Electoral Law Resources on the Internet

Ok guys. The holidays are over and there is now no way of avoiding the fact that we are in the middle of a federal election campaign. This is a follow-up to the December 1, 2005 posting History of the Right to Vote in Canada.

Here are some of the top Canadian and foreign web resources on the topic of elections, electoral law and electoral reform.

• Elections Canada - Electoral Law and Policy: electoral rules and legislation, along with research findings on election administration issues
• Compendium of Election Administration in Canada (Elections Canada): this section of the Elections Canada website provides "a comparative analysis of electoral legislation at the federal level and in each province and territory in Canada". Includes analysis of electoral districts, administration of elections, registration of electors, voting process, nomination of candidates, registration of political parties, election financing, enforcement of electoral law, referendum and plebiscite provisions and major recent court cases
• Electoral Rights: Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Library of Parliament): "A number of electoral issues have been the subject of Charter challenges resulting in judicial decisions and legislative changes. This paper will review and summarize the main cases and issues"
• Canadian Electoral System (Library of Parliament) : highlights the principal features of the Canadian electoral system as contained in the Canada Elections Act and other provisions, including the right to vote, the control of election expenses, and election advertising rules
• Electoral Reform Initiatives in Canadian Provinces (Library of Parliament): There is growing concern in many circles that Canada's first-past-the-post electoral system produces lopsided and unrepresentative results. There have been many calls for reforms, and 5 Canadian provinces have looked into the issue
• Canadian Election Study : The Canadian Election Study (CES) is a research project undertaken by researchers from three Canadian universities (Montréal, McGill, and
  Toronto). The main goal of the research project is to explain why voters vote the way they do and why some parties are more successful than others. The site contains papers, articles and book chapters that all deal with either the 1997 or 2000 or the 2004 Canadian federal elections
• Fair Vote Canada: this pressure group lobbies for electoral reform in Canada. Its website contains analysis of what is wrong with the current Canadian electoral system and proposals of how it can be reformed. It also includes newsletters, calendars of forthcoming events and access to fact sheets and journal articles about electoral systems, electoral reform and what it considers to be the advantages of proportional representation
• http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/: produced by the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University and made freely available on their website, "Election Law @ Moritz is a web publication that covers developments in the law of election administration-- laws dealing with voter registration, voter ID, early and absentee voting, provisional balloting, poll workers and polling place procedures, recounts and election contests, and other related issues. Our primary target audience includes lawyers and legal scholars who focus on these issues, as well as journalists in the elections field."
• Federal Election Committee: an independent U.S. government regulatory body with responsibility for enforcing electoral law, disclosing campaign finance information to the public and administering the public funding of presidential elections. The website provides a guide to current US electoral law, detailed statistical information on campaign finance, and disclosure reports filed by individual committees and campaigns
• Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (Parliament of Australia): the Committee website provides information on the administration of elections, election registration and electoral funding in Australia
• Independent Commission on the Voting System (United Kingdom): full text of the "Jenkins Report" in October 1998. The purpose of the Commission was to analyse the existing British first-past-the-post system and consider alternatives. It provides a detailed assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of different electoral systems including first-past-the-post, proportional representation and the single transferable vote and looks ate the experiences of Australia, New Zealand and France. The UK government has yet to act on the recommendations for reform
• Jenkins Report : BBC Special Report 1998 : the British Broadcasting Corporation created this site in 1998 to explain the recommendations of the Jenkins Report on electoral reform in the UK. The site provides background information on various electoral systems and examines their possible impact on the composition of Parliament
• Electoral Studies: an international journal on voting and electoral systems published quarterly by Elsevier Science. It publishes articles, book reviews and research notes on all aspects of electoral systems, the relationship between votes and seats and the political economy of voting. It also contains comments on recent parliamentary elections worldwide. Full text is offered to subscribers only
• Elections Today: newsletter published by IFES, the International Foundation for Election Systems. It provides access to news stories and articles about recent parliamentary and presidential elections worldwide. Coverage includes results, discussion of the conduct of elections, reports from election observation missions and topics related to the democratic conduct of elections
• ElectionGuide.org: maintained by the International Foundation for Election Systems, it provides information on upcoming elections around the world, political parties and candidates, governmental and electoral structures, key news and issues surrounding an election, and election results and voter turnout
• Ballot Access News: an independent self-defined "non-partisan" newsletter published by U.S. lawyer Richard Winger, it provides information on 'third parties' and 'independent' candidates in American politics. In particular it focuses on ballot access laws and 'restrictive practises' (the difficulties independents have in participating in election campaigns because of legal restrictions)
• PR Library: Readings in Proportional Representation: a collection maintained by Professor Douglas J. Amy of Mount Holyoke College, it provides access to a collection of articles and papers discussing proportional electoral systems, including their effect on the representation of women and minority groups in parliaments worldwide
• Election Resources on the Internet : this website is produced by Manuel Álvarez-Rivera of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Elections Commission. It links to websites around the world which provide detailed national and local election statistics, as well as other election resources such as descriptions and commentary on local electoral systems
• Administration and Cost of Elections Project: an international programme sponsored by the United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs, its aim is to provide information for election officials on the administrative and financial costs of each particular electoral system. Sections are provided on voter education, voter registration, boundary delimitation, vote counting and electoral systems
• Political Database of the Americas: from Georgetown University, political information on the countries of North, Central, and South America, including constitutions, electoral laws, and legislative and executive branch information
• Electoral System Design Database: maintained by International Idea (International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, the database provides data and charts on the type of electoral system used by over 200 nations worldwide
• WorldLII > Categories > Subjects > Elections: links to websites on election laws for different countries, from the World Legal Information Institute, a free, independent and
  non-profit global legal research alliance developed collaboratively by the Cornell Legal Information Institute, the Canadian Legal Information Institute, the Australian Legal Information Institute and others