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Senate of Liberia

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88-739: The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislative branch of Liberia , and together with the House of Representatives comprises the Legislature of Liberia . Each of the fifteen counties are equally represented by two senators, elected to serve staggered nine-year terms. The Senate meets at the Capitol Building in Monrovia . The Senate is largely modeled on the United States Senate . The Constitution vests

176-430: A parliamentary system , it is more likely to produce single-party governments than are PR methods, which tend to produce coalition governments . While runoff voting is designed to ensure that each individual candidate elected is supported by a majority of those in their constituency, if used to elect an assembly it does not ensure this result on a national level. As in other non-PR methods, the party or coalition which wins

264-481: A ranked-choice runoff between them in the second round. In the rest of the country, the use of partisan primaries paired with the two-party system is structurally similar and is often described as a de facto two-round system. Although advocates hoped the two-round method would elect more moderates and encourage turnout among independents, research has shown the method has little to no effect when compared to partisan primaries, or with systems that only require

352-413: A Condorcet winner exists, the candidate does not necessarily win a runoff election due to insufficient support in the first round. Runoff advocates counter that voters' first preference is more important than lower preferences because that is where voters are putting the most effort of decision and that, unlike Condorcet methods, runoffs require a high showing among the full field of choices in addition to

440-824: A Legislative Council prior to joining Canada , as did Ontario when it was Upper Canada and Quebec from 1791 (as Lower Canada ) to 1968. Nebraska is the only state in the United States with a unicameral legislature, having abolished its lower house in 1934, while the Senate of Nebraska , the upper house prior to 1934, continues to assemble. The Australian state of Queensland also once had an appointed Legislative Council before abolishing it in 1922. All other Australian states continue to have bicameral systems, though all members are now directly elected (the two self-governing territories, along with Norfolk Island until 2016, have always been unicameral). Like Queensland,

528-458: A candidate to win the support of voters whose favorite candidate has been eliminated. Under runoff voting, between rounds of voting, eliminated candidates, and the factions who previously supported them, often issue recommendations to their supporters as to whom to vote for in the second round of the contest. This means that eliminated candidates are still able to influence the result of the election. This influence leads to political bargaining between

616-516: A centralized count, as it is impossible to tally or audit RCV results locally . The two-round voting system also has the potential to cause political instability between the two rounds of voting. The two-round system is the most common way used to elect heads of state (presidents) of countries worldwide, a total of 87 countries elect their heads of state directly with a two-round system as opposed to only 22 countries that used single-round plurality ( first-past-the-post ). Two-round voting

704-484: A chairperson, appointed by the president pro tempore. In the 52nd Legislature, the twenty-six standing committees were: Upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature , the other chamber being the lower house . The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted power than the lower house. A legislature composed of only one house (and which therefore has neither an upper house nor

792-440: A council or legislature it will not produce proportional representation (PR). This means that it is likely to lead to the representation of a small number of larger parties in an assembly, rather than a proliferation of small parties. In practice, runoff voting produces results very similar to those produced by the plurality method, and encourages a two-party system similar to those found in many countries that use plurality. Under

880-403: A different winner than the candidate elected by the other two. Advocates of Condorcet methods argue that a candidate can claim to have majority support only if they are the "Condorcet winner" – that is, the candidate who would beat every other candidate in a series of one-on-one elections. In runoff voting the winning candidate is only matched, one-on-one, with one of the other candidates. When

968-410: A lower house) is described as unicameral . An upper house is usually different from the lower house in at least one of the following respects (though they vary among jurisdictions): Powers: Status: In parliamentary systems the upper house is frequently seen as an advisory or a "house of review" chamber; for this reason, its powers of direct action are often reduced in some way. Some or all of

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1056-455: A majority of seats will often not have the support of an absolute majority of voters across the nation. In smaller elections, such as those in assemblies or private organizations, it is sometimes possible to conduct both rounds in quick succession. More commonly, however, large-scale public elections the two rounds of runoff voting are held on separate days, and so involve voters going to the polls twice and governments conducting two elections. As

1144-409: A method, because the voters are not forced to vote according to a single ordinal preference in both rounds. If the voters determine their preferences before the election and always vote directly consistent to them, they will emulate the contingent vote and get the same results as if they were to use that method. Therefore, in that model of voting behavior, the two-round system passes all criteria that

