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Is there any purpose in continuing to hold new elections in Israel if the results redundantly appear to come out with the same outcomes each and every time?
Because in a parliamentary system one has to have a coalition with a majority, and if not, they have to call an election. The government can’t function otherwise. A proportional system with a low blocking percentage allows for many small parties with radical agendas, which is complicating the process. If they had single member districts with a majority required to win, there would be very few people from religious parties (but more religious candidates in all the other parties), and very few if any secular fanatics getting elected – though one should note a strong Jewish tradition of proportional representation.
On the contrary, it’s the high threshold that is causing the problem, since it throws away votes and forces people into unnatural blocs. Though the main problem with the threshold is that votes for lists that don’t make it over the threshold are thrown away. If those votes were subject to the same transfer rules as the excess votes the larger parties get, the problem would be much much smaller. And if instead of restricting transfers to one pair of lists, predetermined by the party leaders, they allowed each voter himself to decide where his vote should go, as they do in Australia and as NYC has now decided to do, then the problem would really go away. The Knesset would really represent the people’s preferences, and a majority could be formed by negotiating with each small faction independently, just as it would if you had to negotiate with the voters themselves. Or, if no majority can be formed among the people, then there SHOULDN’T be a government imposed on them by a minority.
Remember when R Chaim Kanievsky said that if you have another mitzvah on the same day as elections, like a bris, you should vote first? That’s because Tadir v’she’eino tadir, tadir kodem!!
So when’s the next election?
Midwesterner
That’s a good one!
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