The Scotsman reports: Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, yesterday outlined proposals to make the Lords fully or mainly elected, although he admitted this would not happen until after the next general election, due by June 2010.

He wants the number of peers reduced from more than 700 to no more than 450, and would abolish the hereditary peers – those sitting in the Lords by right of family ties. Their number has already been reduced to 92 by reforms introduced when Tony Blair was prime minister.

Peers would serve single terms of between 12 and 15 years, compared with MPs, who have to be re-elected every five years.

The Tories also back reform, meaning that changes are likely to be put before MPs which ever party forms the next government. But a number of members of the Lords, which voted by a huge majority last year to reject having the second chamber elected, said they would oppose the changes vigorously. Baroness D'Souza, who heads a group of 61 independent or cross-bench peers, said she was concerned that the primacy of the Commons could be undermined if both MPs and peers were elected. -- Peers vow to oppose planned reforms in Lords amid fears for parliament's integrity

Other stories on this are in the Herald and the Times.

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The Herald reports: The SNP government is determined to give 16-year-olds the vote and is demanding that Westminster hand over the power to allow this, it was claimed yesterday.

The minister for parliamentary business told an electoral reform conference yesterday that the government was determined to press ahead with a staged approach, first giving youngsters the right to vote in health board elections and then progressing that to council and Holyrood polls.

But this would require a change in the law at Westminster and there was no indication yesterday that the Ministry of Justice was minded to consider such a change.
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Bruce Crawford, Minister for Parliament, told the Electoral Reform Society that ministers had a plan to extend the franchise in order to re-engage young citizens, and avoid the current anomalies faced by young adults. -- SNP in move to lower voting age to 16

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The New York Times reports: Swiss voters on Sunday defeated a measure that would have legitimized the practice of allowing secret votes by townspeople on granting citizenship to foreigners in their communities.

The vote was a blow to the powerful far-right Swiss People’s Party, known as SVP, which had initiated the measure. Over all, nearly 64 percent of voters cast “no” ballots, and the measure gained a majority in only one of the country’s 26 cantons.

The defeat shows that the Swiss people “fully back our constitutional state,” the Social-Democratic Party, known as SP, said in a statement. Legal scholars said the measure would have violated the country’s Constitution and the European Human Rights Convention because, among other things, it would have denied rejected applicants any appeals. Buoyed by the vote, the SP said it would soon introduce an initiative to automatically grant citizenship to third-generation foreigners.

The defeated measure would have overturned a Swiss Federal Court ruling in 2003 that found that secret citizenship votes by townspeople were unconstitutional. Despite that ruling, the practice has continued in some parts of the country. -- Swiss Voters Reject Secret Ballots on Citizenship - NYTimes.com

Note: a pre-election story with more background information is here.

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The Herald reports: Electoral law needs a major overhaul, clearer accountability to voters, with more flexible investigation powers and penalties to take on illegal fundraising, according to Scotland s chief elections adviser.

John McCormick, the member of the Electoral Commission with a special remit for Scotland, has spoken out about the confusion over responsibility when elections go wrong and votes are not properly counted.

His comments come in advance of a major report by the UK-wide commission setting out which lessons have to be learned for the whole of Britain s electoral system from the ballot paper and counting fiasco at last year s Scottish elections. Having recently taken on the commissioner role, the former controller of BBC Scotland told The Herald that election law is currently too fragmented, with 19th- century legislation being used to meet 21st-century technology and voter expectations. -- Election Law Needs To Be Overhauled Says Adviser from The Herald

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BBC reports: Boris Johnson has won the race to become the next mayor of London - ending Ken Livingstone s eight-year reign at City Hall.

The Conservative candidate won with 1,168,738 first and second preference votes, compared with Mr Livingstone s 1,028,966 on a record turnout of 45%. ...

First preference votes:
Boris Johnson (Tory): 1,043,761
Ken Livingstone (Lab): 893,877
Brian Paddick (Lib Dem): 236,685
Sian Berry (Green): 77,374
Richard Barnbrook (BNP): 69,710
Alan Craig (Christian Choice): 39,249
Gerard Batten (UKIP): 22,422
Lindsey German (Left List): 16,796
Matt O'Connor (Eng Democrats): 10,695
Winston McKenzie (Ind): 5,389 -- BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Johnson wins London mayoral race

Note: Since the bottom eight candidates together had fewer votes than Livingstone, all of their ballots were re-examined and the second preferences counted.