1232-504: A new lower house that no longer wishes to proceed with the bill. Nevertheless, some states have long retained powerful upper houses. For example, the consent of the upper house to legislation may be necessary (though, as noted above, this seldom extends to budgetary measures). Constitutional arrangements of states with powerful upper houses usually include a means to resolve situations where the two houses are at odds with each other. In recent times, parliamentary systems have tended to weaken

1320-592: A position which is known as "perfect bicameralism" or "equal bicameralism." The role of a revising chamber is to scrutinise legislation that may have been drafted over-hastily in the lower house and to suggest amendments that the lower house may nevertheless reject if it wishes to. An example is the British House of Lords . Under the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949 , the House of Lords can no longer prevent

1408-399: A result, one of the most common criticisms against the two-round system is that the cost and difficulty of casting a ballot is effectively doubled. However, the system may sometimes still be cheaper than holding a ranked-choice runoff (RCV) , as the counting of votes in each round is simple. By contrast, ranked-choice runoff voting involves a longer and more complex count that often requires

1496-504: A second-round election "when none of the candidates obtains an absolute majority". The rule has since gained substantial popularity in South America , Eastern Europe , and Africa , where it is now the dominant system. Some variants of the two-round system use slightly different rules for eliminating candidates in the first round, allowing more than two candidates to proceed to the second round in some cases. Under such systems, it

1584-454: A separate vote in each round, under instant-runoff, voters vote only once. This is possible because, rather than voting for only a single candidate, the voter ranks all of the candidates in order of preference. These preferences are then used to transfer the votes of those whose first preference has been eliminated during the course of the count. Because the two-round system and the exhaustive ballot involve separate rounds of voting, voters can use

1672-615: A single round such as ranked-choice voting. Research by social choice theorists has long identified all three rules as vulnerable to center squeeze , a kind of spoiler effect favoring extremists in crowded elections. The French system of ballotage was first established as part of the reforms of the July Monarchy , with the term appearing in the Organic Decree of 2 February 1832 of the French government, which mandated

1760-562: A six-year period in which no senators are elected (no half senate elections in 2017). In the event of a senator's death, resignation, ascension to a disqualifying office, incapacity or expulsion prior to the completion of his or her term, the Senate is required to notify the National Elections Commission within 30 days of the vacancy. The NEC then carries out a by-election within 90 days of such notification to fill

1848-411: A strong showing in the final head-to-head competition. Condorcet methods can allow candidates to win who have minimal first-choice support and can win largely on the compromise appeal of being ranked second or third by more voters. Runoff voting encourages candidates to appeal to a broad cross-section of voters. This is because, in order to win an absolute majority in the second round, it is necessary for

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1936-517: A two-round system, if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, the two candidates with the most votes in the first round proceed to a second round where all other candidates are excluded. Both rounds are held under choose-one voting , where the voter marks a single favored candidate. The two-round system first emerged in France , and has since become the most common single-winner electoral system worldwide. The two-round system

2024-470: A very different political agenda, so that these smaller parties end up weakening their own agenda. The intention of runoff voting is that the winning candidate will have the support of an absolute majority of voters. Under the first past the post method the candidate with most votes (a plurality) wins, even if they do not have an absolute majority (more than half) of votes. The two-round system tries to overcome this problem by permitting only two candidates in

2112-464: Is a largely ceremonial role traditionally granted to the most senior senator from the majority party, the office of President pro tempore in Liberia is heavily contested among the senators. The president pro tempore may be removed from office with the concurrence of two-thirds of the senators. In addition to the president pro tempore, the Senate elects a Secretary of the Senate, Assistant Secretary of

2200-402: Is a perfect-information equilibrium and so only strictly holds in idealized conditions where every voter knows every other voter's preference. Thus it provides an upper bound on what can be achieved with rational (self-interested) coordination or knowledge of others' preferences. Since the voters almost surely will not have perfect information, it may not apply to real elections. In that matter, it

2288-418: Is a single winner voting method . It is sometimes called plurality-runoff , although this term can also be used for other, closely-related systems such as instant-runoff (or ranked-choice) voting or the exhaustive ballot (which typically produce similar results). It falls under the class of plurality-based voting rules, together with instant-runoff (or ranked-choice) and first-past-the-post (FPP) . In

