausted votes apparently due to voters being able to mark only three preferences at the most. ON Conservative government later banned anything but plurality electing - FPTP or Block Voting. (Timmins ON uses both -- FPTP in single-member wards and four elected at-large ("Ward 5") by Block voting - in Ward 5 6700 voters cast 21,000 votes with apparently no proportonality produced.)
(2019 PEI -- electoral reform referendum -- On the question "Should Prince Edward Island change its voting system to a mixed member proportional voting system?" 52 percent voted against change, 48 percent voted for change. Voting was split so evenly that neither side took a majority of votes in 60 percent of the districts so government did not consider it a clear decision.)
2020 Ukraine - at-large list PR adopted. Deputies elected in one country-wide district.
5-percent electoral threshold. Open regional lists of candidates for deputies.
2021
(2021 - Hong Kong (part of China since 1997) began to use SNTV in ten 2-seat districts. (see 1998))
(2021 U.K. - Wales passed the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021, allowing councils to vote to move to STV on an individual basis. To do this, a council needs two-thirds of its members to agree to a resolution before the 15th of November three years before the next election (in 2027).) But although residents in some municipalities favour STV by 3 to 2, no council voted two-thirds in favour of change by Nov. 15, 2024.
(2022 U.S. -- Portland, Oregon voted to use STV to elect city councillors, in four 3-seat wards. First STV election in Nov 2024.
see Montopedia blog - https://montopedia.wixsite.com/montopedia/post/2024-portland-oregon-city-council-election-stv-works )
(2022 - New Zealand cities allowed to convert to STV. Many made the change.
see Montopedia blog "New Zealand cities...")
2023 - Germany reformed its MMP system, to address overhang.
2023 - Sierra Leone was set to use list PR in 16 multi-member districts, each one an already-existing administrative district of the country. Those 132 members, plus 14 "paramount chiefs," one each from the country's administrative districts, make up the government. [I don't know how the expected election went]
DM ranges from 4 to 16. (PR was used in the country’s post-independence elections and then again in 1996 and 2002.)
see Montopedia
(2024 United Kingdom - Wales reformed its PR system - The number of Senedd constituencies was reduced to 16, each electing 6 members. Each district covers a pairing of the proposed 32 Welsh ridings for Westminster elections. MSs elected by closed list PR, under the D'Hondt method. Ballots will show names of candidates.)
In 2024, P.R. is being used extensively in the United Kingdom:
Northern Ireland -- STV for the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont and all local councils;
Scotland -- regional MMP used in the Scottish Parliament and STV for all local councils;
Wales -- a P.R. system is used for the Welsh Assembly; councils have the right to choose STV (but none met the two-thirds threshold by deadline Nov. 15).
London -- an assembly elected on a fair basis. (from Electoral Reform Society publicity :
=====================================================
Future STV elections
(2025 (March 8) - Western Australia scheduled to elect 37-member Senate (Legislative Council) in state-wide district. DM of 37, a new record DM under STV.
For transfer of surplus votes, WA uses WIGM, the whole-vote version.
Although only the integer values are credited to the candidate, the fractional part that is not transferred is properly accounted for.
======================
Footnote: STV transfers see Montopedia blog The whole-vote "Exact method"...
For Explanatory notes of the Timeline above, see separate Montopedia blog
That blog contains:
Britain's use of MMDs (relating to 1867 item)
Description of STV
Evolution of STV
Variety of methods used in STV to transfer surplus votes
Australia's switch to STV
Borda Count (relates to an item in the year 2000)
Limited voting (relates to items in the years 1867, 1886)
Parallel Voting (FPTP and party-list PR)
===
Sources for information in the timeline:
Pilon The Politics of Voting, p. 85
David M. Farrell and Ian McAllister, The Australian Electoral System
info on South Australia electoral history see
(the first three sources have been culled for all countries listed,
but there are many of the 100+ countries that use PR that are not given dates above
=======
see
for info on how each country adopted PR -- whether it was by multi-party agreement, imposed by one party (only Costa Rica), or by referendum (only Switzerland and NZ).
===================
Countries not given dates above:
date not yet known:
Brazil (lower house) (It is said that Brazil's chamber of deputies uses the Hare quota in a largest-remainder system, based on party vote tallies - Wikipedia "Hare quota")
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Electoral reform in Canada since 2000
since 2000 there have been many moves towards electoral reform:
2 Citizens Assemblies BC ON
BC Citizens Assembly (2004) called for STV
ON Citizens Assembly (2006) called for MMP
10 legislative efforts Canada federal 2, PEI 2, NB 2, Qu 3, Yukon
[most recent was House of Commons voting against establishing a federal-level Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform on Feb. 7, 2024]
8 referenda BC 3, PEI 3, ON QU
(two resulted in majority in favour of alternative system. both of those were over-ridden by government)
two multi-party agreements BC QU
But so far none have produced actual change on the ground in the form of electoral reform
==========
Endnote: Use of PR in the world today
More than a hundred countries in the world use PR to elect all or some of their members.
in 2018 it was reported that in Europe only United Kingdom, France and Belarus did not use PR.
The former USSR republics of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan also do not..
Canada and the U.S. also stand out for this reason.
and about 80 to 90 smaller countries.
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