With all parties except the Cons promising electoral reform and
with what appears to be a lot of support for such a change we must
look at exactly what is being promised to help us chose our next
government in what looks like will be a minority government. Both the
system and the manner of its inception vary from party to party,
Mulclair would impose his choice of voting system upon us, Trudeau
would have an all party committee study the options and make
recommendations as would the Greens.
Specifically under the NDP’s
preferred MMP system (a voter) first ticks which candidate she
wishes to become the local constituency MP (in a First Past the Post
selection method) —as voters currently do. But she then has a
second vote. On the ballot, they then turn to a regional list of
names (selected by the Partys) presented for election by the party
where they can then decide to tick the party name alone (and thereby
accept the existing order of the names on the list) or tick the name
of a person on the list whom she wants to see go to the House of
Commons ahead of others on the list.
The Liberals prefer, but are not necessary promising, a
Preferential Ballot system wherein you place the local candidates
in order of preference and you second and subsequent choices are
taken into account in selecting your MP. The Greens say they will
determine the form of proportional representation best suited to
Canada through extensive public consultation by an all-party
committee.
Whilst many citizens support “proportional representation”
there is
far from agreement as to what system would be best for Canada,
indeed I wonder how many citizens really understand the wide array of
systems available under this heading and how each of them actually
works. Many will have heard of Mixed Member Proportional or Party
List, Preferential Ballot, also known as Alternative Vote and Single
Transferable Vote (similar to AV but with multi-seat constituencies)
but may not realize that each of these systems have numerous ways in
which they are implemented within these broad categories. The MMP in
particular in addition to voting directly for the Party of you choice
can present you with a list of individuals ranging from a number of
'district' candidates to lists of candidates from across the country
chosen by the party, it all depends upon the way in which the
'proportional' bit is implemented.
It is insufficient to say I support this or that voting system
with out knowing the exact details of the proposed implementation.
Having previously supported a form of MMP I now, after studying the
systems and considering the implications for several years, lean
towards the Preferential Ballot system wherein you place the local
candidates in order of preference and you second and subsequent
choices are taken into account in selecting your MP. This still keeps
all the candidates representing your riding, allows you to vote for
perhaps the candidate you prefer as #1 and the candidate for the
party you like as #2 (or visa versa) and even if you do not get your
first choice you may well get your second
Additionally it would seem to make those dreaded polls which have
become so influential because of first past the post wins all, both
locally and nationally, all but useless or at least much less
reliable which is probably a good thing.
Some say that AV is not truly a proportional system as it does not
take into account the overall popular vote in selecting the PARTY
that receives power, I would suggest that by taking into account
folks second and third votes (should they wish to make such) there
would be far less citizens opposed to the result. It retains true
local representation and does not present voters with a list of
candidates who do not live in their local riding and are uncountable
to them. Let us not forget that with the diverse population counts
across our country true government by proportional representation
would leave some areas with hardly any say in their own federal
representation.
I do hope we will get the chance to select one of the more
progressive systems in the next couple of years or at a minimum that
all such choices be thoroughly discussed and considered before
implementation. It will not be an easy process but let us at least
approach it with our eyes open and a full understanding of the
various alternatives. Personalty I am increasing concerned with the
practicalities of an MMP system and would prefer, at least initially,
the much more simple preferential vote or AV, no matter which
“proportional” system is adopted the allocation of the balloting
will be more complex and results will take longer to be known unless
ballots are tabulated by machine and computerized.
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6 comments:
I think the Preferential Ballot is synonymous with 'Ranked Ballot', which is what I support hands down. It's easy, it works and ensures people are still your representative rather than the MMP system which helps line up a bunch of bureaucrats for golden pensions.
That said, the key for the electorate is to hold ALL progressive parties to their promise and be on them after the election, especially if we have a minority government.
As a segue, it'll be important to outline Parliamentary rules when the House always has to work with minority governments. Which is why we ultimately have to ask 'should our leader be elected separately from our representatives'. I feel the answer is 'yes', which points us to a US style of republicanism.
I am not sure that with PV, RB, or AV (all basically the same thing) we need to separately elect a 'leader' or party but otherwise agree with your points Anon. As you say irregardless the 'rules' for minority and coalition governments need to be carefully spelt out and the partys need to work together more for the good of Canada not their own particular partisan agendas.
My preference is for the commission appointed by the new Parliament to study alternatives, hear from the public and others, and the recommend two sytems to be placed before voters in a national referendum, to be held within 15 months of the October 19 election. Neither of these alternatives is to be the existing FPTP system, because both opposition parties are running on platforms scrapping that and replacing it with a better system. In the referendum, voters choose A or B, and the choice that wins the most votes is the one to be legislated in within 3 months thereafter. That means we will have a new electoral system within 2 years, applying to our next election. There should not be any minimum vote (whether percentages or geographic areas). The choice is A or B with the one getting most votes cast winning. So if 40% of voters vote in the referendum, then 20% plus 1 vote will determine what new system we will use. There should also be a sunset law - or at least a legisltated reviewal of the system after either 3 elections or 12 years, whichever comes first. That review should consider whether the new system needs tweeking.
We will see after the election exacts how things are going to go Glen, how its all going to be decided and how long it is going to be to get legislation passed to invoke the new system! Non of the parties are currently proposing a referendum.
There are also 'weighted voting systems' where the relative strength of each MP's vote in Parliament is effected by the popular vote. One system called 'Single Member-Proportional Vote' keeps the entire system the same and modifies the power of each MP's vote in Parliament while 'Direct Party and Representative Voting' has voters cast one vote for the MP they want and one vote for the party they want to govern. The second vote determines how strong of a vote the MPs of each party will have.
Under either system the 2011 election would have given the Conservatives the seat advantage (large talent pool and regional representation to draw on) while effectively making passing legislation behave as if they only had 39% of the seats (which is all the popular vote would entitle them to). And unlike most proportional systems neither costs any more than the present system.
Personally I prefer Single Member-Proportional Vote but I'm biased since I came up with it. :)
There are dozens of voting systems many with variations of one sort or another , Pirate. Each of us has a favorite and that is part of the problem in deciding (and getting) one that will serve Canada best in the future.
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