1. An Analysis of Electoral Systems in Canada and Around the World

2. Topics for Discussion History of the Vote in Canada
Elections in Canada: Do we need Reform?
Elections in other Countries
Majority/Minority Governments
Electoral Systems
Electoral Reform
Stephen Harper during an
Election Campaign

3. Key terms you should know
Constituency: a body of voters represented by an elected legislator or official
Franchise: The right to vote
Majority Government: a government formed by a political party that wins more than half the seats in a parliament or legislature.
Minority Government: a government that is elected with fewer than half the seats in a parliament or legislature.
First Past the Post (FPTP): An electoral system in which the candidate with the most votes wins, even if he or she receives less than 50% of the total votes; sometimes called “simple majority”
Proportional Representation (PR): An electoral system in which the number of seats each political party wins is in proportion to its share of the total vote.
Hybrid System: A fusion of the FPTP and PR systems. It was designed to address the problems inherent in both the FPTP and PR systems.
Preferential Ballot: An electoral system whereby voters rank their choices rather than vote for a single candidate. To win an election, a candidate must win 50% + 1 of the vote

4. The History of the Vote in Canada
When the first election in Canada was held, only 11 percent of the population was eligible to vote.
Today, approximately 68% of Canada’s population can vote.
Who could Vote?

5. The Right to Vote for Women in Canadian Provincial Elections
Due to the efforts of Nellie McClung, Manitoba was the first province to Grant women the right to vote. Other provinces would soon follow:
1916: Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
1917: British Columbia and Ontario
1918: Nova Scotia
1919: New Brunswick
1922: Prince Edward Island
1925: Newfoundland
1940: Quebec
Nellie McClung

6. Timeline of the History of the Vote for Federal Elections in Canada
In 1874 voting booths were created to maintain voting secrecy
In 1918, women gained the right to vote at the Federal level
In 1919, women obtained the right to run as candidates in federal elections.
In 1920, a Chief Electoral Officer of Canada was hired to oversee the administration of federal elections across Canada (to stop corruption)
In 1921, Agnes Macphail became the first woman elected to the House of Commons in Canada
Agnes MacPhail: Canada’s first
Female Member of Parliament!

7. Timeline of the History of the Vote for Federal Elections in Canada
1947 Chinese people vote
In 1950, Inuit people obtained the right to vote and the right to run as candidates in federal elections
   
In 1960, First Nations people living on reserves were granted the right to vote and the right to run as candidates.
In 1970, the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18

8. Timeline of the History of the Vote for Federal Elections in Canada
In 1982, the right to vote and the right to be a candidate in an election were enshrined in the Constitution with the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
In 1992, the Elections Act was amended to ensure access to the vote for people with disabilities (e.g. interpreting services, wheelchair access, technology to assist hard of hearing and the visually impaired)
Sample accommodations for
Visually Impaired Voters

9. Timeline of the History of the Vote for Federal Elections in Canada
In 1993, Federally appointed judges, persons with mental disabilities and persons serving prison terms of less than two years obtained the right to vote; the special ballot (mail-in ballot) was made available to all electors
In 2002, following a ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada, voting rights were extended to all inmates
Should prisoners be allowed to vote?

10. Do we need Electoral Reform in Canada?
Are the voting decisions of Canadians being represented in House of Commons?
Do we need Change?
If 10% of Canadians vote for the Green Party, should they be entitled to 10% of the seats in the House of Commons?

11. The 2006 Federal Election Results
Political Party
Pop. Vote (%)
# of Seats
Conservatives
36.27
124
Liberals
30.23
103
Bloc Quebecois
10.48 51
NDP
17.48 29
Green Party
4.48
Independents
.55 1
Do you notice anything strange about these results?

12. Do we need Electoral Reform in Canada? Some Issues:
# 1
Unfairness with respect to Representation:
Voters who choose to support one of the smaller parties are not having their voices represented in the government. The Green Party receives
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May

13. Three University of Ottawa Students make their point

14. Do we need Electoral Reform in Canada? Some Issues:
# 2
Voter turnout
In Canada, it has been declining since the 1988 Federal Election.
Many Canadians feel that their vote cannot bring change so “why bother?”
In 2004, the turnout was the lowest since 1898!
Steady declines in Voter turnout: Why?

15. Do we need Electoral Reform in Canada? Some Issues:
# 3
Strange Election Results
In 1998, the Parti Quebecois (PQ) won the Quebec Provincial Election with a majority government. However, PQ leader felt somewhat ambivalent about the election results since the majority of Quebeckers didn’t vote for him; they voted for Liberal Leader Jean Charest! How is this possible? Why didn’t Charest win?
Lucien Bouchard
Jean Charest

16. The 1998 Quebec Provincial Election
Political Party
% of Pop Vote
# of Seats
Parti Quebecois
42.87 76
Liberals
43.55 48
ADQ
11.81 1

17. The 1998 Quebec Provincial Election
How did Quebec produce such a strange political outcome?

18. Do we need Electoral Reform in Canada? Some Issues:
# 4
Lack of an Effective Opposition
In the 1987 Provincial Election in New Brunswick, the Liberal Party under the leadership of Premier Frank McKenna won all 58 seats in the NB Legislature! As a result, the government had no opposition!
Frank McKenna

19. Do we need Reform? Some Electoral Systems to Consider
First Past the Post (FPTP)
Proportional Representation (PR)
Hybrid System (FPTP/PR)
Preferential Ballot System

20. Types of Government
Majority = a political party that wins more than half the seats in the House of Commons.
Minority = a political party that wins more seats than any other party, but not more than all the parties added together.
Coalition = no political party has a majority of the seats, but two or more parties join together to form a government.

