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Elections
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The year in elections: the 10 polls that mattered in 2011
It hasn’t been a big year for elections in Australia, but worldwide it’s been quite interesting. Crikey counts down the 10 elections that mattered in 2011.
Junta the sole winner of Burma’s sham elections
The eyes of the world will turn to the secretive state of Burma next month, as the country prepares for its first election in 20 years. But, as Burmese refugee Waihnin Pwint Thon writes, the poll will neither be fair or free.
State elections: down for the count
As the air cleared on Saturday night and Sunday morning, word was that the results in South Australia and Tasmania were too close to call. However, for all but the most starry-eyed Liberal optimists, that was only half true.
Election Eve editorials: Vote 1 ALP
With Crow Eaters and Taswegians headed to the polls tomorrow, the papers are telling both states to look past the ALP’s problems and return both the Rann and Bartlett governments.
The Altona by-election liveblog
Relive all the thrills and spills — Point Cook! Laverton North! — of Victoria’s Altona by-election with The Poll Bludger’s liveblog
Why do the poor vote against themselves?
Why would poor, un-insured Americans vote against the Democrats when health care reform seems so obviously in their own interests? Political scientist David Runciman explains.
When big polling leads mean big election results
If we look back over the last 10 years or so of Federal and State politics, there’s been a number of examples where political parties have enjoyed large and consistent polling leads, Kevin 07 being the only exception. Possum Comitatus crunches the numbers.
Richardson: Elections matter — just ask the Tamils
If more Tamils had voted in the last Sri Lankan election, there might have been no renewal of the war, no large-scale human rights abuses, and even no boatloads of refugees off the Australian coast, says Charles Richardson.
The 2010 Aussie election bonanza: a form guide
It’s a bumper year for elections with Tassie, SA, Victoria and the main event — Tony vs. Kev — all set to get political wonks’ hearts racing. Peter Brent rounds up the different battles and gives his tips for election winners.
PODCAST: 2010: Politics, elections and anniversaries
In the first of a series, The Economist takes a look at what will be important in politics next year. Elections in the US, Britain and Brazil, and a range of political anniversaries look set to dominate global agenda.
Letter from...: Namibia: a first for the born-free generation
The results are finally out for last week’s national elections in Namibia, with the South West African People’s Organisation retaining its majority in the National Assembly and the Presidency, writes Robert Johnson from Windhoek.
Antony Green: Five possible election scenarios
Antony Green outlines the possible dates for the next Federal Election under three different scenarios: a normal House and half-Senate election, a separate House of Representatives election, or a a double dissolution.
A long and bloody history of Phillipines elections
At least 30 politicians and journalists have been found shot and beheaded in the southern Philippines. But murder and clan warfare are just par for the course in Filipino elections, explains Robert Mackey.
Kiwis voting system to go to referendum
Malcolm MacKerras has been trying to persuade New Zealand’s politicians to replace their Mixed Member Proportional electoral system with a better one.
Republicans stage a comeback
On the one-year anniversary of Barack Obama’s landslide win, the winds of change appear to have shifted, with two Republican candidates winning seats in this year’s state elections. Is this a sign that voters are becoming increasingly disaffected with the new President and his party?
Why a one-candidate Afghan election isn’t as stupid as it sounds
A one-horse race in Afghanistan actually offers a unique opportunity, writes Abubakar Siddique: if the election is run with only Karzai, and few Afghanis bother to vote, his mandate will be so weak, co-operation with his political opponents will be vital to keep peace in the country.
Everybody loses
With Hamid Karzai being effectively handed the Afghan Presidency by default, everybody loses, says Simon Tisdall: the UN, Washington, democracy — and most of all, the people of Afghanistan.
Which Coalition members are fighting for their life?
Possum Comitatus looks at how the new electoral redistributions have changed Australia’s political pendulum. Which Coalition members should start sweating?
102 seat landslide for Labor
If a Federal election was held today, the ALP would most likely win a whopping 102 seats in Parliament — a 19 seat gain on their current position, says Possum Comitatus. Start panicking, Malcolm.
Rudd will go to the polls on August 21, 2010. Here’s why
Malcolm MacKerras predicts the double dissolution will be effected in July 2010, causing a general election for all members of both houses to take place on August 21, 2010.
Gordon Brown, dead PM walking
British PM Gordon Brown addressed the Labour Party conference with his party trailing around 19 points in the opinion polls. It wasn’t so much about winning the next election as stopping the bleeding.
ouch! 
Gordon Brown’s disgusting act of cynicism
In his pre-election speech to the Labour Party – which in reality was just a series of lists – the British PM threw the biggest bone of all to the Liberal Democrats, says Simon Heffer. It was the act of a desperate man.
More of the same from Gordon Brown
The British PM’s re-election speech didn’t offer anything new, just more childcare, incomprehensible fiddling about with constitutional reform and a sudden concern about police response times, says John Rentoul.
Germans vote peacefully, but not quite contentedly
The results of the German election indicate Germans are dissatisfied with what they have been offered for so long, and in their calm, orderly way, are saying they would like to try something a bit different.
