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Elections in New England

Elections for the parliament and counties in New England are held every four years. At these elections, the people of New England elect members to Parliament and the Counties. All New Englanders over the age of sixteen are eligible to vote, including any New Englander residing outside the country when an election is held. Eligibility for candidacy is essentially the same as eligibility to vote. The exact date of the elections are fixed by statute, with parliamentary elections are fixed to the first Saturday in March and county elections held on the first Saturday in August, also every four years.

Elections can be called before the four year period has ended, but this usually only occurs in the case of a government losing its majority in the House. County terms are not normally cut short, although the Earl and Thegns can be dismissed until the next scheduled election. In this circumstance, the county is run by an ministerially appointed commissioner.

• Overview
• Electoral System
• Elections
  • General Elections
  • County Elections
• Referenda
• Redistributions

Overview

At least once every four years New England holds a general election to choose its Parliament and County Councils. The next general election is scheduled to take place on March 2056, while the counties will go to the polls in August 2052. Under the provisions of the various election acts, the term of a parliament is fixed, except in extreme situations, to occur on a set date. Fixed term elections came into effect after the 2015 election.

Elections are carried out by Elections New England, a crown statutory agency created by the tranistional government in 2011. The agency is kept at arms length of government and runs all county and parliamentary elections. The proper management of an election is overseen by a commission of five prominent New Englanders.

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Electoral System

For more, see the Electoral System of New England.

New England has a unique electoral system, with three different methods used for electing candidates. Depending on the election being held, a different method is used. In the course of an election year, an elector will need to complete four separate ballot papers which will determine his local MP, preferred political party, earl, and finally, thegns. New England maintains a compulsory voting system, with all electors over the age of sixteen being required to vote at all elections.

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Elections

General Elections - Held every four years. There are usually 99 Members of Parliament, with each MP elected from either an electorate MP to represent a constituency, or as a list MP. The boundaries of each of the constituencies are reviewed after each five-yearly census. Any change in the number of electorate MPs also changes the number of list MPs. In this parliament there are 67 electorate MPs and 36 list MPs, with the additional four members caused by the election of four independent MPs. This is known as an "overhang". Each constituency has a roll of electors, or list of everyone who is enrolled to vote. By law, if an elector is sixteen or older, voting is compulsory, unless the person has a valid and sufficient reason.

County Elections - Held six months after a Parliamentary election, usually the first Saturday in August. County elections use the optional preferential voting system to elect an Earl on one ballot and twelve (or eighteen in case of Greater Armidale) Thegns on another. Candidates can only put their name forward on one ballot, meaning that a person who fails to be elected on one ballot cannot be elected to council. As in parliamentary elections, each county has a roll of voters. By law, if an elector is sixteen or older, voting is compulsory, unless the person has a valid and sufficient reason.

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Referenda & Plebicites

For more information see, Referenda & Plebicites.

The constitution of New England cannot be changed except by a consensual vote of the people. Any proposal to change the constitution must be approved by a majority of voters in a majority of counties. This "double majority" inherited from Australia aims to protect the interests of the smaller counties who might overwise be disadvantaged by a change to the basic law of the nation. There have been xx refeerenda since 2012, of which x have been approved leading a constitutional change.

The constitution also allows for the consultation of the people by the government on issues of national importantace. This option for a plebicite is used when legislatioin may have a significant impact on the population or is considered a divise issue that may lead to uneccessary civil distribuance if passed into law without the electorate being consulted first. There have been xx plebcites taken since 2012, and x of these have been approved and later passed into law.

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Redistributions

For more information see, Redistributions in New England.

Under the provisions of the Elections Act 2018, a redistribution of electoral boundries must occur at least once every eight years. All of New England is now divided into single member consitituencies, the borders of which are determined by population. Each constituency must have a quota of 35,000 electors, with a margin of 10% allowed above or below this number. To ensure that the quota is attained at every election, the constituency boundries have to be redrawn from time to time through the process known as a "redistribution".

All redistributions are carried by the Constituency Boundaries Commission, a crown statutory agency whose commissioners are appointed by the Parliament. There have been seven redistributions since independence, and they have taken place in 2011, 2018, 2023, 2031, 2039, 2043 and 2051.

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