Staff have proposed a resolution for Council as feedback to the Province on their proposal to amend the Municipal Elections Act. As reviewed, there are numerous amendments including changes to rules about campaign finance, 3rd party advertising; but of greatest interest, I think, is the proposal to give municipalities the choice to conduct elections using ranked ballots. I am very much in the camp of believing that a move away from “first past the post” elections for all levels of government is a good step; but, I am not sure that the Province’s proposal is the right way to do so as is well reviewed in the Staff Report. I am interested to hear points of view of Council colleagues and from public deputations. At this point I am thinking that there should be 2 pilots, one in single tier and one in multiple tier. I also believe we should be including a confirmation of expectation of the 2 pilots receiving support from Province to ensure that the balloting is successful in terms of execution.
My last point is in response to all the transition issues/challenges identified in the Staff Report. There is no question that making the change will be difficult and it will required additional resources to make it happen. It will be exceedingly easy to justify continuing with the same process which is problematic.
At to why I think we need to move away from current process: King Connection 7/2/15 posted a well written informative column by Chris Emanuel on ranked ballots. I can’t say it any better so I am including an excerpt below. You can read all of it here.
“For those not aware of how ranked ballots work, it is quite simple. If there are multiple candidates running for an office, you rank them in order of your preference. Should your first choice receive the lowest number of votes, he or she drops off the ballot and your second choice now receives your vote. This keeps happening until one candidate emerges with at least 50 per cent of votes.
Implementing ranked ballots at the municipal level — where we have embarrassingly low voter turnouts that hover around 30 per cent — will have a large impact in electing candidates who have broad public support. There have been numerous candidates in York Region who have been elected with less than 10 per cent of eligible voters casting a ballot for them. Think about that for a moment; that is hardly a mandate of support for a campaign platform.
The fact of the matter is our current “first past the post” system allows for candidates to assume office with a tiny percentage of people supporting them and that fact is simply wrong and undemocratic. Ranked ballots allow the electorate to arrive at consensus candidates.
Imagine a campaign where candidates won’t just be campaigning for your vote, but they’ll also be campaigning to be your second or third choice.
Think of how that, alone, could change the tone and tenor of elections. My sense is that we will see more civil election campaigns that have a greater focus on the issues and policies rather than ad hominem attacks…….
Ranked ballots reward candidates who have broad-based platforms that speak to the widest spectrum of the electorate.”
The ranked ballot system certainly appears to have merit to it. I look forward to learning more through reading the staff report, hearing deputations and having discussions with others.
In terms of election financing, I believe it would be wise and create a fairer and more level playing field for candidates to ban corporate donations in election campaigns at all levels of government. Corporations don’t vote, but citizens do. Have only those who are able to participate directly in an election be able to contribute to election campaigns. Also maintaining a maximum limit (e.g. $750) for any one donor is wise.