2376-624: Is known as the single transferable vote (STV) and is used for presidential elections and parliamentary elections. However, STV as applied in multi-member districts is a proportional voting system, not a majoritarian one; and candidates need only achieve a quota (or the highest remaining fraction of a quota), to be elected. STV is used in Northern Ireland, Malta, the Australian senate and various other jurisdictions in Australia. It

2464-532: Is often used for municipal elections in lieu of more party-based forms of proportional representation. The contingent or supplementary vote is a variant of instant-runoff voting that has been used in Queensland and was previously used in the United Kingdom to elect some mayors; it was ultimately abandoned as a result of its complex election administration . Under the contingent vote, voters rank

2552-426: Is similar to the perfect competition model sometimes used in economics. To the extent that real elections approach this upper bound, large elections would do so less so than small ones, because it is less likely that a large electorate has information about all the other voters than that a small electorate has. Runoff voting is intended to reduce the potential for eliminating "wasted" votes by tactical voting . Under

2640-530: Is sufficient for a candidate to receive a plurality of votes (more votes than anyone else) to be elected in the second round. In the 2002 French presidential election , the two contenders described by the media as possible winners were Jacques Chirac and Lionel Jospin , who represented the largest two political parties in France at the time. However, 16 candidates were on the ballot, including Jean-Pierre Chevènement (5.33%) and Christiane Taubira (2.32%) from

2728-426: Is this weak candidate, rather than a stronger rival, who survives to challenge one's preferred candidate in the second round. But in practice, such a tactic may prove counter-productive. If so many voters give their first preferences to the "weak" candidate that it ends up winning the first round, it is highly likely they will gain enough campaign momentum to have a strong chance of winning the runoff, too, and with it,

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2816-417: Is vulnerable to strategic nomination for the same reasons that it is open to the voting tactic of compromising. This is because a candidate who knows they are unlikely to win can ensure that another candidate they support makes it to the second round by withdrawing from the race before the first round occurs, or by never choosing to stand in the first place. By withdrawing candidates a political faction can avoid

2904-577: Is widely used in the election of legislative bodies and directly elected presidents. Despite this, the rule has received substantial criticism from social choice theorists , leading to the rise of electoral reform movements seeking to abolish it in France and elsewhere. In the United States, the system is used to elect most public officials in Louisiana (though parties do not put forward just one candidate, which allows multiple candidates from

2992-588: The Conservative Party use EB to elect their prospective parliamentary candidates (PPCs). Exhaustive ballot is also used by FIFA and the International Olympic Committee to select hosts. Instant-runoff voting (IRV), like the exhaustive ballot, involves multiple reiterative counts in which the candidate with fewest votes is eliminated each time. Whilst the exhaustive ballot and the two-round system both involve voters casting

3080-517: The German state of Bavaria had an appointed second chamber, the Senate of Bavaria , from 1946 to 1999. The Senate of the Philippines was abolished – and restored – twice: from 1935 to 1945 when a unicameral National Assembly convened, and from 1972 to 1987 when Congress was closed, and later a new constitution was approved instituting a unicameral Parliament. The Senate was re-instituted with

3168-465: The Plural Left coalition of Jospin, who refused by excess of confidence to dissuade them. With the left vote divided among a number of candidates, a third contender, Jean-Marie Le Pen , unexpectedly obtained slightly more than Jospin in the first round: The other candidates received smaller percentages on the first round. Because no candidate had obtained an absolute majority of the votes in

3256-650: The Rajya Sabha in India are nominated by various states and union territories, while 12 of them are nominated by the President of India. Similarly, at the state level, one-third of the members of the State Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) are nominated by local governments, one-third by sitting legislators, and the rest are elected by select members of the electorate. The United States Senate

3344-667: The Senate of Canada are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. In the past, some upper houses had seats that were entirely hereditary, such as in the British House of Lords until 1999 and in the Japanese House of Peers until it was abolished in 1947. It is also common that the upper house consists of delegates chosen by state governments or local officials. Members of

