Staggered elections are elections where only some of the places in an elected body are up for election at the same time. For example, United States Senators have a six-year term, but they are not all elected at the same time. Rather, elections are held every two years for one-third of Senate seats.
Staggered elections have the effect of limiting control of a representative body by the body being represented, but can also minimize the impact of cumulative voting.[1] Many companies use staggered elections as a tool to prevent takeover attempts. Some legislative bodies (most commonly upper houses) use staggered elections, as do some public bodies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Application in business[edit]
A staggered board of directors or classified board is a prominent practice in US corporate law governing the board of directors of a company, corporation, or other organization, in which only a fraction (often one third) of the members of the board of directors is elected each time instead of en masse (where all directors have one-year terms). Each group of directors falls within a specified "class"—e.g., Class I, Class II, etc.—hence the use of the term "classified" board.[2] The work of the Shareholder Rights Project has had a significant effect on the number of classified boards on the S&P 500.[3]: 159
In publicly held companies, staggered boards have the effect of making hostile takeover attempts more difficult; however, they are also associated with lower firm value.[4]: 10 When a board is staggered, hostile bidders must win more than one proxy fight at successive shareholder meetings in order to exercise control of the target firm. Particularly in combination with a poison pill, a staggered board that cannot be dismantled or evaded is one of the most potent takeover defenses available to U.S. companies.[5]
In corporate cumulative voting systems, staggering has two basic effects: it makes it more difficult for a minority group to get directors elected, as the fewer directorships up for election requires a larger percent of the equity to win; and it makes takeover attempts less likely to succeed as it is harder to vote in a majority of new directors.[6] Staggering may also however serve a more beneficial purpose, that is provide "institutional memory" — continuity in the board of directors — which may be significant for corporations with long-range projects and plans.[6]
Institutional shareholders are increasingly calling for an end to staggered boards of directors—also called "declassifying" the boards. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2007 that 2006 marked a key switch in the trend toward declassification or annual votes on all directors: more than half (55%) of the S&P 500 companies have declassified boards, compared with 47% in 2005.[7]
Use in legislative bodies[edit]
National[edit]
| Chamber | Type | Classes | % of seats up per election | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| Argentine Chamber of Deputies | Lower house | 2 | 130 / 257
|
127 / 257
|
|
| Argentine Senate | Upper house | 3 | 24 / 72
|
24 / 72
|
24 / 72
|
| Australian Senate | Upper house | 2 | 40 / 76
|
40 / 76
|
|
| Brazilian Senate | Upper house | 2 | 54 / 81
|
27 / 81
|
|
| Senate of Chile | Upper house | 2 | 23 / 43
|
20 / 43
|
|
| Senate of the Czech Republic | Upper house | 3 | 27 / 81
|
27 / 81
|
27 / 81
|
| Senate (France) | Upper house | 2 | 174 / 348
|
174 / 348
|
|
| Rajya Sabha (India) | Upper house | 3 | 77 / 245
|
78 / 245
|
78 / 245
|
| House of Councillors (Japan) | Upper house | 2 | 124 / 248
|
124 / 248
|
|
| Senate of Liberia | Upper house | 2 | 15 / 30
|
15 / 30
|
|
| National Assembly (Nepal) | Upper house | 3 | 19 / 59
|
20 / 59
|
20 / 59
|
| Senate of Pakistan | Upper house | 2 | 52 / 104
|
52 / 104
|
|
| Senate of the Philippines | Upper house | 2 | 12 / 24
|
12 / 24
|
|
| United States Senate | Upper house | 3 | 33 / 100
|
33 / 100
|
34 / 100
|
- In the Australian Senate, a double dissolution election can happen, where all seats are contested. The 4 Territory seats are contested at each election.
- Some chambers do not have all of its seats elected, such as in the Rajya Sabha where 12 seats are appointed by the president.
- By-elections (special elections) can be held concurrently with general elections, increasing the number of seats up in an election.
