1. HOW DO YOU WANT YOUR VOTE TO COUNT?
Alternate Electoral Systems Townhall
Featuring Dr. Robert MacDermid Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, York University
Sponsored by the Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

2. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association
AGENDA
Welcome
Dr. Robert MacDermid –
Alternate Electoral Systems
Community Dialogue
Q&A with Dr. MacDermid
Wrap up and Next Steps
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

3. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association
OUR GOALS
To engage our neighbours in a way that empowers each of us to participate fully
To provide the opportunity for everyone to tell their story and share what is important to them
To offer an inclusive and respectful way for us to work together
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

4. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association
GUIDELINES
Listen carefully and with respect
Everyone gets an opportunity to speak
Speak for yourself & participate as equals
Respect others’ opinions
Agree to disagree - with ideas, not people
Silence cell phones
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

5. WHY THE CHOICE OF ELECTORAL SYSTEMS IS IMPORTANT
“How about this: in a democracy, each person’s vote should count for as much as every other.” “For example, it took roughly 38,000 votes to elect each Liberal MP in the last election. By contrast, it took 57,000 votes to elect each Conservative; 79,000 to elect each New Democrat; 82,000 to elect each member of the Bloc Québécois. And of course, the nearly 603,000 people who voted Green were rewarded with exactly one seat.” “In the 1993 election, you’ll recall, the Conservatives, with 16 per cent of the vote, were reduced to a humiliating 2 seats. Meanwhile, the Bloc surged to 54 seats on the strength of … 13.5 per cent of the vote, while the Reform Party, with less than 19 per cent of the vote, got 51 seats.” Andrew Coyne National Post January, 11, 2016
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

6. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association
Dr. Robert MacDermid
Associate Professor, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies - Department of Political Science
Expert in municipal government and Canadian politics
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

7. What electoral systems do
Creates representation and government out of millions of individuals’ choices
It influences or reflects the choices we have, the number and ideological variety of parties.
It influences what issues or political divisions (i.e. religion, geography, culture, gender, occupation, wealth, language) get organized into conventional politics or it reflects them
It influences how we vote: how we think of and express our choices, (i.e. for a party, person, or leader)
It determines how parties are organized, how they and candidates campaign, what issues they choose to campaign about.
It contributes, or detracts from the legitimacy of a democracy
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

8. The related elements of an electoral system
The ballot structure
object of the vote (lists, individuals, parties)
the number of votes
the type of votes (nominal, ordinal, numerical)
The Constituency structure
The number of districts or constituencies
The number of representatives per constituency
The winning rule
majority, plurality, proportionality and thresholds
Outcomes measured by proportionality: the difference between the popular vote and seats in the legislature
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

9. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association
Diversity of systems
National, state, provincial and municipal elections in the same country sometimes use different systems
Head of state elections for say a president, can use a different electoral system from that used to elect a legislature
Different electoral systems can be used to elect upper and lower assemblies in the same country i.e Australia
I am going to talk mostly about national assemblies or lower houses or parliaments
Every electoral system is unique
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

10. Families of electoral systems
Plurality (1 more vote than anyone else)
Often called SMP, single member plurality, or FPTP, first past the post
Majority (50% plus 1)
Ranked ballot or alternative vote, AV
Repeated ballot or Two Round Systems (France, party leadership races)
Proportional representation (PR)
list (i.e. Israel, Denmark)
transferable vote systems (IRL)
Mixed systems
mixed (MMP mixed member proportional (i.e. NZ, DE)
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

11. Electoral systems in use in National Legislatures 2016
Abbr
Countries %
Examples
First past the post
FPTP/SMP 48
22.0
Many former British colonies
Alternative Vote AV 2
0.9
AUS, PNG
Two Round Systems
TRS 19
8.7
FRA, IRN, CUB, VNM
List PR PR 81
37.2
ARG, AUT, BEL, BRA, GRC, IDN, ISR, TUR
Single Transferable Vote
STV
3.7
IRL, MAL
Mixed Member Proportional
MMP 8
DEU, NZL, MEX, BOL
Two or more systems 10
4.6
CMR, PAN
Parallel 20
9.2
JPN, KOR, PAK, PHL, RUS, VEN
Other
i.e. SNTV, BV 28
12.8
218
100.0