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The Guardian reports: UK elections fall short of international standards and are vulnerable to fraud, a report published today claims.

Measures introduced to improve choice for voters, such as postal and electronic voting, increase the risk of fraud, according to the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust study.

The trust is calling for the use of photo ID at polling booths and a cap on campaign spending at constituency levels as way of keeping elections fair.

The report, entitled Purity of Elections in the UK: Causes for Concern, comes ahead of Thursday s local elections in England and Wales.

There have been at least 42 convictions for electoral fraud in the UK in the last seven years. -- Electoral system vulnerable to fraud, report finds | Politics | guardian.co.uk

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The Edmonton Journal reports: Alberta needs to overhaul its electoral system because votes conducted in the province almost have the feel of a banana republic, says Liberal Leader Kevin Taft.

Taft made the call as Albertans prepare to go to the polls Monday to elect a new government.

The leader of Alberta s official opposition cited a number of long-standing concerns his party has with the electoral process after visiting several temples and seniors residences for some last-minute campaigning in Edmonton on Sunday. ...

He suggested some of the problems being raised by his candidates Sunday, like concerns about controls to prevent people from voting both in the advance polls and on election day, could be addressed by requiring voters to produce photo identification.

Taft has complained about abuses of the electoral process in his book Democracy Derailed, which outlined a situation where special ballots were cast on behalf of people who weren't even in the country. -- Alberta s electoral system in need of major overhaul, Liberals Taft says

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The Herald reports: The Electoral Commission has admitted fundamental weaknesses in its ability to probe allegations of illegal donations to political parties.

An official document seen by The Herald shows that detailed procedures and guidance on how investigations should be carried out remain "in development", despite the fact that high-profile probes into allegations against senior Labour figures, including Scottish leader Wendy Alexander, are currently under way.

The 12-page paper, entitled Handling Allegations, also reveals that the commission does not have "any prescribed method for making decisions" and that it is "unclear" when discussions with the UK Ministry of Justice on increasing the range of sanctions it can hand down will be concluded.

The commission also admits many cases will go unpunished even if they find the law has been broken. -- Watchdog Admits Probe Weakness (from The Herald )

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NPR reports:
U.S. prosecutors say participants in Argentina's election broke American law. Prosecutors say the new president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, won with the help of $800,000 secretly sent from Venezuela. This comes under U.S. law because people on American soil allegedly took part in the transaction. Four people are accused. The president of the country that allegedly supplied the money, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, calls the case a "fabricated scandal." The president who allegedly received it is not so happy either. -- NPR : U.S. Criticizes Argentina's Presidential Election

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The Globe and Mail reports: Changes to Canada s election laws over identification could shut out hundreds of thousands of voters says a coalition that has launched a constitutional challenge in B.C. Supreme Court.

The lawyer behind the legal petition is hoping for a quick decision. ...

The court petition states changes to the Canada Elections Act deprive otherwise-eligible citizens of their right to vote. It claims this year s amendments mean that even if people are on the voters list they still must have government-issued photo ID with a current address usually a driver s licence.

Mr. Quail, a lawyer with the B.C. Public Interest Advocacy Centre, said that cuts out students who don't have identification with their current address, seniors who don't drive or have picture identification, the homeless, disabled and aboriginals whose status cards don't show an address.

Before the changes, people on the voters list could arrive at the polling station with the voter card they received in the mail or apply to get one. -- globeandmail.com: Law may deny many right to vote: group

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Politics.ie reports on the results of the Irish election (held on 25 May, results final about noon on 27 May):
All 166 seats in the 30th Dail have now been filled.

Fianna Fail 78
Fine Gael 51
Green Party 6
Labour Party 20
Sinn Fein 4
Progressive Democrats 2
Independents 5 -- Politics news, Irish politics, Ireland politics, Irish political news, party politics - politics.ie :: Politics.ie

Also, here is the link for the counts for each constituency>

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The Scotsman reports: ONE of the world's leading election experts will head the review into the voting fiasco which marred the Scottish Parliament elections this month.