State[edit]
Argentina[edit]
12 of the 24 provincial legislatures have staggered elections:
- Buenos Aires: Chamber of Deputies and Senate
- Buenos Aires City: Unicameral legislature
- Catamarca: Chamber of Deputies and Senate
- Chaco: Unicameral legislature
- Corrientes: Chamber of Deputies and Senate
- Formosa: Unicameral legislature
- Jujuy: Unicameral legislature
- La Rioja: Unicameral legislature
- Mendoza: Chamber of Deputies and Senate
- Misiones: Unicameral legislature
- Salta: Chamber of Deputies and Senate
- San Luis: Chamber of Deputies and Senate
Australia[edit]
Three of Australia's five State Legislative Councils use staggered elections:
- New South Wales Legislative Council
- South Australian Legislative Council
- Tasmanian Legislative Council
Local councils in Western Australia also have staggered elections.[8]
India[edit]
All six Legislative councils of states have staggered elections:
- Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council
- Bihar Legislative Council
- Karnataka Legislative Council
- Maharashtra Legislative Council
- Telangana Legislative Council
- Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council
United States[edit]
27 of the State Senates in the United States have staggered elections:[9]
- Alaska State Senate
- Arkansas State Senate
- California State Senate
- Colorado State Senate
- Delaware State Senate
- Florida State Senate
- Hawaii State Senate
- Illinois State Senate
- Indiana State Senate
- Iowa Senate
- Kentucky State Senate
- Missouri State Senate
- Montana State Senate
- Nebraska State Senate
- Nevada State Senate
- North Dakota State Senate
- Ohio State Senate
- Oklahoma State Senate
- Oregon State Senate
- Pennsylvania State Senate
- Tennessee State Senate
- Texas State Senate
- Utah State Senate
- Washington State Senate
- West Virginia State Senate
- Wisconsin State Senate
- Wyoming State Senate
Local[edit]
- Some local councils in the United Kingdom
Historical usage[edit]
National[edit]
- General Council of Andorra (1867–1979)[10]
- Chamber of Representatives and Senate of Belgium (1835–1919)[11]
- Senate and Chamber of Deputies of Bolivia (1944–1964)
- Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica (1913–1948)
- Senate and Chamber of Representatives of Cuba (1902–1950)
- Landsting of Denmark (1915–1953)[12]
- National Assembly of Ecuador (1945–1970, 1984–1998)
- National Congress of Honduras (until 1942)
- Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg (1922–1951)
- House of Representatives (1849–1888)[13] and Senate (1848–1983)[14] of the Netherlands
- National Congress of Nicaragua (1912–1932)
- First Chamber of Sweden (1867–1970)
Local[edit]
- Andorra: communal councils (1867–1979)[10]
- Belgium: municipal councils and provincial councils (1836–1914)
- Spain: municipal councils and provincial deputations (until 1923)
- Japan: prefectural assemblies (1878–1890s)[15]
See also[edit]
- Industrial organization
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Takeover, including hostile takeover
- United Kingdom company law
- United States corporate law
Notes[edit]
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ See Faleye,O., 2007, Classified Boards, Firm value, and Managerial Entrenchment, Journal of Financial Economics83, 501-529.
- ^ Bebchuk, Lucian A.; Hirst, Scott; Rhee, June (2014-02-01). "Towards the Declassification of S&P 500 Boards". Rochester, NY.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Hirst, Scott; Bebchuk, Lucian (2010-01-01). "Private Ordering and the Proxy Access Debate". The Harvard John M. Olin Discussion Paper Series. No. 653.
- ^ See Lucian Bebchuk, John C. Coates IV, and Guhan Subramanian, The Powerful Antitakeover Force of Staggered Boards: Theory, Evidence, and Policy, 54 Stan. L. Rev. 887 (2002).
- ^ a b Hillier, David; Ross, Stephen; Westerfield, Randolph; Jaffe, Jeffrey; Jordan, Bradford (2013). Corporate Finance (2nd European ed.). Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Education. pp. 34–35. ISBN 9780077139148.
- ^ Jared A. Favole, "Big Firms Increasingly Declassify Boards", The Wall Street Journal, Jan. 10, 2007.
- ^ "Local Government Elections", Western Australian Electoral Commission.
- ^ "Length of terms of state senators", Ballotpedia, Accessed 24 August 2016.
- ^ a b Consell General - L'abstenció al Principat d'Andorra
- ^ Direction des élections - Evolution de la législation électorale
- ^ Danmarks Statistik - Rigsdagsvalgene og folkeafstemningerne i april og maj 1953, p. 182
- ^ "Negentiende-eeuws districtenstelsel in Nederland". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ "Geschiedenis kiesstelsel Eerste Kamer". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ Akio Kamiko (2010, bilingual): 近代地方行政の黎明期(1868-1880年), pp. 7–8: 府県会規則 /The Start of Modern Local Government (1868 – 1880), pp. 10–11: Prefectural Assembly Law (Fukenkai Kisoku)
