Welcome
to the Ranked Ballot Initiative. We're proposing a small, simple change
that would make Toronto's elections more fair, diverse, inclusive and
friendly.
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What are we proposing?
Runoff voting is a small and simple change, that requires no amendments
to the current ward boundaries or structures of City Council. The system
we are proposing is often called 'Instant Runoff Voting' but
is also referred to as 'Ranked Choice Voting' in some American
cities and is called 'Alternative Vote' in the UK. The system uses
ranked ballots, also known as 'preferential ballots'. Despite all
the confusing names, the concept is quite simple and is already used across
Canada and across the world. Voters simply mark their choice on the ballot,
ranking the candidates in order of preference. It's easy as 1,2,3!
What does it do?
Instant runoff voting ensures that no one can win with less than 50%
of the vote. It eliminates the risk of 'vote splitting',
where two or more candidates ‘split’ the votes of a certain
group. It also means that no one has to vote strategically – you
can vote with your heart each time. Runoff voting strongly discourages
negative campaigning tactics, as candidates are trying to achieve ‘second
choice’ status from all their opponents’ supporters. With
ranked ballots, candidates aren’t forced to drop out of a race
to prevent vote splitting. That means voters have more options to choose
from – and more diversity. (Click here for more)
How does our current system work?
Right now, voters choose one candidate on their ballot for each position
available (Mayor, Councillor & School Trustee). On election day,
the votes are added up and whoever has the most votes is the winner.
This system allows someone to ‘win’ the election even they
only have 20% of the vote. Vote splitting and strategic voting play
a major role, forcing candidates to drop out early and encouraging negative
campaigning.
How does Instant Runoff Voting work?
Ranked Ballots allow voters to choose multiple candidates, ranked in
order of preference. It’s easy as 1,2,3. On election day all of
the first choice votes are added up (just like we do with our current
system). If someone wins 50% or more of the vote, they are declared the
winner and the election is over. However, if no one receives more than
50% the candidate with the least votes is eliminated from the race. In
a conventional runoff, a second round of voting would take place at this
point and all the supporters of the eliminated candidate would vote for
their second choice. With ranked ballots, there is no need for costly
multi-round voting because voters have already marked their second choice.
If your preferred candidate is eliminated from the race, your vote is
automatically transferred to your second choice. Again, the votes are
counted and if someone has a majority, they are declared the winner.
If not, another candidate eliminated and it repeats until there is a
majority winner. (Click here for more resources and links)
Is this an obscure system? Who uses runoff voting?
Runoff voting is quite common, and is used all around us.
In 1996, the Ontario Liberal Party held a leadership convention. Hundreds
of delegates had to choose between 7 candidates. When they counted all
the votes, a man named Gerrard Kennedy had the most votes. Trailing far
behind, in fourth place, was a fellow named Dalton McGuinty. If they
were using Toronto’s election system, the race would have been
over. But no one had a majority of the votes, so they proceeded to have
a series of ‘runoff’ votes, with the least popular candidate
removed on each round. Dalton McGuinty was declared the winner on the fifth
ballot because he was able to build the broadest level of support
from the voters.
All of Canada’s parties, and all of
Ontario’s parties use
runoff voting to choose their leaders. They also use runoff voting to
nominate their candidates in every riding, in every election.
In the McGuinty example, they were using a 'multi-round' model, where
participants had to vote five times. With a ranked ballot, they only
would have voted once.
Over the last decade, all of our federal parties have implemented use
of a ranked ballot. This allows all members to vote (in advance) - not
just those attending the convention.
How popular are ranked ballots? In 2010, even the Academy Awards adopted
ranked ballots to choose Best Picture! This
was done to avoid a situation where a movie could ‘win’ with
only 20% support in the Academy. The NHL and NBA also use ranked ballots
for their awards.
Cities all across the USA use run-off voting to elect their and/or city
council. Recently, many
of those cities (including San Francisco and
Minneapolis) have modified their system, switching to a ranked ballot
and an instant runoff
(Full list here).
Why Instant Runoff, rather than multi-round runoff voting?
There are a few reasons why Instant Runoffs are
preferable to Multi-Round Runoffs. The main factor is the cost. Having
two or three city-wide elections, instead of just one, is quite expensive.
More importantly, however, is the impact on voter turnout. It's hard
enough to get people out to ONE election. With multiple rounds,
participation will likely decline with each round.
Does Instant Runoff Voting give us proportional results?
No. The Ranked Ballot Initiative is proposing a small and simple change
that does not replace our “winner take all” system.
Proportional
elections are used all across the world and are the best
way to ensure fair results. Proponents of voting reform have long advocated
for proportional models at the federal and provincial level.
In Toronto however, at the municipal level, we don’t have official
parties. So most proportional models don’t apply (including any ‘list’ system,
such as Mixed Member Proportional). The only proportional model that
could be used in Toronto is a multi-member ward model, such as STV (Single
Transferable Vote). Wards would be clustered into much larger wards,
with multiple Councillors representing the area. For example, we could
have 9 wards, each with 5 members – instead of our current 44 wards
with one Councillor each. These wards would provide an element of proportionality
(where a group representing 20% of the vote could win one seat out of
five). But there are also drawbacks –such as the size of the wards.
Each ward would have over 300,000 voters making it impossible for a candidate
to knock on every door or run a small independent campaign. The financial
cost of running a campaign in a large ward could become an obstacle,
reducing choice and diversity.
We shouldn’t close the door on proportional municipal government.
But it needs a lot of thorough discussion to ensure that the change would
be a step forward - not backwards. In the meantime, Instant Runoff Voting
is small and easy change we should implement as soon as possible. It's
easy to explain, it's commonly used, it has broad-based multi-partisan
support, and would greatly improve our elections and our political culture.
Should we use Instant Runoff Voting for our provincial and federal elections
too?
Not necessarily. Since we have an established party system at the national
and federal levels, there are more options to explore. Instant Runoff
Voting is not proportional and wouldn’t fully address the problem
of distorted results. In fact, in a multi-party system, Instant Runoff
Voting could potentially compound the problem and distort the results
even further. Proportional models include Mixed
Member Proportional (MMP) and Single
Transferable Vote (STV). To learn more about proportional
representation, please visit FairVote
Canada. Become a member today,
and help advocate for democratic renewal at all levels.
What can I do to help RaBIT?
We can
fix our system, but only with your support. The Ranked Ballot Initiative
is an independent, community-driven initiative. We don't have big budgets
for advertising, so we are relying on you to spread the word! Please
subscribe to our newsletter (left side of page), join our Facebook
group,
follow our tweets, and tell your friends about the project! Thank you!
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