The Electoral Commission announced yesterday that Ron Gould, the former assistant chief electoral officer of Canada, would lead the investigation into the 140,000 invalid voting papers from the election on 3 May.

Mr Gould has monitored, organised and overseen elections all over the world, from the ground-breaking South African elections of 1994 to the critical Bosnian elections of 1995 and 1996.

From 1981 until his retirement in 2001, Mr Gould led and participated in more than 100 election observation missions in more than 70 countries, and advised the United Nations, the Commonwealth and governments around the world. -- Scotsman.com News - The Scottish Parliament - Election expert Gould to lead review of Holyrood poll scandal

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CanWest News Service reported last Friday: A bill proposing to put the birth dates of all federal electors on copies of the permanent voter registry given to political parties could cause an explosion of identity theft and invasion of privacy, Liberal and Conservative senators warned Thursday.

In a rare departure from the wrangling that has enveloped the Senate, members of the upper chamber from both sides questioned Government House leader Peter Van Loan over the proposal to release vital personal information so broadly.

"With the passage of this bill, everybody's date of birth is going to be known to everybody in Canada," said Liberal Senator George Baker, noting Elections Canada gives the political parties electronic copies of the permanent voters list three times a year as it is updated with new information on citizens.

Baker, who cited a series of court rulings saying compulsory release of birth information violates the Charter of Rights in certain circumstances, found support from Conservative Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin, who also raised concerns about violations of the charter. -- Birth dates on voter list could aid identity theft, senators fear

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The Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform has announced: After months of learning, consulting and deliberating, the province’s first Citizens’ Assembly decided to recommend a new electoral system for Ontario: Mixed Member Proportional.

The Assembly worked to identify the principles we value most in an electoral system and weighed the options accordingly. This process gave citizens a direct voice in determining the options we have when we vote and how our votes are translated into seats for Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs).

This recommendation carries real weight.

Referendum legislation was introduced to enable Ontarians to have their say. The government will hold a referendum in conjunction with the next provincial election in October 2007 so that all voters can decide whether to accept the Assembly’s recommendation for a Mixed Member Proportional voting system. ...

The Assembly’s work is nearly done. Our final report is due to the government on May 15, 2007. -- Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform

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24 Hours Vancouver reports: Veiled Muslim women might be forced to show their face at the voting booth if a government bill quietly making its way through the Senate becomes law, says new chief federal electoral officer Marc Mayrand.

Bill C-31 would require voters to show government-issued photo identification at the polling booth during federal elections. It has passed through the House of Commons and is currently being studied by a Senate committee. ...

The Muslim Canadian Congress sees no problem with the bill. -- 24 Hours Vancouver - News: Controversial voter ID bill likely to pass

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The Nation (Nairobi) reports: Kenyans living abroad want Parliament to enact a law to allow dual citizenship so they can register to vote.

Through a lobby group, the Kenya Movement for Democracy and Justice (KMDJ), they say they want the Government and the Opposition to pass such a law because it was among the non-contentious issues contained in the rejected draft constitution.

There was fear the matter might not be given its due recognition now that it has been politicised by leaders every time they met Kenyans outside, KMDJ United Kingdom chapter chairman Ng'ethe wa Mbiyu said

They want Parliament to take up the matter now that the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) had made it clear they had no powers to amend the law to allow dual citizenship as well as voting outside Kenya. -- allAfrica.com: Kenya: Kenyans in Diaspora Want Right to Vote (Page 1 of 1)

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CBC reports: Proposed changes to Canada's Elections Act that would require voters to present identification at the polling station are "wrong-headed," Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington says.

Bevington says the new rules would be hard on northerners in remote communities and may, in fact, discourage voting.

"I just think this is wrong-headed," the NDP MP said Wednesday. "It's kind of Big Brother. I don't like it on that front as well." ...

Under Bill C-31, voters would be required to show one piece of government-issued photo ID or two pieces without a photo before being allowed to vote.

The bill, introduced by the Conservatives and under debate this week, is aimed at reducing election fraud and maintaining the integrity of the national voters list.

However, Nunavut's Liberal MP, Nancy Karetak-Lindell, is in favour of the new rules, saying it will help deal with election fraud. -- Proposed voter ID rules rankle Western Arctic MP

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The Guardian (UK) reports: Labour has enlisted one of the engineers of this week's Democratic victory in the US midterm elections in an attempt to boost its flagging fortunes before the local elections in May.

