Fixed-term election
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A Fixed-term election is an election that occurs on a set date, and cannot be changed by the incumbent politician.
Fixed-term elections are common for most mayors and for directly elected governors and presidents, but less common for prime ministers and parliaments in a parliamentary system of government.
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[edit] Examples
- Presidential elections in the United States occur every four years on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November.
- Elections to the European Parliament occur every five years in June. The exact date depends on the conventions of each country.
- While Canada historically followed parliamentary tradition, the federal government and several provinces have now implemented fixed-term elections although the federal law still allows elections to be held before the end of a term if the government loses the confidence of the house or the governor general is advised to dissolve parliament.
- Norway and Switzerland are rare cases where the parliament that chooses the cabinet serves an absolutely fixed (invariable) term. Note that the Swiss parliament, unlike the Norwegian one (but like the US Congress), cannot remove the executive government in mid-term via a no-confidence vote.
- Germany, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) have semi-fixed terms in that dissolution at any time in mid-term is allowed only to resolve a serious deadlock. In Germany, in 1982-83 and again in 2005, the incumbent Chancellor manipulated this provision by arranging for MPs from his own side to support a no-confidence motion to obtain an early election. The German Federal Constitutional Court controversially allowed this manoeuvre but warned that it might block a future dissolution of the Bundestag that went against the spirit of the German constitution.
- The Australian Senate has a semi-fixed term that can be cut short only by a double dissolution under Section 57 of the Australian constitution, used if there is a prolonged deadlock over a Bill supported by the Australian House of Representatives. After a double dissolution election, to restore rotation, newly elected Senators' terms are backdated to the previous 1 July so that they serve two or five years instead of the normal six years. The House of Representatives has a maximum of only three years but no minimum, so elections for the two houses sometimes get out of synch.
- In the United Kingdom the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 fixes the General Election on the first Thursday in May every five years.
