06-21-2018, 11:22 AM
(06-21-2018, 10:14 AM)panamaniac Wrote: I'd be all for a ranked ballot system (or run-off elections, which never seem to be talked about), but I hate the idea of proportional representation in Canada. I don't find it a good fit with our Westminster Model (yes, I know some such models use PR).
I think electoral reform should start with universal adoption of a ranked ballot to replace first-past-the-post, for all elections where we choose one or more people from a set of candidates to fill a position. This isn’t really a change in the political system as such, only in the details of how the ballots are processed. It would improve the results of votes on everything from class president to school board trustee to MP.
Once that’s done, we can have the more difficult discussion on whether other changes might be needed.
One weird thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of people seem to think that the Liberals would clean up under a ranked ballot, supposedly because they are everybody’s second choice. To this I have two replies: First, that the other parties would have to become more like the liberals, not in terms of being identical but rather attempting to appeal to a broad cross-section of society. Surely this is what we want parties to do? Second, I don’t think it’s even true that they would clean up. I suspect that many of the Liberals’ current votes are really second-choice votes; under a ranked ballot other candidates would be the first and maybe second choices, while the Liberal candidate would get a 2 or 3.
I have a suspicion that this is a significant reason ranked balloting isn’t promoted more: it makes it a lot easier for new parties and independent candidates to make progress. Right now, how many people would like to vote Green but prefer to vote for somebody who might actually win? With a ranked ballot this wouldn’t be a problem — put a 1 next to the Green candidate and a 2 next to the candidate who would have been chosen under our present system. No change in results, until the Greens attract enough support, at which point they’re suddenly elected. Same observation applies to independent candidates. Conceivably, ranked balloting could lead to an end to the party system — each riding would just elect their favourite representative. Of course, I have no idea if this would actually happen but it’s at least conceivable.
I should add that in order to prevent the ballot becoming unwieldy, there should be significant effort required to get on the ballot. I’m thinking something like require 1% or 1‰ of the eligible electors to sign the nomination papers. This would not be a barrier to anybody who actually has a chance of winning but would clear out all the joke and no-hope candidates. I wouldn’t even necessarily charge a filing fee. Certainly in Florida in 2000 there would have about 3 presidential choices on the ballot, and no need for that problematic “butterfly” ballot.