Howard Dean, the former presidential candidate and one of the men credited with masterminding the trouncing of the Republicans, will visit the UK next month to brief party officials about his pioneering campaigning techniques.

"The Welsh, Scottish and local elections next year are our midterms," said Hazel Blears, Labour's chair. "It has to be done differently for us to carry on being successful ... We're looking at how [the Democrats] have upped their game."

Labour is particularly interested in the Democrats' style of targeting grassroots voters through low-key meetings in homes. "We want to look at their experience in campaigning, getting out the vote, holding house meetings where people can come together ... You don't want to transplant American politics, but there's a lot we can share," said Ms Blears.

Many political observers will regard the drafting in of Mr Dean as bizarre, given that the Democratic victory was largely founded on voters' anger about the war in Iraq - the very subject which has alienated many Labour supporters and on which Mr Dean has been so outspoken. -- Labour drafts in US election architect for 'our midterms' | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited

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Bloomberg reports: Mexico's Federal Electoral Court rejected presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's demand for a full recount of the July 2 vote, ordering instead a review of the tally at fewer than 10 percent of polling places.

The court's seven judges ruled unanimously that Lopez Orbador, who lost the race according to election authorities by 0.6 percentage point, had no claim to a full recount because he challenged results in only 174 of 300 electoral districts -- and some of his fraud claims didn't stand up. The court agreed to review ballots from 11,839 of more than 130,000 polling places.

The limited scope of the recount makes its unlikely Felipe Calderon's 243,934 margin of victory will be erased, said Todd Eisenstadt, a professor of government at American University in Washington and author of a book on Mexican election law. Mexican bonds and currency rallied on expectations Calderon, a former energy minister under President Vicente Fox, will maintain Fox's policies in favor of free trade, low inflation and spending restraints. -- Bloomberg.com: Worldwide

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The McClatchy Newspapers report: The drab concrete building of fortresslike towers, surrounded by a high steel fence of spiked poles, hints little at the momentous history that's about to unfold inside. Only the colorful sidewalk camp of hunger strikers suggests its importance: They're vowing not to eat again until they see a recount.

The seven justices who will decide Mexico's bitterly disputed presidential election work here. ...

For the 10-year-old Electoral Court of the Federal Judiciary -- as well as for Mexico's nascent democracy -- this is uncharted territory: Left-leaning populist Andrés Manuel López Obrador refuses to concede defeat to conservative Felipe Calderón, claiming fraud in a July 2 election that left them separated by barely a half-percent of the 41 million votes.

Although there are faint echoes of the U.S. election crisis in 2000, Obrador vs. Calderón isn't Bush vs. Gore in Spanish.

For one, there's no U.S. equivalent to the tribunal. It was created in 1996 to handle election challenges in a nation with a history of stolen or fixed elections. Presiding over the tribunal is Leonel Castillo, a career jurist who started in 1981 as a district court judge. Those who know him say he's a by-the-book constitutionalist who's not likely to be swayed by the public demonstrations López Obrador has held. -- Metro/Regional News - Mexico judges to get the last word - sacbee.com

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AP reports: Mexico's leading leftist presidential candidate asked the country's top electoral court late Sunday to order a ballot-by-ballot recount of last week's election, as his party turned over nine boxes of evidence of alleged fraud and dirty campaign practices.

The 900-page claim alleged that some polling places had more votes than registered voters, the ruling party funneled government money to conservative Felipe Calderon's campaign and exceeded spending limits, and a software program was used to skew initial vote-count reports. ...

Mexico's Federal Electoral Court will review the case, which includes videos, campaign propaganda and electoral documents. The court has until Sept. 6 to declare a winner.

The legal challenge came a day after Lopez Obrador, a former Mexico City mayor, held a mammoth rally in Mexico City's historic center and called on his followers to help overturn Calderon's narrow victory. Lopez Obrador isn't seeking to annul the election, but to force authorities to conduct a manual recount of all 41 million ballots. -- Mexico Candidate Claiming Election Fraud

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AP reports: The party of leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador demanded a ballot-by-ballot recount Tuesday in Mexico's closest-ever presidential race, claiming vote counts were manipulated and renewing fears of violent protests if the fiery politician does not get his way.

