scholarly journals From the Parliament to a Polling Station: How to Make Electoral Laws More Comprehensible to Election Administrators

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iuliia Krivonosova ◽  
Radu-Antonio Serrano-Iova
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Laws

The Never-ending Story of Law and Electoral System in Lesotho

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoolo Nyane
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Constitutional Democracy ◽  
Electoral Outcomes ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
Run Up ◽  
Mixed Electoral System ◽  
2012 Election

While electoral discontent has been the enduring feature of constitutional democracy in Lesotho since independence, disagreement over electoral system is a fairly recent phenomenon. When the country attained independence in 1966 from Britain, electoral system was not necessarily one of the topical issues of pre-independence constitutional negotiations. The major issues were the powers of the monarch, the office of prime minister, the command of the army and many more.  It was taken for granted that the country would use the British-based plurality electoral system.  This is the system which the country used until early 2000s when the electoral laws were reformed to anchor a new mixed electoral system.  When the new electoral laws were ultimately passed in 2001, the country transitioned from a plurality electoral system to a two-ballot mixed member proportional system. By this time, electoral system had acquired prominence in politico-legal discourse in Lesotho.  In the run-up to 2007 elections, bigger political parties orchestrated the manipulation of electoral laws which culminated in clearly distorted electoral outcomes. The manipulations motivated further reforms in the run-up to 2012 election which resulted in the single-ballot mixed member proportional system. The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate how electoral laws have anchored electoral system reforms throughout the various historical epochs in Lesotho since independence. The paper contends that while the country has been courageous, unlike most of its peers, to introduce far-reaching electoral system changes, the reform of electoral laws has not been so helpful in attaining the higher objectives of political inclusivity, constitutionalism and stability in Lesotho.

Electoral laws

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard L. Hasen
Keyword(s):  
Fake News ◽  
Election Administration ◽  
External Threats ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
Political Integrity ◽  
Voting Laws ◽  
Vote Counting

Chapter 2 provides an overview of the legal and political integrity issues raised in the 2016 elections. It begins by describing the now normal voting wars between the hyperpolarized parties, lawsuits aimed at shaping the rules for the registration of voters, the conduct of voting, and the counting of ballots. Restrictive voting laws have increased in number and severity in many states with Republican legislatures, and the judiciary itself often divides along partisan lines in determining controversial laws’ legality. The chapter then turns to the troubling escalation in the wars, from candidate Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of fraud and election rigging to Russian (and other) meddling, the rise of “fake news,” and problems with vote-counting machinery and election administration. It concludes by considering the role that governmental and nongovernmental institutions can play in protecting American election administration from internal and external threats and restoring confidence in elections.

Electoral Integrity in America

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
Class Group ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Red Flags ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Electoral Fraud ◽  
State Regulations ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
American Elections

The contemporary era raises a series of red flags about electoral integrity in America. Problems include plummeting public trust, exacerbated by President Trump’s claims of massive electoral fraud. Confidence in the impartiality and reliability of information from the news media has eroded. And Russian meddling has astutely exploited both these vulnerabilities, heightening fears that the 2016 contest was unfair. This book brings together a first-class group of expert academics and practitioners to analyze challenges facing contemporary elections in America. Contributors analyze evidence for a series of contemporary challenges facing American elections, including the weaknesses of electoral laws, overly restrictive electoral registers, gerrymandering district boundaries, fake news, the lack of transparency, and the hodgepodge of inconsistent state regulations. The conclusion sets these issues in comparative context and draws out the broader policy lessons for improving electoral integrity and strengthening democracy.

scholarly journals Presidential Term Limits and Regime Types: When Do Leaders Respect Constitutional Norms?

