Choosing how we Vote

by Sara Mahmood

Have you ever thought that Toronto’s democratic voting system isn’t really that democratic at all?

Last night, I attended Thinking Ahead to 2014: Taking a Critical Look at Elections. Many people spoke about how to change the voting system. Some ideas sounded brilliant, some ideas clashed with others, and some seemed implausible, but there was one thing all the speakers agreed on: the current voting system sucks.

Currently, we have a plurality voting system in place: the person with the most votes wins, regardless of whether he or she has gained an absolute majority of the votes. This means that someone can win a seat even if 80 per cent of the ward votes against him or her.  Is the city council really representing the voice of the people when the majority wanted someone else?

One suggestion on how to improve the voting system, put forward by Fair Vote Canada, is to combine wards and elect multiple councillors. As one politician does not always represent the majority, having more than one councillor will better represent the ward. Also, this system ensures everyone’s vote actually counts, whereas currently if you didn’t vote for the winner, your vote is pretty much meaningless.

Another idea, being proposed by a group called RaBIT, is to implement instant runoff voting. In this system, voters rank candidates in order of their preference. If no candidate gets the majority of voting, the person with the least amount of votes is eliminated. If the person you voted for was eliminated, your vote goes to your second choice. This is repeated until someone wins the majority of the votes. This system allows voters to vote for who they want to each time, instead of trying to vote strategically. It also discourages negative campaigning because candidates need to be the second or third choice of the opposition’s supporters.

Speakers didn’t just focus on changing the way we voted, but also on who voted. Vote TO 16 wants to lower the voting age to 16. The group argues that if someone can enlist in the army, drive a car, get a job, and contribute to our economy, they should also be able to take part in the democratic process. The group also thinks lowering the voting age will make politicians accountable to younger generations and focus on issues that affect them.

There were a lot of great ideas spoken about last night and although some of these changes may never happen, one thing is clear: Toronto’s voting system needs to be fixed.