Submission on the Burnside Representation Review 2021

The Electoral Reform Society of SA supports proportional representation for all elections, and we are very pleased that this method of election is used to elect all local government in this State, including for the City of Burnside.

Proportional representation works better, the greater the number of members to be elected. As the number to be elected increases, the quota for election reduces and more voters find their votes electing someone. Also, the number of candidates usually increases, and this greater choice also encourages people to vote.

Submission on Regional Council of Goyder Elector Representation Review 2020

The Electoral Reform Society of SA supports proportional representation for all elections, and we are very pleased that this method of election is used to elect all local government in this State, including for the Regional Council of Goyder.

Proportional representation works better, the greater the number of members to be elected.  As the number to be elected increases, the quota for election reduces and more voters find their votes electing someone.  Also, the number of candidates usually increases, and this greater choice also encourages people to vote.

The Society’s preference is for a single Council-wide electorate.  In our opinion this is the most democratic method that can possibly be used, as:

• all entitled to vote have the same choice of candidates,
• all have the opportunity to vote for these candidates,
• there can be no manipulation of ward boundaries,
• this is the fairest method in ensuring that nearly all will find their votes electing someone and vote wastage is kept to a minimum, and
• thus, more people will be encouraged to vote.

Unley Council – Elector Representation Review 2020

The Electoral Reform Society of SA supports proportional representation for all elections and we are very pleased that this method of election is used to elect all local government in this State, including for the City of Unley.

Submission to the Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission

Previously the Electoral Reform Society of South Australia had made a submission to the Electoral Boundaries Commission arguing that the basis of the current redistribution of electoral boundaries is that the number of electors must not vary from the electoral quota by more than 10%.
There is nothing in the transcript of the proceedings of Commission on 3 December 2019, or in the five submissions to that hearing, that convince the Society to change its stance.

ERS SA in 2018/19

The past year has seen a lot of activity. We celebrated 125^th anniversary of women’s suffrage, we had one Federal Election and the aftermath of State and Local Government elections. There was also much activity within the Proportional Representation Society. We opened the year with a visit from our National President and progressed over the course of the year to discuss key messages of the Society. With a huge amount of work by National President, Jeremy Lawrence, two national policies were adopted by the Society. These can be found online at:

• Senate
• House of Representatives

Submission to Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission

To the Electoral Districts Boundaries Commissioners

The basis of the forthcoming electoral districts boundaries redistribution is that the number of electors must not vary from the electoral quota by more than 10%.

Under the Constitution Act 1934 this is at a date set earlier than the actual fixed election date.  If the Commission is to be seen as successful, the aim must be to ensure that all electorates are inside the 10% margin on election day.

Reforming local government in South Australia

The Electoral Reform Society of South Australia is strongly opposed to the proposal in the Discussion Paper to change from using proportional representation as the method of electing local government and to replace it with the bottoms-up method.

This submission elaborates on why the Society opposes this proposal.

Constitutional roundtable on fixed four-year parliamentary terms

The Electoral Reform Society of South Australia supports fixed parliamentary terms.

Since South Australia moved to fixed terms, this has removed the uncertainty of when the next election will be called.  This has meant the government of the day has not been able to take advantages from springing an election when it suited them.  It has resulted in a more level playing field for all political parties and candidates, and indeed for the electors.  Having a fixed date has also allowed the Electoral Commission SA to be better prepared in advance for running each election.

Review of Aṉangu Pitjatjantjara Yankunytjatjara Electorates for the 2020 General Election

Currently there are 7 electorates within the Aṉangu Pitjatjantjara Yankunytjatjara Lands from which a male and female Member are elected as Members of the APY Executive Board at general elections every three years.

An examination of the 2017 election results shows that this arrangement is not working.

Submission to Inquiry into the 2019 federal election

This submission concentrates largely on Senate issues.

Senate counting procedures

The previous Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters in its Report on the conduct of the 2016 federal election made as its first recommendation that:

“The Committee recommends that the Australian Government commission a technical report on the most appropriate count and surplus transfer methodology for Senate elections, and

This technical report should consider the need for a progressively reducing quota.”

The Electoral Reform Society of South Australia was very pleased to see this recommendation but as the Report with this recommendation was only tabled on 5 December 2018 there was obviously not time for the Government to action this before this year’s election.

This recommendation now needs to be implemented immediately if there is going to be time to consider the report’s finding and to make any changes before the next federal election.

In our submission on the 2016 federal election, the Society pointed out that “with the introduction of optional preferential voting there need to be changes to accommodate the resultant increase in exhausted votes” and the need to change the calculation of the transfer value. Unfortunately, there has now been a second election with the now-defective method again used.

Now that all Senate ballot papers are scanned as part of the counting process, it should be possible to assess various ways of calculating transfer values. If the Australian Government is not going to immediately implement the first recommendation of the previous Committee, then the new Committee needs to undertake its own report as part of this Inquiry.

Removing the line on the Senate ballot paper

The Society would like to see the line removed so there is no longer above and below the line voting. With optional preferential voting and now no voting tickets, there is no need for continuing above and below the line voting, which only complicates the ballot paper and confuses voters.