Dubious Democracy Report highlights poor performance of provincial voting systems
September 18, 2003
NEWS: FAIR VOTE CANADA
September 18, 2003
Dubious Democracy Report highlights poor performance of provincial voting systems
The Dubious Democracy Report released today by Fair Vote Canada reveals the serious flaws inherent in Canada's first-past-the-post voting system. The report assessed fifty-four provincial elections held between
1980 and 2000. "The findings illustrate why it must be a national priority to replace first-past-the-post with a more proportional, fairer voting system," says president Doris Anderson.
Among the findings noted in the report:
1) Ontario elections had the highest percentage of wasted votes, making Ontario voters the least likely to have an MPP (MLA) that represents their views. Close on the heels of Ontario were Nova Scotia and British
Columbia.
2) Thirty-three of the fifty-four provincial elections produced phony majority governments (i.e., the party winning a majority of seats did not win a majority of the popular vote). Ontario had the phoniest majority government when the Ontario NDP won 57% of the seats with only 38% of the popular vote in 1990. Close behind were Nova Scotia and British Columbia with phony majority governments produced by only 39% of the popular vote.
3) Alberta came in first in the "democracy drop-outs" category, with the worst
average voter turnout (56%), with Ontario coming in second (61%) and Manitoba third (70%).
4) New Brunswick had the most distorted elections results, followed by Prince Edward Island and Alberta. Distorted outcomes are created by the differences between the portion of the popular vote and portion of seats won by each party.
5) The unfair elimination of opposition seats was most dramatic in New Brunswick in 1987, when the Liberals won every seat, though the opposition won 40% of the vote. The 1993 and 2000 elections in PEI produced a one-person opposition, though in both cases more than 40% of the popular vote went to opposition parties.
"Democracy is supposed to be about every citizen winning the right to representation and the majority winning the right to make decisions," says executive director Larry Gordon. "Our current voting system routinely
subverts both of these basic democratic principles."
Fair Vote Canada (FVC) is a multi-partisan citizens campaign for voting system reform.
The seven-page Dubious Democracy Report is available in pdf format.