Elections in Estmere

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Elections in Estmere are held for many government officials at the national, state and local levels.

They can be divided into five types: general elections to the Chamber of Commons of Estmere which determines the prime minister, elections to the subnational legislatures of the states and overseas territories, elections to the Euclean Parliament, local elections to county and district councils, and referendums. The Estmerish constitution specifies a number of requirements for Estmerish elections, namely that they must be conducted using a secret ballot, with universal suffrage in a free and fair manner. Elections are held on Election Day, which is a national public holiday. Estmerish elections use two electoral systems: the additional member system at the national and state level, and party-list proportional representation at the local level.

The most recent general election was held in 2021.

Voters

Voting eligibility

In order to vote in an Estmerish election, voters have to meet the criteria to be considered eligible, and be registered to vote before midnight two weeks prior to polling day. Eligible voters have to be;

  • aged 18 or older on polling day
  • an Estmerish or Euclean Community citizen
  • permanently resident in Estmere, or own property in Estmere
  • not excluded due to legal reasons, such as;

Voters can be registered to multiple constituencies through multiple residences, but can only vote in one constituency. Overseas voters vote as if living at their last Estmerish address.

Electoral system

There are two electoral systems which are used for most Estmerish elections. The additional member system is used at the national level for the Chamber of Commons and at the state level for state legislatures, while party-list proportional representation is used at the local level.

Chamber of Commons and state legislatures

Elections to the Chamber of Commons and the state legislatures use the additional member system, commonly known as AMS. In the additional member system, voters have two votes; one for a local constituency, and one for their preferred party in a party list across their resident state. List seats are allocated through the Boeri method, with the winners of the constituency seats taken into account. This means that AMS is a mixed system which is semi-proportional.

There are 600 total elected members of the Chamber. Of these, 400 members are elected through the first-past-the-post constituency seats, with the remaining 200 members elected through party list. To be eligible for list seats, parties must pass an electoral threshold of 2.5% of the vote in any of the states.

301 seats are required for a majority. The party that recieves the most votes usually forms the government, but due to the proportional nature of the system it is unlikely for a single party to recieve a majority on its own. As such, coalition governments and minority government are common, and it is possible for the largest party to be excluded from government.

Local elections

Local elections to the county and district councils commonly use party-list proportional representation. In smaller councils, the list may be used across the entire district, but most councils use multi-member wards ranging from 3 to 6 members.

Voting procedures

Elections

Constituent assembly

Chamber of Commons

Euclean Parliament

State legislatures

County councils

District councils

Referendums

See also

References