International Election season is fast approaching.  Today’s post is on Australia.  As of today, we do not have an exact date for the election in Australia, but we are pretty sure that it will be May 7, May 14, or May 21.  Or to be more exact, we are certain that Australia will have a Senate election on one of those three dates, and are 99% certain that there will be a House election on the same date.

As with other countries, it is not that any one thing about Australia’s elections is unique.  It’s how these features combine that make it unique.  In this case, the issue is the different rules for Senate elections and for House elections.  For Senate elections, there are some similarities between how the U.S. and Australia structure the Senate.  In both countries, each state gets the same number of Australia (twelve per state in Australia with the territories getting two seats each), the terms for Senators elected from the states are six years (with the term for territorial senators in Australia being three years), and terms are staggered.  What this means is that, every three years, Australia has a half-Senate election (six senators per state and the territorial senators).  Unlike the U.S. there is no set date for a Senate election.  Instead, it can be called for any time in the last year of the term (although the winners do not take office until the new term begins).  As the new term begins on July 1, the last possible date to hold the election (and be certain that the results will be finalized) is May 21.  And, at this point in time, even if the election were called the second that this post goes live, the earliest that the election could be held would be May 7 (but if the election is not called by Monday, that date would no longer be available).

On the other hand, while there are some similarities with the U.S. House, the Australian House is more like the Canadian House.  The House is composed of districts (Division in Australia) which are apportioned to the states based on population.  Like the U.S. House, there is a minimum number of Divisions (five) per state.  Currently, the only state which gets extra seats under this rule is Tasmania.  Unlike the U.S., which only reapportions every ten years, in Australia, this reapportionment occurs after every House election.  If a state’s total number of seats changes, or any districts (called Divisions in Australia) are too large or small (i.e. outside the permitted deviation) or seven years has passed since the last time that the lines have been redrawn, a non-partisan committee of civil servants redraws the lines for that State.  Australia’s term length for the House is three years — exactly in the middle between Canada and the U.S.  However, like in Canada, that term is only the maximum term, and the government can call an election early. Continue Reading...