3432-446: The plurality voting system (also known as first past the post), voters are encouraged to vote tactically, by voting for only one of the two leading candidates, because a vote for any other candidate will not affect the result. Under runoff voting, this tactic, known as "compromising", it is sometimes unnecessary because even if a voter's favorite candidate is eliminated in the first round, they will still have an opportunity to influence

3520-431: The spoiler effect , whereby a candidate "splits the vote" of its supporters. A famous example of this spoiler effect occurred in the 2002 French presidential election , when so many left-wing candidates stood in the first round that all of them were eliminated and two right-wing candidates advanced to the second round. Conversely, an important faction may have an interest in helping fund the campaign of smaller factions with

3608-561: The two-party-preferred vote (TPP or 2PP) is the result of the final round of an election or opinion poll after preferences have been distributed to the highest two candidates, who in some cases can be independents. For the purposes of TPP, the Liberal/National Coalition is usually considered a single party, with Labor being the other major party. Typically the TPP is expressed as the percentages of votes attracted by each of

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3696-507: The 1985 Constitution originally established a two-round system for Senate elections, whereby if no candidate received a majority of the vote, a second election contested by the two candidates with the highest number of votes was held one month later. The Accra Peace Accord temporarily suspended this provision for the 2005 legislative elections, which utilized the First-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system . In 2011, Article 83(b)

3784-606: The 2005 general elections, which were widely considered to be the most free and fair in Liberian history, a total of nine parties won seats in the Senate. No single party won a majority of the seats, a first in Liberian political history. Article 30 of the Constitution sets four requirements for members of the Senate: 1) they must possess Liberian citizenship, 2) must be at least thirty years old, 3) must have been domiciled in

3872-521: The Constitution and laws of the Republic of Liberia, bear true faith and allegiance to the Republic, and will faithfully, conscientiously and impartially discharge the duties and functions of the office of Senator to the best of my ability. So help me God. Under the original 1847 Constitution, senators served a term of four years without term limits. The term length was increased to six-year by constitutional amendment in 1904. The draft 1985 Constitution set

3960-503: The Constitution states that the vice president "shall be President of the Senate and preside over its deliberations without the right to vote, except in the case of a tie vote." In practice, the vice president rarely fulfills this role, with a president pro tempore, elected from among the senators, presiding over the Senate in the vice president's absence. Unlike the president pro tempore of the United States Senate , which

4048-399: The Constitution, the Senate, by concurrence of one-fourth of its members and one-fourth of the members of the House, or the president, on his or her own initiative, may extend the session past its adjournment or call for an extraordinary session outside of the regular session. Plenary sessions are held every Tuesday and Thursday, with committees meeting on Mondays and Wednesdays. Article 51 of

4136-582: The House of Representatives, inherited the legislative powers of the Council of the Commonwealth of Liberia upon the country's Declaration of Independence in 1847. Modeled on the United States Senate, the Liberian Senate contained two senators from each of the country's three counties, giving it a total membership of only six senators until the formation of Grand Cape Mount County in 1856 and

4224-699: The Labour Government of 1999 tried to expel all hereditary peers from the Lords, the Lords threatened to wreck the Government's entire legislative agenda and to block every bill which was sent to the chamber. This standoff led to negotiations between Viscount Cranborne, the then Shadow Leader of the House, and the Labour Government, resulting in the Weatherill Amendment to the House of Lords Act 1999 , which preserved 92 hereditary peers in

4312-520: The Senate and a Sergeant-at-Arms as officers of the Senate, though these positions are not held by sitting senators. Article 38 of the Constitution empowers both houses of the Legislature to create both committees and sub-committees, with the only caveat being that the Committee on Ways, Means, Finance and Budget is required to consist of one senator from each county. Each committee is headed by

4400-513: The Senate once again sat upon the successful holding of the 1997 general elections and remained constituted throughout the Second Liberian Civil War from 1999 to 2003. The Accra Peace Accords that ended the civil war transferred the powers of the Senate to the unicameral National Transitional Legislative Assembly of Liberia for two years, after which voters elected a new Senate in the 2005 general election . Historically,

4488-564: The Senate was dominated by the president's political party. From 1877 until the 1980 coup, the True Whig Party of the Americo-Liberian minority held a virtual monopoly on the national government, including almost all of the seats in the Senate. Samuel Doe's National Democratic Party of Liberia and Charles Taylor 's National Patriotic Party held large majorities in the Senate during their respective presidencies. Following

