The Hungarian government plans to expand the right to vote in the upcoming European elections to Hungarians living outside the EU. Is the aim of this plan simply to comply with EU law? Or is this another part in the long history of Fidesz trying to manipulate the franchise in their favour?
Continue Reading →It is summer, the vacation season is near, and the football World Cup is on everybody’s mind. It is hard to think about politics these days… It is not a coincidence that the party ruling in Poland has just now submitted a draft amendment to the Polish law on the elections to the European Parliament.
Continue Reading →On 28 March, the Malaysian Parliament passed new electoral maps. The re-delineated boundaries create an imbalance in constituencies, prompting allegations of mal-apportionment and gerrymandering. They remain largely unchallenged, not only through ouster clauses in particularized elections legislation, but also through the unwillingness of the judiciary to recognize the importance of the constitutional question relating to fair and equitable electoral management.
Continue Reading →In the shadow of an international outcry concerning a grotesque and speech-restrictive Polish law which would punish anyone attributing to Polish nation co-responsibility for crimes during the 2nd World War, a much more dangerous change has been quietly brought about, and just completed. A change which gives the ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) necessary mechanisms to “control” the election outcomes. To put it bluntly – a change of the electoral system which will make it possible for PiS to commit electoral fraud allowing it to stay in power, regardless of the voters’ preferences.
Continue Reading →Wahlkreisreformen sind oft eine anrüchige Sache. Die Regierungsmehrheit gerät leicht in den Verdacht, sich die Wahlkreise zu ihrem eigenen Vorteil zurechtzuschneiden. Auch in Großbritannien gibt es laute Proteste der Opposition gegen die aktuellen Reformpläne der Tories. Doch wenn man genauer hinsieht, zeigt sich: die Demokratie im Vereinigten Königreich wird eher profitieren.
Continue Reading →