21. The First-Past-The-Post System
You have to be 18 years of age to vote in government elections.
First-past-the-post (abbreviated FPTP or FPP) voting refers to an election won by the candidate(s) with the most votes.

22. The First-Past-The-Post System
The winning candidate does not necessarily receive an absolute majority of all votes cast.
The name is somewhat misleading, as there is no 'post' (proportion of votes) that must be passed.

23. Example Candidate Vote:
Candidate A: 25
Candidate B: 22
Candidate C: 21
Candidate D: 18
Candidate E: 14
Under a first-past-the-post voting system the highest polling candidate(s) are elected.
Candidate A has 25 votes, which is a greater number than the other candidates, and so is the winner.

25. What is the First-Past-The-Post System?

26. First Past the Post (FPTP) AKA Single Member Plurality
The electoral system currently used in Canadian elections
The candidate with the most number of votes in their riding wins a seat in parliament
The Political Party that wins the most number of seats wins the election and forms the government.
The Candidate who crosses the
Finish line wins the election!

27. Positive Aspects of FPTP
Tends to produce Majority governments.
As a result, it creates political stability.
The system is simple.
Prevents extremist groups from gaining a voice inside the legislatures
(e.g. a Neo-Nazi Party with .3% of popular vote will not get any seats in the House of Commons!)
Georgetown MP Michael Chong:
He passed the post first!

28. Negative Aspects of FPTP
Candidates can win elections without a clear mandate.
(If you have 10 Candidates, you could hypothetically win an election with 11% of the vote (you passed the post first!).
Majority governments are created without a clear mandate.
In recent Canadian elections, governments have received solid majority governments with less than 35% of the popular vote
Smaller parties do not have a voice (SHUT OUT)
He likes it!
She doesn’t!

29. Proportional Representation
This system is widely used in Europe in countries such as Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Holland
Gives seats in the parliament based on a political party’s share of the popular vote. (If your party receives 10% of the votes, you receive 10% of the seats).
Smaller political parties such as the Green Party and the NDP have been lobbying for a PR system for years!
Voters vote for the political parties; not the local representatives.
(If you voted for the Green Party in Georgetown, you voted for the party and that’s it. There is not a local representative.)
Sounds Great!

30. Positive Aspects of PR
The voting decisions of the electorate is represented in the parliament
(e.g. 4.5% vote for the Green Party so they get 4.5% of the seats in the House of Commons.)
There is a wider selection of political parties (political spectrum) represented in our political institutions.
An overall increase in political diversity.
We are the World

31. Negative Aspects of PR Very difficult for parliament to function.
(too many parties encourages political infighting)
Tends to create minority governments.
Elections need to be held on a yearly basis since minority governments can easily fall.
This creates political instability.
Allows for extremist groups to gain access
(e.g. if a neo-Nazi party gets .5% of vote they get .5% of the seats in parliament).
A brawl breaks out in Taiwan’s
Legislature: Instability!
Extremism

32. (I don’t know him either)
Negative Aspects of PR
Lack of local representation.
Members of the House of Commons would be selected by the Political Parties themselves. You only vote for the party; not the local representative.
Lack of accountability.
MPs are selected by the party. Local citizens do not have a say in who gets to represent them.
You wouldn’t get him.
You’d get this Guy
(I don’t know him either)

33. Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton
The Hybrid System
This system is used in New Zealand, Germany and Italy.
This system is commonly referred to as a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system.
Both British Columbia and Prince Edward Island proposed to adopt this electoral system in It was rejected in 2005
The German Legislature
Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton
isn’t happy!

34. Positive and Negative Aspects
Electoral System can be confusing since you are voting for both the party and the local representative.
Electoral System can be time consuming and expensive.
Still allows for extremist voices to gain access to political institutions
Yes? No?
Ontario Said “NO”

35. Preferential Ballot
With this electoral system, voters rank in order of preference for who they wish to represent them.
For example, you rank 1-5 your order of preference. If a candidate has 50% of the first choice votes, they win the election. If not, they count the second choice ballots too and keep counting until the candidate wins 50% of the total vote.
This system is used in Australia
You rank your Candidates when
You vote. What do you think?
They both like the system

36. Positive and Negative Aspects
Members of Parliament would need to receive 50% of the popular vote to win an election.
The voter’s decisions would be reflected in election outcomes.
Time-consuming, expensive and a little confusing.
Voters need to be educated about their second, third and fourth choices for the system to function as originally intended.
A Preferential Ballot

37. Future Directions
Do you like our current system, or do you think that it needs to be changed? If so, which electoral system should be used? Discuss