Lopez Obrador's demand for a full recount of all 41 million votes cast in Sunday's vote set up a possible marathon showdown that could go to Mexico's electoral courts, stirring memories of the bitter Florida recount in the 2000 U.S. presidential race. ...

At the close of voting Sunday, volunteers at tens of thousands of polling places counted the ballots in each box and attached a report, sending it to district headquarters. A preliminary count of those tallies gave Calderon of the ruling National Action Party a 400,000-vote advantage over Lopez Obrador.

But electoral officials said Tuesday about 3 million ballots were not part of that count due to problems including ballots that were set aside for being incorrectly marked or appearing invalid. Lopez Obrador initially said such ballots were "missing," but electoral officials said the ballots were in their control and would be examined -- and counted if valid. -- Sioux City Journal: Leftist Mexican presidential candidate demands vote-by-vote recount

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If you listen to the news bulletins on NPR, you will only hear about the top two candidates. Reuters reports the latest figures about 7 a.m. CDT: Here are the partial official results with 92,1 percent of votes counted in Mexico's fiercely contested presidential election on Sunday.

Rival candidates Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the leftist former mayor of Mexico City, and Felipe Calderon of the conservative ruling party both claimed victory.

But the Federal Electoral Institute, or IFE, said the race was too close to call and a recount would be needed. Third-placed candidate Roberto Madrazo said the IFE should be left to declare the winner once the recount is finished.

CALDERON 36.63 pct

LOPEZ OBRADOR 35.53 pct

MADRAZO 21.12 pct
-- UPDATE 1-TABLE-Mexico presidential election returns | Reuters.com

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Democracy at Large - Volume 2, No. 2 from IFES just arrived in my mailbox. For those to whom the word "mailbox" means the email system, let me remind you of the metal receptable with the red flag that sits beside the street. That's where my Democracy at Large arrived. (And only one story per issue is available on the website, but you can subscribe for only $15.00 per year.)

The main story in the latest issue is "Rules do Matter." The article deals with the rules of the Palestinian and Iraqi elections and how they affected the outcome.

If you have an interest in elections, subscribe to this publication.

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Breaking News.ie reports: A senior legal adviser at the European Union’s court of justice in Luxembourg today sided with Spain in a legal case launched against Britain, agreeing that electoral laws in Gibraltar allowing non-EU citizens the right to vote in European elections violated EU treaty rules.

In his legal opinion to the EU court, Advocate General Antonio Tizzano said that, while Britain had an obligation to extend voting rights to British citizens in Gibraltar, a 2003 act to extend such rights to citizens of the British Commonwealth who are not British or citizens of any other EU country “infringes� EU law. -- BreakingNews.ie: Spain 'partly backed' over Gibraltar voting rights

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The New York Times reports: DEMOCRACY rests on the will of the majority. Or so the speeches say. But in reality, election systems are almost never designed to achieve majority rule alone. Like the famous checks and balances of the American system, they also try to give a wide range of groups a portion of power. But sometimes the framers of an election law can wildly miscalculate, allowing one faction to game the system and gain power far out of proportion to its share of the vote.

That's what seems to have happened in Hamas's victory in the Palestinian territories, according to a new analysis by an American who advised the Palestinian Authority on the elections. It represents a cautionary tale for other new democracies, like Iraq's, whose systems are being designed with the help of outside experts.

The reasons behind the overwhelming Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections go beyond a vote that was split among the numerous candidates backed by Fatah, the former ruling party, this new analysis shows. It strongly suggests that a quirk in the electoral law itself helped convert a slight margin in the popular vote into a landslide for the group.

The analysis was performed by Jarrett Blanc, the American elections expert, who also has worked on elections in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Nepal. The lesson is that the way a new election law turns votes into representatives — the fine print of election laws — can have as much of an impact on who will be running a country as an occupying army. -- A Lesson From Hamas: Read the Voting Law's Fine Print - New York Times

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CBC News reports: Advance polls opened across the country Friday, including at the Stony Mountain Institution, north of Winnipeg, where inmates cast their ballots in the federal election.

Inmates were allowed a few at a time into an open area in the prison where a polling station was set up. Officials at the institution expect voter turnout to exceed 50 per cent.

Many inmates said they had a strong interest in the parties' crime and justice platforms.

