House of Commons passes Elections Act

The Elections Act has passed in the House of Commons in a vote of 80-20. The bill was proposed by a collection of Opposition MPs. (3 RDP members, 2 PSF members) The original bill had three purposes:

1. Change the size of the House of Commons from a fixed number to a number based on population; one local seat per 200,000 residents.

2. Change the method of allocating members from the D'Hondt method to the Sainte-Laguë method.

3. Enact compulsory voting.

The RDP leadership was against the provision requiring one member per 200,000 residents, as it would result in size of the House increasing to 244 members. It was decided that there would be one member per 350,000, which would result in a House consisting of 140 members. (Seventy from the local electorates, seventy from the party-lists.)

The Conservative Alliance opposed the provision changing the allocation method to Sainte-Laguë. It is suspected that it is because the D'Hondt method tends to favor larger parties over smaller ones. Prime Minister Nelson simply said D'Hondt was "more fair" and didn't "tarnish the electoral system with complex mathematical distortions." The provision was removed.

The Government was divided regarding the compulsory voting provision. In the final division, twelve CA members and eight Libertarian members crossed the floor. The Opposition unanimously approved the bill. The Opposition's support for the provision is likely due to the poor turnout following the January double dissolution; The RDP would have likely won the subsequent snap election if there was a regular turnout, as a majority of the people who did vote were those who were against then Prime Minister Briggs' dissolution advice. (The RDP still has more support among the population than the CA.)

The Senate is still yet to pass the bill, and critics are unsure as to whether they will pass it. More to come.