Chile Overhauls Voting System

Chile Overhauls Voting System

Proportional representation will replace Pinochet-era system

By Robert Kozak
April 27, 2015 3:16 p.m. ET

Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet signed a law to create a new voting system, which the government says will make elections more competitive but which the main opposition parties said will skew results.

The law establishes proportional representation in both houses of Congress, replacing a binomial system that locked out smaller parties and independent candidates.

“We have waited a quarter of a century for this moment,” Ms. Bachelet said at a ceremony Monday. Since taking office in March last year, Ms. Bachelet has introduced a number of overhauls.

The new system replaces one put into place by the government of Gen. Augusto Pinochet about 25 years ago. Since then Chile’s politics have been dominated by right- and left-leaning alliances and coalitions.

More:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/chile-overhauls-voting-system-1430162169

(My emphasis.)

LBN:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141078776