Les Henry, who was convicted of manslaughter for killing his wife, would not say how he voted, but he said the mandatory minimum sentences proposed by all three major parties would not work. -- CBC Manitoba - Inmates interested in parties' law-and-order platforms

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The Canadian Press reports: Campaign finance laws intended to improve Canadian elections are having the opposite effect in the Arctic, making it too expensive for candidates to reach far-flung northern communities and cutting them off from the people whose votes they seek.

Changes passed in 2003 resulted in a $1,000 limit on the amount of money corporations can donate to any one candidate. That killed a practice by northern airlines of giving free or discounted plane tickets to candidates -- the only way for many of the 58 communities in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories ridings to get a look at the men and women asking for their vote.

"The new campaign laws mean that airlines can no longer donate tickets to candidates, even though they've done it for all candidates in the past," said Jack Hicks, an agent for Nunavut NDP candidate Amanda Ford-Rogers.

With no road links at all in Nunavut and sketchy highways and winter roads in the NWT, air travel is crucial in the North. It's also expensive. -- The Globe and Mail: For candidates, campaign finance laws put Arctic out of reach

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The American Prospect reports: It's too early to know whether early reports of implausibly high numbers of "yes" voters in Saturday's referendum in Iraq will cast doubt on the legitimacy of the country's new constitution. While there's still hope for a clean victory, sufficient doubts have been cast on the results to open a door for those who would wish to cry foul. Whether whiffs of ballot-stuffing or fraud are validated, the absence of a large-scale international observer contingent on hand to monitor this high-stakes election was a glaring gap in the planning for this pivotal event.

The presence of international observers has become a mainstay of election planning in transitional societies, as their presence deters would-be spoilers from planning shenanigans. Observers can watch balloting, oversee the collection and storage of votes, and monitor counting. Tasks range from reporting on improper campaign activities at polling stations, to preventing people from voting more than once, to imposing fair and transparent methods for tallying votes. International monitors have played essential roles in recent elections in the Palestinian territories, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. -- Ballot Botch

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AP reports: Iraq's electoral commission said Monday it intended to audit "unusually high" numbers in results coming from most provinces in the country's landmark referendum on the draft constitution. ...

The electoral commission's statement came as Sunni Arab lawmaker Meshaan al-Jubouri claimed fraud had occurred in Saturday's election -- including instances of voting in hotly contested regions by pro-constitution Shiites from other areas -- repeating earlier comments made by other Sunni officials over the weekend.

"Statements coming from most provinces indicating such high numbers ... require us to recheck, compare and audit them, as they are unusually high according to the international standards," the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq said in a statement.

The commission said it would take random samples from some ballot boxes to check the results.

An official with knowledge of the election process said that in some areas the proportion of "yes" or "no" votes seemed unusual. The official cautioned that it was too early to say whether the unusual figures were actually incorrect or what caused the high or low numbers. -- Iraqi electoral commission to audit 'unusually high' numbers in referendum results - Boston.com

Thanks to TalkLeft for the link. MyDD has more details and analysis.

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The Telegraph (UK) reports: All Hong Kong's citizens might be able to choose their own leader by 2012, a Chinese official has said, in a possible sign of greater openness among Beijing's hardline political apparatus.

Yang Wenchang, China's commissioner or senior representative in Hong Kong, told reporters that the government was debating when to introduce a democratic vote for the post of its chief executive. "Some are talking about 2012, some are talking 2017 and even some people, you know they are more conservative, are claiming 2022," Mr Yang said. The election is every five years. -- Telegraph | News | Hong Kong 'reform bid'

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BBC reports: Charges have been brought against the son of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon over the funding of one of his father's election campaigns in 1999.

Accused of creating shell companies to conceal illegal donations, Omri Sharon has reportedly admitted overspending but questioned party funding limits.

The charges relate to Ariel Sharon's successful campaign to lead the Likud Party and to be its candidate for PM.

The authorities earlier decided not to indict the prime minister himself.

If found guilty, Omri Sharon faces up to five years in prison over charges of violating campaign finance laws, fraud, breach of trust and perjury. -- BBC NEWS | Middle East | Sharon's son charged over fraud

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AP reports: Philippine opposition lawmakers filed an impeachment complaint today against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, accusing her of vote-rigging and other wrongdoing.

