Double majority
A double majority is a voting system which requires a majority of votes according to two separate criteria. The mechanism is usually used to require strong support for any measure considered to be of great importance. Typically in legislative bodies, a double majority requirement exists in the form of a quorum being necessary for legislation to be passed.
Examples in use
Australia
In Australia, constitutional changes must be passed at a referendum in a majority of states (4 of the 6), and by a majority of voters nationally. Prior to 1977, the votes of citizens in the Northern Territory and the ACT did not affect the national or state-based count. After a Constitution Alteration put to referendum in 1977 and given vice-regal assent on 19 July 1977, Territorial votes contribute towards the national majority, but the Territories themselves do not count towards the majority of states. An earlier referendum in 1974, where the same proposed change had been bundled with a lowering of the required number of states to a half (3 of the 6) instead of a majority, had been defeated.
Canada
Since the
However, there are some parts of the constitution that can be modified only by a vote of all the provinces plus the Parliament of Canada; these include changes to the composition of the Supreme Court of Canada, changing the process for amending the constitution itself, or any act affecting the Canadian monarch or Governor General.
European Union
In the
Finland
Changing the constitution of Finland requires that a simple majority of the sitting Parliament vote in favor of the amendment. The amendment is postponed until the next general election. The next parliament may finally vote to ratify the amendment but by a two thirds of the MPs. Thus, a double majority of two different parliaments is usually required to pass constitutional amendments. An expedited process may however be entered if five sixths of the sitting parliament vote to declare an amendment urgent. Then, a two-thirds majority of the current parliament may ratify an amendment using the expedited process.[5]
Northern Ireland
Under the terms of the
Philippines
In the 2019 Bangsamoro autonomy plebiscite, for a place to join the Bangsamoro, it is required to have a majority for inclusion both in the place that is petitioning to be included, and from the rest of the larger entity it is originally included. For example, for the six towns from Lanao del Norte petitioning to join, a majority both from the town itself and from the rest of Lanao del Norte should be attained.[6] Each of the six towns overwhelmingly voted for inclusion, but a majority from the rest of Lanao del Norte rejected the towns joining the Bangsamoro, leading to the towns not being included.[7] Meanwhile, 63 of the 67 barangays (villages) in Cotabato voted for inclusion and got consent from their mother towns to join. One barangay rejected inclusion but was allowed by its mother town to join,[8] while three barangays voted for inclusion but were rejected by their mother towns from joining;[9] these four barangays did not join the Bangsamoro. Finally, Isabela City rejected to join, but was allowed by its mother province Basilan to join; it was also not included in the Bangsamoro.[10]
Romania
In Romania, a national referendum is considered valid only if at least 50% plus one of the registered voters cast their ballot.[11] For a valid referendum, the outcome is determined by a simple majority of valid votes cast. The whole process thus involves a double majority in form of a quorum.
A controversial amendment to the referendum law arose during the
Sudan
The independence referendum for South Sudan required 51% of the vote and 60% turnout.[12]
Switzerland
In
United States
Double majority is used in the
- Did a majority of registered voters turn out for the election?
- Did votes in favor outnumber votes against, by the required margin?
If the answer to either of these questions is No, the measure fails.
This mechanism is used to prevent a small group from passing spending measures that affect the entire population in order to support their pet causes, especially at an election expected to have low voter turnout. Double majorities are also frequently used in municipal annexations, wherein majorities of both the residents in the annexing territory and the territory to be annexed must support the annexation.[citation needed] A similar rule exists for adopting metropolitan government in Tennessee, where the referendum must pass both inside and outside the principal city.[13]
Notes
- ^ "About Canada". 6 July 2017.
- ^ Article 6(2) of the Lisbon Treaty.
- ^ "Timeline: The road to Lisbon". BBC News. 3 November 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
- ^ "Qualified majority - Consilium". www.consilium.europa.eu. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
- ^ "Eduskunta säätää lait - lainvalmistelun vaiheet". Eduskunta.fi (in Finnish). Parliament of Finland. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
- ^ Bueza, Michael (6 February 2019). "FAST FACTS: How many are voting in 2nd Bangsamoro plebiscite?". RAPPLER. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ Tomacruz, Sofia (7 February 2019). "Lanao del Norte rejects inclusion of towns in Bangsamoro region". RAPPLER. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ Arguillas, Carolyn O. "Pikit's fate: 20 barangays remain with North Cotabato, 22 joining BARMM". MindaNews. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
- ^ Depasupil, William (15 February 2019). "63 NCotabato villages to join Bangsamoro". The Manila Times. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ "Comelec ratifies Bangsamoro Organic Law". BusinessMirror. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
- ^ Romanian Referendum Law from February 2000 Archived 8 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine (Legea nr. 3/2000 privind organizarea și desfășurarea referendumului)(in Romanian)
- ^ "Sky News Australia - World News Article". Skynews.com.au. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ "Tennessee Code Annotated 7-2-106, Referendum on proposed charter.". Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
References
- Butterworths Concise Australian Legal Dictionary, 2nd edition (2002). ISBN 0-409-31568-0
- Europa Glossary