Proportional Representation – Ballot Box Scotland

SP21 – Reforming AMS

June 16, 2021 Ballot Box Scotland Comments Off

Sure, Holyrood is unlikely to vote for my hyper-proportional, FPTP-free preferred voting system. But there are some solid, yet mild, reforms to AMS that could vastly improve it. […]

SP21 – A Host of Hypotheticals

June 3, 2021 Ballot Box Scotland Comments Off

With analysis of the real election results out of the way, BBS now turns to one of my pet topics – hypothetical electoral reforms to improve proportionality! […]

Throwing Stones in Crumbling Legislatures…

February 28, 2021 Ballot Box Scotland Comments Off

Silly season came early to Scottish political Twitter, as charges of living in a “One Party State” started to appear. These mostly came from outwith Scotland, and the reaction from academics, journalists and politicians here has been absolute exasperation. Ballot Box Scotland was not immune to that feeling… […]

Lockdown Fun With Voting Systems

May 4, 2020 Ballot Box Scotland Comments Off

A look at a range of different tweaks to the Holyrood Voting System, because it’s Lockdown and everyone is bored! […]

Long Read – Ballot Box Britain: GE 2019 Under PR

December 19, 2019 Ballot Box Scotland Comments Off

Having worked out a simple PR model for the 2017 election just before GE19, it was easy to slot the numbers from this year in too. In an election notable for its tactical voting and heavily distorted result, I imagine a possible alternative to Westminster’s antiquated, unfair and fundamentally undemocratic voting system. […]

Long Read – Ballot Box Britain: GE 2017 Under PR

December 7, 2019 Ballot Box Scotland Comments Off

As something a bit different for a pre-Election long read, I take one last look back at the 2017 General Election. It’s a rare whole-UK moment for Ballot Box Scotland, as we take a trip through the alternate reality of having used Proportional Representation instead of First Past the Post the last time we elected the House of Commons. […]

The Overhang Oddity

November 1, 2018 Ballot Box Scotland Comments Off

In my polling and projection posts, I’m finding myself quite regularly referring to a concept called “overhang“. This is a quirk of mixed electoral systems like the Additional Member System (AMS) we use for the Scottish Parliament and similar systems […]