The filing against Arroyo, a staunch U.S. ally, claims she "stole, cheated and lied" to obtain power and hold it. Her aides have moved to block the complaint on a legal technicality.

A summary of the complaint seen by the Associated Press accuses Arroyo of 10 major crimes including election fraud and corruption. It claims she can be impeached on at least four grounds.

Arroyo has denied manipulating the May 2004 ballot by discussing vote counting with an election official before she was declared the winner. She has said she is ready to face an impeachment trial to clear her name and has announced a "truth commission" also will probe the accusations. -- Philippines leader faces more charges

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The Christian Science Monitor reports: Donald Tsang campaigned for months for the No. 1 post in China's most sophisticated and wealthy city. He hired top-shelf media managers. He sported a jaunty bowtie as his emblem. Sir Donald asked not to be called "Sir," a legacy of his British knighthood. He chatted with fishermen and truckers.

He was always the front-runner to serve out the term of shipping tycoon Tung Chee-hwa, fired by Beijing, whose unpopularity brought millions to the streets, seeking the right to vote for their leader.

Yet in the curious twists and turns that Hong Kong is heir to since the British handover, Mr. Tsang is now the new chief executive without any election at all, pending a stamp of approval in Beijing that could come as early as this week.

No opposition candidates got approved. None got the requisite 100 nominations out of an elections panel of 800 pro-Beijing loyalists. -- No ballot for new Hong Kong chief | csmonitor.com

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Reuters reports: Kuwaiti women hailed as historic a decision to allow them to vote and run for parliament -- a law passed despite fierce resistance by Islamist and conservative MPs. ...

The all-male parliament passed the law on Monday after a nine-hour session.

The pro-reform government tempted lawmakers by backing a popular bill to raise salaries for most public and private employees.

Islamist MPs added a clause stipulating women must abide by Islamic law when voting or running for office. This would imply separate polling stations for men and women. -- International News Article | Reuters.com

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The Herald reports: MILITARY campaigners are preparing a detailed submission for the Electoral Commission, the watchdog body that oversees voting in the UK, in an attempt to ensure that service personnel are not disenfranchised in future ballots.

Up to 200,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and their families were effectively denied the chance to take part in the general election three weeks ago because of delays in delivering postal votes to those serving abroad and the failure of the Ministry of Defence to provide registration advice in time.

With the promised backing of both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, a handful of serving and former officers are drawing up proposals aimed at streamlining the system for servicemen and women scattered in garrisons from Basra to Benbecula and on patrolling ships and submarines around the world.
One key proposal is that the MoD reverts to the system of allowing the armed forces to register once for the duration of their careers. ...

A second suggestion is that a system of electronic voting be introduced. -- Campaign demands voting rights for the forces - The Herald

Trivia: I have spent a weekend on the Royal Artillery base on Benbecula. Look it up in a good atlas and you'll know where I was.

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Bloomberg.com reports: Ukraine's supreme court said it will investigate Nov. 21 presidential election results handing victory to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych as supporters of his rival, Viktor Yushchenko, staged a national strike.

More than 300,000 protesters, who say the ballot-counting was fraudulent, massed for a fourth day at Independence Square in the capital Kiev, one of dozens of demonstrations across the nation. The Central Electoral Committee said it will respect the court's decision and stopped the publication of the results in official journals tomorrow, a step needed for Yanukovych to take office. -- Bloomberg.com: Europe

Imagine that: a supreme court that stops a certification rather than interfering with a recount.

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FairVote Canada's website posts this notice: ONTARIO ANNOUNCES CITIZENS' ASSEMBLY ON ELECTORAL REFORM (November 18, 2004)

Premier Dalton McGuinty announced that Ontario will become the second province to have an independent citizens' assembly on electoral reform. The assembly will assess the current voting system and alternatives. If the assembly recommends a new voting system, that recommendation will be taken to voters in a referendum to be held before or in conjunction with the next provincial election.

Fair Vote Ontario campaign volunteers had lobbied cabinet ministers and MPPs over the past two months for such an assembly. While awaiting details on how the assembly will be structured, Fair Vote Ontario commended Premier McGuinty for "placing this process right where it belongs -- in the hands of citizens."

