New Zealand electorate review prospects

In New Zealand, the Census is usually conducted once every five years. The last Census was due in 2011, but due to the Canterbury earthquakes they were postponed until early 2013. Following the Census, the country has undergone the Māori Electoral Option, where Māori voters were given...

Labor leadership: Shorten wins

The ALP has just announced the result of the Labor leadership election - the first election that gave a say to members. Overall, Bill Shorten won a large majority amongst MPs, while Anthony Albanese won a large majority amongst members. Shorten's majority in the caucus...

NZ councils up for election

As part of my project to cover the 2014 New Zealand general election in more depth, I've just completed a Google Earth map of New Zealand's Territorial Authorities, or local councils. New Zealand's local council elections are currently being held by postal ballot, and will...

University elections – peculiar but fascinating

I'm a graduate of the University of Sydney, and today ballots were sent out to all graduates of the university to vote in the quadrennial election of five Graduate Fellows to sit on the Senate. The University Senate is the governing body, and also includes...

Miranda by-election guide

A by-election will be held in the NSW state seat of Miranda on 19 October. Miranda covers parts of the Sutherland Shire in southern Sydney. The seat has traditionally voted Liberal but Barry Collier held the seat for Labor from 1999 to 2011. In 2011, Collier...

New Zealand election maps updated

Moving on from the Australian federal election, I have gone through my New Zealand election map and clarified the boundaries to ensure they are as accurate as possible. While doing this, I have produced time-series maps for the general electorates and the Māori electorates. Each file...

German map follow-up

I've finally finished my post-election maps for Germany, for those who may be interested. I have updated the maps for the 2013 election on the Maps page to reflect the 'first vote' results in each constituency. I have also added a map for the 2005...

Germany 2013 – Merkel gains swing at expense of allies

Angela Merkel's CDU/CSU parties have gained the largest swings towards them at the 2013 German federal election, with minor parties generally losing ground. The CDU/CSU gained a large 7.8% swing towards them, with the centre-left Social Democrats gaining a smaller 2.7% swing. The three minor...

German election coming up this Sunday

Just a quick post to let people know that the next major election will be the German federal election, to be held this Sunday 22 September. Due to the Australian federal election, I haven't had time to engage in this campaign, but polling suggests a...

Post-election gender balance update

After an election where the vast majority of candidates running were men, the male-dominated Coalition won seats, and today a new cabinet will be sworn in with only one woman, it may be surprising to know that the number of women in the new...