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4576-422: The Senate. The Senate is also responsible for trying the president, the vice president, and judges in the event that they are impeached by the House. Conviction and removal from office requires the consent of two-thirds of the senators. The Senate holds one regular session every year, beginning on the second working Monday of January and ending on August 31, with a two-week break for Easter . Under Article 32(b) of

4664-455: The United States, the two-round system is used in Louisiana in place of traditional primary elections to choose each party's candidate. In this state, the first round is held on Election Day with runoffs occurring soon after. Georgia also uses the system for special elections. Washington adopted a minor variant on the two-round system in a 2008 referendum , called the nonpartisan blanket primary or top-two primary. California approved

4752-671: The abolition, while the centrist Fianna Fáil was alone among major parties in supporting the retention of the Seanad. Two-round system Condorcet methods Positional voting Cardinal voting Quota-remainder methods Approval-based committees Fractional social choice Semi-proportional representation By ballot type Pathological response Strategic voting Paradoxes of majority rule Positive results The two-round system ( TRS or 2RS ), also called ballotage , top-two runoff , or two-round plurality (as originally termed in French ),

4840-516: The annexation of the Republic of Maryland in 1857. The Senate again grew with the incorporation of four counties in 1964, and an additional four in 1984–1985. With the addition of the fifteenth county, Gbarpolu County , in 2000, the Senate reached its current membership of thirty senators. As a result of political turmoil in Liberia during the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the Senate has been disbanded and reconstituted multiple times. Following

4928-563: The contingent vote passes, and fails all criteria the contingent vote fails. Since the voters in the two-round system do not have to choose their second round votes while voting in the first round, they are able to adjust their votes as players in a game . More complex models consider voter behavior when the voters reach a game-theoretical equilibrium from which they have no incentive, as defined by their internal preferences, to further change their behavior. However, because these equilibria are complex, only partial results are known. With respect to

5016-420: The county which they represent for at least one year prior to their election, and 4) must be a taxpayer. Under the 1847 Constitution , senators were required to own a certain value of real estate within their county, which in effect limited the ability of indigenous citizens to be elected to the Senate. Property ownership as a requirement for election was eliminated in the current Constitution. Article 83(b) of

5104-420: The election was not spoiled . French legislative elections allow more than two candidates to advance to the second round, leading to many triangular elections , such as in the 2024 French legislative election . It is common for all but two candidates to withdraw from the second round (so they don't spoil the chances of another similar candidate) which makes the result similar to top-two two-round systems. In

5192-436: The election. At the very least, their opponent would have to start taking the so-called weak candidate seriously, particularly if the runoff follows quickly after the first round. Runoff voting can be influenced by strategic nomination ; this is where candidates and political factions influence the result of an election by either nominating extra candidates or withdrawing a candidate who would otherwise have stood. Runoff voting

5280-430: The first round, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. This continues until one candidate has an absolute majority. Because voters may have to cast votes several times, EB is not used in large-scale public elections. Instead it is used in smaller contests such as the election of the presiding officer of an assembly; one long-standing example of its use is in the United Kingdom , where local associations (LCAs) of

5368-415: The first round, the top two candidates went into the second round. Most supporters of the parties which did not get through to the second round (and Chirac's supporters) voted for Chirac, who won with a very large majority: Despite the controversy over Jospin's early elimination, polls showed Chirac was preferred to Jospin by a majority of voters and that Chirac was the majority-preferred candidate , meaning

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5456-484: The following restrictions are often placed on upper houses: In parliamentary democracies and among European upper houses the Italian Senate is a notable exception to these general rules, in that it has the same powers as its lower counterpart: any law can be initiated in either house and must be approved in the same form by both houses. Additionally, a Government must have the consent of both to remain in office,

5544-462: The highest number of votes was elected as a First Category senator, serving a nine-year term, followed by elections in 2014 . The candidate with the second-highest number of votes became a Second Category senator, serving an exceptional six-year term, followed by elections in 2011 for a normal nine-year term. Since 2011 elections are staggered whereby each county elects one senator (2011-2020), then another senator three years later (2014-2023) followed by