Fair Vote Ontario will now begin rallying citizens of all political stripes to learn how various proportional representation systems can be adopted to the Canadian and Ontario political environment, so the best approach can be identified and adopted. -- Fair Vote Canada - Home

Thanks to J. Paul Johnston for the link.

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The Airdrie Echo reports: Next Monday, Albertans will choose not only their MLAs, but their senators-in-waiting, as well.

Of Alberta's six seats in the 105-seat Canadian Senate, three are vacant and 10 Albertans -- some representing political parties and some not -- have put their names forward in hopes of being elected to fill one of those seats. The Nov. 22 ballot will ask voters to choose four senators-in-waiting -- one more than the number of vacant seats -- but the road doesn't end there. If elected, Alberta's senators-in-waiting will do just that unless appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Paul Martin.

"Appointing Alberta's elected Senate nominees to fill our province’s vacant Senate seats would be a meaningful first step the prime minister could take to address Albertans' concerns about their role in the federal decision-making process," said Halvar Johnson, minister of international and intergovernmental relations. "In our federal system, the Senate was designed to represent the interests of the provinces in Parliament. Because the current Senate lacks a democratic foundation, it is not performing this function. ...

According to a survey conducted this year by Canada West Foundation, 87 per cent of Albertans agree that the Canadian Senate should be equal, elected and effective. -- Airdrie Echo, Airdrie, AB

The CBC explains: Along with a ballot to elect an MLA, each voter will receive a second ballot with the names of Senate candidates. Voters can select up to four names.

The four candidates with the most votes will be the province's senators-in-waiting for a six-year term. However, appointments to the upper chamber are made by the prime minister, and Paul Martin doesn't have to choose any of those elected. -- Senate Election

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Andrew Reynolds writes in the Washington Post: In recent weeks conservatives have criticized the choice of a proportional representation system for Iraq's elections and have disparaged the U.N. electoral assistance department and its director, Carina Perelli. But the plan these critics propose for Iraq -- rejection of proportional voting in favor of an Anglo-American-style, winner-take-all system -- is not a recipe for stability.

According to critics of the United Nations, most notably Michael Rubin on this page [June 19] and Richard Perle in a speech to the American Enterprise Institute, the U.N. plan for Iraq's January elections ignores the desire of liberal Iraqis for constituency-based elections and is likely to bring disastrous consequences, along the lines of those produced by Lebanon's failed communal system. Others claim that the U.N. plan will harm the Shiite majority, breeding more instability. ...

Why is [the UN] correct in recommending proportional representation for the constituent assembly elections in Iraq? First and foremost, proportional representation will avoid the anomalies that are prevalent when single-member districts or some variant thereof are used in emerging democracies. In 1998 the Lesotho Congress for Democracy won all but one seat in parliament with 60 percent of the vote; rioting and state collapse ensued. In the 2000 Mongolian elections, the ruling party took 95 percent of the seats with 58 percent of the vote. In Iraq such a system would most likely give a significant "seat bonus" to Shiite parties, to the detriment of Sunni-based groups and embryonic multiethnic movements. -- The Right Plan for Iraqi Voters (washingtonpost.com)

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The New York Times reports: Voters in this literate, sparsely populated country [Mongolia] between China and Russia have handed their governing party of former Communists an uncommon lesson that indicates that a young democracy may have come of age.

In a boisterous election 10 days ago that pitted guile against might, the country's 1.5 million voters cut the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party numbers in the 76-seat Parliament from 72 to 36. On Wednesday, the General Election Commission confirmed that the opposition, the Motherland Democratic Coalition, known as the Democrats, won 34 seats. The Democrats claim to have won two more seats, and have taken their argument to an administrative court. They are also wooing three independents in the hope of forming a government. ...

But a good dose of political ingenuity proved to be the tugriks' [the local currency] match. In the 2000 election, the vote difference nationwide was only a few percentage points. The opposition lost dozens of seats by tight margins. So this time around, the opposition carried out a homemade election-day redistricting program.

With voters scattered over an area twice the size of Texas, Mongolian law generously allows voting out of one's home district with minimum paperwork and advance notice. On election day, it quickly dawned on the governing party that the opposition was employing fleets of minibuses to shuttle voters from opposition strongholds to swing districts.

But even as the governing party scrambled to deploy its own fleets of minibuses, it watched in disbelief as sa