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja Osei ◽  
Hervé Akinocho ◽  
Stephen Mwombela
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Term Limits ◽  
African Continent ◽  
Military Regimes ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
Regime Types ◽  
Regime Survival ◽  
Rules Of The Game ◽  
Oriented Approach

Why do some leaders respect constitutional provisions like presidential term limits, while others do not? For all regimes, constitutions are important reference texts that provide some basic rules of the game. Within this framework, term limits and electoral laws are crucial because they are directly concerned with the exercise of power. Using Geddes’ regime typology, this article is proposing a regime-oriented approach to explain the variation on the African continent. Democracies, party-based regimes, and military regimes are surely different from each other, but they have a degree of depersonalisation in common that is not found in personalist regimes. For the latter type, term limits are a question of regime survival. Personalist rulers will therefore seek to amend or ignore constitutions, but their success will depend on the cohesion of their ruling coalition. The argument will be illustrated with two case studies: Togo and Tanzania.

Electoral system as a motivation to reforming political system- The Iraqi model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamall Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Political Reform ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
The Masses

The flaws and major flaws in the political systems represent one of the main motives that push the political elite towards making fundamental reforms, especially if those reforms have become necessary matters so that: Postponing them or achieving them affects the survival of the system and the political entity. Thus, repair is an internal cumulative process. It is cumulative based on the accumulated experience of the historical experience of the same political elite that decided to carry out reforms, and it is also an internal process because the decision to reform comes from the political elite that run the political process. There is no doubt that one means of political reform is to push the masses towards participation in political life. Changing the electoral system, through electoral laws issued by the legislative establishment, may be the beginning of political reform (or vice versa), taking into account the uncertainty of the political process, especially in societies that suffer from the decline of democratic values, represented by the processes of election from one cycle to another. Based on the foregoing, this paper seeks to analyze the relationship between the Electoral and political system, in particular, tracking and studying the Iraqi experience from the first parliamentary session until the issuance of the Election Law No. (9) for the year (2020).

Elections

2005 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 1070-1074
Author(s):  
Livianna Tossutti
Keyword(s):  
Trust In Government ◽  
National Community ◽  
Democratic Regimes ◽  
The World ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
Legislative Representation ◽  
Established Democracies ◽  
Election Laws

Elections, John C. Courtney, Vancouver: UBC Press, 2004, pp. ix, 201.The expansion of the number of democratic regimes around the world and the decline of trust in government in established democracies have renewed interest in election laws and how these rules define the national community, allow citizens to express their preferences, and influence the composition of legislatures. In Canada, the study of electoral laws has frequently dealt with how electoral formulae translate votes into legislative representation.

scholarly journals UKRAINE ON THE WAY OF INTEGRATION TO THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY

2020 ◽  
pp. 170-191
Author(s):  
Serhij Zdioruk
Keyword(s):  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
The Body ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Religious Influence ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
Historical Retrospect ◽  
Hybrid War ◽  
Effective Organization ◽  
Fundamental Rights And Freedoms ◽  
Ukrainian Society

The article analyzes the problems of political and religious influence of Russia on the formation of the Ukrainian state in historical retrospect and in modern conditions of hybrid war. Europe wants to see the civilized Ukraine, based on the primacy of law, sustainable development, values of democracy and freedom for all citizens without exception. It is not only about political and economic aspects, but also about spiritual and cultural ones. Constituting the Local Ukrainian Orthodox Church is a powerful spiritual and ideological pillar of the Ukrainian State in building a democratic society, strengthening its image in the world. With the above in view and under the described situation the issue of fast integration of Ukraine into the European and world community becomes more urgent. Religion plays a significant role in this process, which is so important to regulate by the legislation. Thus we see the need for continued reform of the Ukrainian legal system starting from the fundamental political system governed by the Constitution of Ukraine, electoral laws and in particular the body of laws governing the fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens of Ukraine. The article suggests some high priority measures aimed on creation of conditions for realization of integrative opportunities of religious factors. The proposals provide concrete and effective tools, the implementation of which is aimed at neutralizing the threats of «russkiy mir» in Ukrainian society and formulates recommendations for effective organization of political and legal mechanisms to protect national interests and strengthen national security of Ukraine.

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