5632-467: The house. Compromise and negotiation between the two houses make the Parliament Act a very rarely used backup plan. Even without a veto, an upper house may defeat legislation. Its opposition may give the lower chamber a chance to reconsider or even abandon a controversial measure. It can also delay a bill so that it does not fit within the legislative schedule, or until a general election produces

5720-463: The legislative power of Liberia in both the Senate and the House, which must both concur on a bill prior to it being sent to the president. In addition, the Senate possesses several exclusive powers under the Constitution, including the power to advise and consent to the president's appointments to both the executive and judicial branches and the duty to try all public officials impeached by the House of Representatives. The Senate of Liberia, along with

5808-535: The military coup d'état in 1980, the Senate was disbanded and several of its members executed, while its powers were vested in the People's Redemption Council . Upon the promulgation of the 1985 Constitution and subsequent 1985 general elections, the Senate was reconstituted, only to dissolve again upon the outbreak of the First Liberian Civil War in 1990. Following a peace deal that ended the war,

5896-457: The passage of most bills, but it must be given an opportunity to debate them and propose amendments, and can thereby delay the passage of a bill with which it disagrees. Bills can only be delayed for up to one year before the Commons can use the Parliament Act, although economic bills can only be delayed for one month. The House of Lords is sometimes seen as having a special role of safeguarding

5984-413: The plurality method it is necessary to vote for one of the two leading candidates. Runoff voting is also vulnerable to another tactic called "push over". This is a tactic by which voters vote tactically for an unpopular "push over" candidate in the first round as a way of helping their true favorite candidate win in the second round. The purpose of voting for the push over, in theory, is to ensure that it

6072-424: The powers of upper houses relative to their lower counterparts. Some upper houses have been fully abolished; others have had their powers reduced by constitutional or legislative amendments. Also, conventions often exist that the upper house ought not to obstruct the business of government for frivolous or merely partisan reasons. These conventions have tended to harden with a passage of time. In presidential systems,

6160-402: The president veto any bill passed by the House and the Senate, the veto may be overturned by a vote of two-thirds of the members in each chamber. The Constitution also grants the Senate several exclusive powers to check the actions of the executive branch. Under Article 54, the president's appointments of ministers, judges, county officials, military officers and other officers must be confirmed by

6248-533: The restoration of a bicameral Congress via a constitutional amendment in 1941, and via adoption of a new constitution in 1987. A previous government of Ireland (the 31st Dáil) promised a referendum on the abolition of its upper house , the Seanad Éireann , during the 24th Seanad session. By a narrow margin, the Irish public voted to retain it. Conservative-leaning Fine Gael and Left-leaning Sinn Féin both supported

6336-415: The result of the election by voting for a more popular candidate in the second round. However the tactic of compromising can still be used in runoff voting—it is sometimes necessary to compromise as a way of influencing which two candidates will survive to the second round. In order to do this it is necessary to vote for one of the three leading candidates in the first round, just as in an election held under

6424-410: The results of one round to decide how they will vote in the next, whereas this is not possible under IRV. Because it is necessary to vote only once, IRV is used for elections in many places. For such as Australian general and state elections (called preferential voting ). In the United States, it is known as ranked-choice voting and is used in a growing number of states and localities. In Ireland it

6512-418: The same bill in order for it to be sent to the president for signature or veto. If differences exist in the two versions passed by the House and the Senate, a conference committee made up of members of both chambers may be formed to negotiate a single bill for passage by the chambers. The Senate, along with the House, must approve any treaties or other international agreements signed by the president. Should

6600-525: The same party to run in the first round) and in Mississippi and Georgia , though these two states first hold a partisan primary to select each parties' nominees. The states of California , Washington , and Alaska use a similar system known as a nonpartisan blanket primary , where the second round takes place whether or not a candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round. Alaska's system also differs by advancing four candidates with

6688-490: The second round, so that one must receive an absolute majority of votes. Critics argue that the absolute majority obtained by the winner of runoff voting is an artificial one. Instant-runoff voting and the exhaustive ballot are two other voting methods that create an absolute majority for one candidate by eliminating weaker candidates over multiple rounds. However, in cases where there are three or more strong candidates, runoff voting will sometimes produce an absolute majority for

