Electoral System
Elections in New England take place every four years for the Parliament and the Counties.
Voting Methods
Mixed Member Preferential Proportional Representation - Also known as MMPPR, this method is used for the election of candidates to the House of Assembly. Under MMPPR each person who is enrolled as an elector has two votes, a party vote is for the political party the elector most wants to be represented in Parliament. The party vote portion of the single-page ballot paper shows all the registered political parties that have nominated a party list for the general election. Every voter chooses among the same parties on the party vote regardless of where they live and are enrolled to vote. An elector also recieves an electorate vote, which is used to determine the MP who will represent a local constituency in the parliament.
Instant-Runoff Voting - IRV is used to elect New England's thirteen earls. This system is the same as that used in many Australian lower houses of parliament, and gives a voter the option to vote for candidates in their own order of preference. Electors from across a county are given a ballot with the names of the candidates for earl. They then number one or more boxes in the order of preference, with the option to preference being up to the voter. The candidate with the most votes after preferences are distributed is deemed elected. This system is also used in a variety of private elections, and stands as the near universally accepted way to conduct an election.
Group Ticket Voting - New England's 162 thegns are elected using the GTV method. Each party (or group), puts forward a list of candidates, and may run up to as many candidates as there are available seats in each county (twelve or eighteen). However, unlike IRV, the ballot is divided into two, where an elector may choose to vote for a group (above the line voting), or for each candidate according to his own preference (below the line voting). Voting "above the line" is easily the most popular method (80% of voters choose this method), as it is simple and takes the least amount of time. For a variety of reasons, 20% of voters choose to vote below the line, with the most often cited reason being a dislike of the group preference arrangements.
Ballot Papers
When an elector goes into a booth to vote, he will recieve two ballot papers. House of Assembly constituency ballots are coloured buff, while party list ballots are periwinkle in colour
In county elections, the voter will again recieve two ballots.
