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Fruits & Votes is the Web-log of Matthew S. Shugart ("MSS"), Professor of Political Science, University of California, Davis.

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  • 14 June 2012

    Planted by MSS
    Planted in: Egypt; ELECTORAL SYSTEMS & REFORM

    Egypt’s Constitutional Court has ruled unconstitutional the nominal tier of last year’s legislative election– the 1/3 of seats that were elected by majority in 2-seat constituencies. (heard on BBC radio; news outlets, e.g. Reuters, are just getting this out)

    These seats were dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.

    The court also ruled against a law, passed by this parliament, that would have disqualified Ahmed Shafik, from the presidential runoff.

    Propagation: Seeds & scions (5)


    5 ideas sprouting »

    1. Coincidentally, I heard it from BBC on the radio too. What I read from news sources online, however, seems to indicate that the entire assembly has in fact been dissolved.

      Any information about what was unconstitutional about the tier?

      Seed planted by JD — 14 June 2012 @ 12:42

    2. Vague language guaranteeing that independents aren’t excluded I think.

      Seed planted by David Jandura — 14 June 2012 @ 13:44

    3. According to the New York Times, the court’s problem appears to be that party labels were allowed in the winner-take-all tier:

      Other authorities had decided before the parliamentary election that parties could run their members under their banners as candidates for the individual seats as well as the party list seats, but the court ruled Thursday that the parties should not have been allowed to compete for those seats, and so the results were invalid.

      This blog seems like the right place to learn whether any other country has tried a parallel or MMP electoral system in which the winner-take-all tier is (supposed to be) non-partisan. What were the results?

      Seed planted by Bob Richard — 14 June 2012 @ 16:38

    4. Who has the most legitimacy? The constitution and its guardians in the constitutional court or the (now dissolved) directly elected parliament?

      Who wrote this constitution and who appointed these judges?

      versus

      Wasn’t the parliament elected in a rather fair way?

      Seed planted by Bancki — 14 June 2012 @ 17:32

    5. Rereading the paragraph I quoted from the New York Times, it is not clear whether the court objected to (1) party labels on the district ballot, or (2) the same persons running both as members of party lists and as individuals in districts.

      Seed planted by Bob Richard — 14 June 2012 @ 19:15

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    Recent comments.

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