6776-400: The second round. Then, a second round is held using single-member districts with first-past-the-post . Most of the mathematical criteria by which voting methods are compared were formulated for voters with ordinal preferences. Some methods, like approval voting , request information than cannot be unambiguously inferred from a single set of ordinal preferences. The two-round system is such

6864-605: The system in 2010 , which was first used for the 36th congressional district special election in February 2011. The first election (the primary) is held before the general election in November and the top two candidates enter the general election. The general election is always held, even if a candidate gets over 50%. The exhaustive ballot (EB) is similar to the two-round system, but involves more rounds of voting rather than just two. If no candidate receives an absolute majority in

6952-409: The terms of senators at eight years, though the length was changed to nine years by the military government prior to its ratification. Senatorial terms have been staggered under both constitutions, with two classes of senators being elected in alternating election years. The 2005 Senate elections reinstated this method, with each voter able to cast two ballots for separate candidates. The candidate with

7040-471: The top-two candidates. However it involves only two rounds of counting and uses the same rule for eliminating candidates as the two-round system. After the first round all but the two candidates with most votes are eliminated. Therefore, one candidate always achieves an absolute majority in the second round. Because of these similarities, the contingent vote tends to elect the same winner as the two-round system and instant-runoff voting. In Australian politics ,

7128-487: The two major parties, e.g. "Coalition 45%, Labor 55%", where the values include both primary votes and preferences. The TPP is an indicator of how much swing has been attained/is required to change the result, taking into consideration later preferences. A two-party vote is used for elections to the Bhutanese National Assembly , where the first round selects two parties that are allowed to compete in

7216-473: The two remaining candidates and the parties and candidates who have been eliminated, sometimes resulting in the two successful candidates making policy concessions to the less successful ones. Because it encourages conciliation and negotiation in these ways, runoff voting is advocated, in various forms, by some supporters of deliberative democracy . Runoff voting is designed for single-seat constituencies. Therefore, like other single-seat methods, if used to elect

7304-507: The uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom and important civil liberties against ill-considered change. The House of Lords has a number of ways to block legislation and to reject it; however, the House of Commons can eventually use the Parliament Act to force something through. The Commons will often accept amendments passed by the Lords; however, the two houses have sometimes reached a constitutional standoff. For example, when

7392-526: The upper house is frequently given other powers to compensate for its restrictions: There are a variety of ways an upper house's members are assembled: by direct or indirect election, appointment or a mixture of these. Many upper houses are not directly elected but appointed: either by the head of state, by the head of government or in some other way. This is usually intended to produce a house of experts or otherwise distinguished citizens, who would not necessarily be returned in an election. For example, members of

7480-401: The vacancy. Senators elected in a by-election only serve the remainder of their predecessor's term. Bills may originate in either the House or the Senate with the exception of revenue bills, which Article 34(d)(i) requires to originate in the House. Bills originating in the House, including revenue bills, may be amended by the Senate and sent back to the House. Both chambers are required to pass

7568-472: The voters' internal preferences, the two-round system passes the majority criterion in this model, as a majority can always coordinate to elect their preferred candidate. Also, in the case of three candidates or less and a robust political equilibrium, the two-round system will pick the Condorcet winner whenever there is one, which is not the case in the contingent vote model. The equilibrium mentioned above

7656-503: Was amended by referendum to require FPTP voting in all future legislative elections. The Constitution requires all senators to take an oath or affirmation upon assuming their office. The Secretary of the Senate administers the oath to all senators on their first day of sitting in the Senate. The following oath is specified by the Constitution: I, ___ , do solemnly swear (affirm) that I will support, uphold, protect and defend

7744-804: Was chosen by state legislatures until the passage of the Seventeenth Amendment in 1913. The upper house may be directly elected but in different proportions to the lower house - for example, the senates of Australia, Brazil and the United States have a fixed number of elected members from each state, regardless of the population. Many jurisdictions once possessed upper houses but abolished them to adopt unicameral systems, including Croatia , Denmark , Estonia , Hungary , Iceland , Iran , Mauritania , New Zealand , Peru , Sweden , Turkey , Venezuela , many Indian states , Brazilian states , Canadian provinces , subnational entities such as Queensland , and some other jurisdictions. Newfoundland had

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