Saskatchewan Voters Fail to Award Majority Mandate -- But the Voting System Says Otherwise
November 06, 2003
Saskatchewan Voters Fail to Award Majority Mandate
-- But the Voting System Says Otherwise
Saskatchewan joined the ranks of provinces with phony majority governments, thanks to an antiquated voting system long ago scrapped by most major democracies.
"While the NDP increased its vote share, they fell far short of genuine majority support," explained Larry Gordon, executive director of Fair Vote Canada, a national citizens' campaign for electoral reform. "Thanks to the first-past-the-post voting system, which distorts what voters say, the NDP won 45% of the vote, but gained 52% of the seats. Meanwhile, the Liberals, who won more than 14% of the vote gained no seats or representation whatsoever."
If the election had been held with a fair voting system, which produced results proportionate to the share of votes actually won by each party, the NDP would have won about 26 seats (rather than 30), the Saskatchewan Party about 23 seats (rather than 28) and the Liberals about 8 seats (rather than 0).
Last night's election was the eighth and final provincial election in 2003. Five of those elections produced phony majority governments, where a party captured a majority of seats without winning majority support from voters: Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and New Brunswick.
"Because the first-past-the-post voting system distorts results, most major democracies moved to proportional voting systems between 50 and 100 years ago," said Doris Anderson, president of Fair Vote Canada. "That's also why five Canadian provinces are now considering alternative voting systems. British Columbia is setting up a Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform. The Quebec government will table legislation for a modified proportional system next Spring. The new Ontario government has promised a referendum on a new voting system. PEI has a commissioner studying alternatives and New Brunswick will soon begin a similar assessment."