Thursday 26 May 2011

Cyprus elections close vote

this week there was a close race in the Cyprus elections.
Basic facts on the electoral system can be obtained on the IFES website and the ACE Electoral encyclopedia
The official Cyprus government website has official press releases on the final results.
The Ministry of the Interior also has more graphics.
The OSCE deployed an observer mission which will be reporting soon on the conduct of the elections. See details and statements
there are news stories and reports in the Cyprus mail.
Good places for looking for articles on cyprus and its political relations see the International Crisis Group.
Human security gateway aggregates reports from leadign policy institutes.

Wednesday 11 May 2011

AV debate online

Useful new addition from Backdoor Broadcasting listen to Is the Alternative Vote worth voting for?A debate on the AV referendum
The UCL Constitution Unit and the Centre for British Politics & Public Life at Birkbeck College, 11th April 2011.
Speaking in favour of a ‘yes‘ vote:
• Billy Bragg (singer and political campaigner)
• Peter Facey (Chair, Unlock Democracy)
Speaking in favour of a ‘no‘ vote:
• Jane Kennedy (National Organiser of Labour) No to AV
• Charlotte Vere (Finance Director / National Organiser) ‘No to AV’

Monday 9 May 2011

AV referendum final results

The official results from the AV referendum can now be viewed on the Electoral commission website.
For a more visual display see the Guardian datablog where you can get maps for your area.

Wednesday 4 May 2011

Referendum- who is ahead in the polls?

With one more day to go. Use therse resources to track who is ahead in the polls.
the UK Polling report is an excellent site for aggregating recent results.

some academic political blogs which are discussing the issue include:
The LSE British Politics and Policy Blog According to the most recent post from Robin Archer (comoparing the situation with Australia) AV may bring unexpected benefits.
David Hugh-Jones' blog a postdoctoral researcher ar the University of Warwick has some AV simulations on his blog
Alan Renwick from the University of Reading has produced a briefing paper for the Political Studies Association.

The Nottingham University blog ballots and Bullets also has some discussion.

Introduction to politics blog at Warwick also has a posting