12. 1. Single Member Plurality (SMP) or First past the post FPTP
Used in countries associated with the United Kingdom: Canada, UK, India, USA, New Zealand (up to 1993), other African, Caribbean and Asian countries.
How it works
Single member constituencies or districts
Vote for a candidate usually with a party label
Nominal vote or an X beside one individual
Plurality winning rule (1 vote more than anyone else)
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

13. FPTP strengths and weaknesses
Stability in single party government (?)
Strong opposition (?)
Promotes broad based parties . Parties of the center of the political spectrum, big tent parties
Excludes “extremist” parties (extremist from whose perspective? Green party?)
Maintains accountability by preserving link between member and constituent (but ED size makes this unlikely)
Allows voters to choose between people rather than parties (but most vote according to party not local candidate)
Simple
Some possibility of electing independents
Weaknesses
Minor parties not represented fairly unless they are regional greivance parties
Lack of proportionality: governing majority party seldom wins a majority of votes (3) promotes regional parties and parties built on ethnic or religious divisions and discourages smaller parties with broadly distributed support
(4) large number of “wasted votes” that effectively go unrepresented
(5) lack of government accountability or responsiveness
(6) single member districts open to boundary manipulation

14. FPTP and proportionality
Clinton got 2.1 million more votes than Trump.
1997 Canada: Reform won 19.35% of the vote to the PCs 18.92%, but Reform won 60 seats and the PCs only 20. The NDP with 11% of the vote got one more seat that the PCs.
Many strange examples that challenge legitimacy
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

15. Results for Manitoba seats in the 1926 federal election
Political party
% of votes in province
No. of seats in House
% of seats
Conservatives
42.2% 0%
Liberal Progressive
19.5% 7
41%
Liberals
18.4% 4
24%
Progressives
11.2%
Labour
8.7% 2
12%

16. 2. Alternative Vote (AV) Sometimes called preferential or instant runoff voting
Discussed in Canada and recently has become an option for Ontario municipal elections
Recommended by a United Kingdom commission but lost in a referendum in 2011
Used in British Columbia provincial elections in 1952 and 1953 and used in other subnational, party leadership and legislative elections.
How it works
Single member districts
Voter ranks the candidates from “1” (most preferred) to the number of candidates.
Ballot looks the same as FPTP but candidate ranked instead of a single one being chosen
Majority winning rule so a candidate that has won a majority (50% + 1) of the first preferences is declared elected.
If no candidate has a majority of first preferences, the candidate with the fewest first preferences is eliminated and their second preferences are redistributed. This is repeated until one candidate has a majority.

17. AV strengths and weaknesses
Diminishes divisions and partisanship by forcing candidates to court second preferences.
Leads to broadly based centrist appeals. Major and minor parties try to strike deals on preference swapping.
Weaknesses
The winner is sometimes determined by the second preferences of the least preferred candidate.
Produces disproportionate results
Requires a good deal of knowledge on the part of the voter
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

18. 2. Two Round Systems
Used is under 10% of nations to elect national legislatures.
Often countries that were former French colonies.
Multi-round systems used in Canadian party leadership races.
How it works
Two elections or two voting days separated by weeks.
Single member districts.
Ballot looks the same as FPTP and you put an X by your favoured candidate.
Winner must have 50% plus one. If that occurs in the first round there is not second round.
If no one has a majority, only the top two candidates go to the second election where the winner will have majority.

19. TRS strengths and weaknesses
Winning party/candidate has a majority
Voters allowed more information about final race than in AV
Campaigning period between two voting days
Stability
Forces parties to combine for second ballot
Simple to understand
Accountability through single member constituencies
Weaknesses
Multiple and costly elections
Extremist candidates (Le Pen) may get to a second round because of multiple candidates
Not a real majority of first preferences
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

20. 3. List PR Proportional Representation
The most frequently used system to elect national legislatures (37%)
There are many variants of List PR that make each system unique.
One important difference deals with a voter’s ability to alter the oprder of the names on the party list of candidates
Another has to do with the seat allocation formula or how the quota is determined
Another has to do with the threshold for representation, the minimum percentage of the vote required to win a seat in the legislature

21. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association
How it works
Usually just a few constituencies or even just one (ie Israel) and with several members elected from each (multi-member districts)
The ballot lists parties or in some variants candidates running for each party will appear on the ballot and voters can change the order.
The list of candidates and their order of selection is usually made up by the party in advance
A candidate is elected when a party gets a quota of votes which is simply the total votes cast in the district divided by the number of people to be elected
There are procedures or formulas that do this in different ways but they produce similar results.
Usually a threshold or minimal percentage of the vote a party must win to be allocated a seat
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

22. List PR strengths and weaknesses
Proportionate results % of votes = percentage of seats in the legislature
More representative legislature
Depending on the threshold chance for minor party representation
Few wasted votes
List allows or promotes candidate diversity
Coalitions can produce more efficient government
Ideological as opposed to geographical representation
Weaknesses
Unstable coalition governments
No geographical link between member and voters diminishes accountability
Numerous parties (is this good or bad?)
Extremist parties gain seats
Minor parties can have disproportionate importance on coalition building
Party list creation can be undemocratic

23. 4. Mixed Member Proportional (MMP)
MMP used in a few countries but is popular with reformers.
The Ontario citizens’ assembly on electoral system reform chose a version of MMP though the change was defeated in the 2007 referendum.
New Zealand voters chose this system to replace FPTP in referendums in Another referendum in 2011 confirmed MMP.
How does it work
Two systems, FPTP and List Proportional where the second is used to compensate for the disproportionate results of the first.
Two votes:
Electorate Vote: vote for the local electorate Member of Parliament as in FPTP. The electorate vote decides who will be the local member.
Party Vote: vote for the party you most want in the legislature. The party votes decide each party's share of all the seats in Parliament and seats from the list compensate for the disproportionality of FPTP
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

24. MMP strengths and weaknesses
Proportionality with list seats
Local representation in constituency seats
Ability to split party and local representative vote
Better representation of minority interests (in party lists)
Weaknesses
Complexity in the calculation of the outcome though this is not a concern of voters
Many of the same disadvantages of SMP since it is still being used
Two kinds of members, list and constituency MPs
Party list creation can be undemocratic

25. What should electoral systems do?
Provide representation: geography, ideology, political party, social divisions (language, religion etc.)
Make elections accessible and meaningful: encourage meaningful and high participation
Provide incentives for conciliation: encourage or allow parties to seek the middle ground and broaden its appeal
Facilitate stable and efficient government: realizing legislative agendas and election promises
Hold the governments and representatives accountable: being able to defeat a government or representative
Encourage political parties: especially those that bridge social divisions
Promote legislative opposition and oversight
From: Electoral System Design: The New International IDEA Handbook

26. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association
11 Electoral System Reform
Compulsory Voting
How it generally works: Citizens must register as voters and present themselves at polling stations on election day or face a fine (one does not have to vote;; can spoil the ballot or mark “none of the above”)
Enforcement: Varies considerably from country to country, for a number of reasons
Examples of countries with compulsory voting laws: Australia, Belgium, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Brazil
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

27. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association
12 Electoral System Reform
Online Voting
As Internet use has become more commonplace, some have asked whether Canadians should be able to vote online
 Argument for: Reflects an intent to expand the accessibility of elections, and, in turn, increase voter turnout
 Argument against: Online voting may not be reliable and secure
Used in some Canadian municipalities (Markham and Peterborough, Ont.; Halifax, Truro, and Cape Breton, N.S.), and international jurisdictions (Estonia, several cantons in Switzerland)
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

28. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association
DISCUSSION
Break out to Discussion tables
Appoint a note taker and spokesperson
Discuss each question among your group
Reach consensus if possible
Report back
Allow:
Discussion 10 minutes
Report back 2 minutes
Please hand your notes to the facilitator
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

29. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association
QUESTION #1
Do you have a preferred electoral system?
What specific features are important to you in an electoral system?
for example: local representation, proportionality, simplicity, legitimacy etc.)?
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

30. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association
QUESTION #2
Why do you think many Canadians choose not to engage in the democratic process?
How would you encourage participation?
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

31. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association
QUESTIONS
for Robert MacDermid?
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

32. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association
CONTACT
For more information on alternate electoral systems:
Library of Parliament | LOP/ResearchPublications/ e.html?cat=government |
Facebook | /HKLBFLA
Twitter | @HKLB_LPC
Website |
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association

33. Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association
WRAP UP
Please complete the Feedback form and leave it with the Facilitator. Don’t forget to pick up a Contact card on the way out. Thanks for coming!
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock Federal Liberal Association