The Proportional Representation Society of Australia is an
electoral reform
Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems which alters how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of:
* Voting systems, such as proportional representation, a two-round system (runoff voting), instant-ru ...
organisation in
Australia. It has branches in South Australia, Victoria-Tasmania, New South Wales, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. Its membership includes people that have successfully promoted electoral reform.
The Society regularly reviews and makes submissions on electoral reform within Australia with a focus on multi-member
single transferable vote –
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
voting systems
An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections m ...
. It has made submissions to international organizations including the United Nations and the New Zealand Parliament.
History
The Society's began before the commencement of Australia as a Federation with
Catherine Helen Spence
Catherine Helen Spence (31 October 1825 – 3 April 1910) was a Scottish-born Australian author, teacher, journalist, politician, leading suffragist, and Georgist. Spence was also a minister of religion and social worker, and supporter of e ...
as one of its founding members. See
details of the growth and success of quota-preferential proportional representation in Australia, particularly at the national level.
Catherine Helen Spence's 1861 booklet, ''A Plea for Pure Democracy'', helped the early formation of a proportional representation group called the 'Effective Voting League of South Australia'. Miss Catherine Spence was the first female candidate at a public election in the then British Empire when she stood unsuccessfully at the 1897 election (under the multiple vote) for the 1897 Australasian Federal Convention.
A statue in Light Square in Adelaide, unveiled on 10 March 1986 by Her Majesty the Queen, commemorates Spence. The PRSA later launched its reprint of her booklet there. She is remembered by her autobiography, and was depicted on the Australian $5 banknote issued for the Centenary of Federation, in 2001. The PRSA's SA Branch (the
Electoral Reform Society
The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is an independent campaigning organisation based in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It seeks to replace first-past-the-post voting with proportional representation, advocating the single ...
of South Australia) influenced the replacement of the first party list system used, briefly, for Australian parliamentary elections, introduced by the Dunstan Labor Government in 1973, b
direct electionusing the present quota-preferential form of
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
that the SA Electoral Act 1985 prescribes for elections for SA's
Legislative Council. The SA Constitution Act 1934 requires a referendum before either House can be abolished, but does not specify or entrench the electoral system.
Advocacy
The Society advocates the use of
Hare-Clark proportional voting, a form of the
Single Transferable Vote method (STV) that is currently in use for elections in Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory.
It has published a quarterly newsletter entitled ''Quota Notes''.
The Society has also published educational documents and aids such as
* Rules for Counting Single Transferable Votes
* The
Gerrymander Wheel, a simple calculator to demonstrate the perceived futility of drawing geographical boundaries in a single-member electorate system.
Issues
The Society has raised issues in relation to the conduct of public elections in Australia, which include:
* Robson Rotation, the need to randomly order candidates' listings in the printing of ballot papers so as to minimize the effect of
donkey voting
* The rules for the calculation of th
surplus transfer valuein the distribution of preferences in proportional representation counts.
* Opposition to the voting device imposed on certain Australian proportional representation elections
* Filling casual vacancies by countback, which is a form of direct election, rather than by the party appointment system used to fill Senate and Legislative Council casual vacancies.
* Electronic voting, and the introduction and use of computer technology in the conduct of elections
Submissions to Government
The Proportional Representation Society has made submissions to governments which have influenced the development and formation of Australia's electoral systems, as can be seen at its
News pages.
Public discussion and forums
The Society holds and participates in public meetings and forums on electoral reform in various parts of Australia. There is a 2009 presentation by Malcolm Mackerras, an electoral analyst and political journalist.
Vote-counting Service
The Proportional Representation Society's Victoria-Tasmania Branch also provides services in counting votes or fully conducting elections
for corporate and community organizations in Australia including economical computations of results by email. See its
list of clients.
Associations
The Society maintains a connection with:
* The
Electoral Reform Society
The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is an independent campaigning organisation based in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It seeks to replace first-past-the-post voting with proportional representation, advocating the single ...
STV Action UKThe Center for Voting and Democracy USAFair Vote CanadaFair Voting British Columbia
References and footnotes
{{Reflist
External links
Official PRSA Web siteProportional Representation Society of Australia (NSW)Proportional Representation Society of Australia (SA)Elections and Representative government and representation – Australia National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "maint ...
Archives
Growth details2009 presentationMalcolm Mackerras
Psephology
Elections in Australia