FVAlta: Voters Lose as Government wins Majority of Seats with Minority of Votes (23 Nov 2004)
November 23, 2004
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Voters Lose as Government wins Majority of Seats with Minority of Votes
PCs receive 61 or 73% of legislature seats while receiving 47% of the popular vote
Edmonton - "Yesterday's election results are a textbook case of why Alberta needs a citizens' assembly on electoral reform," said Hélène Narayana, Edmonton spokesperson for Fair Vote Alberta. "Voters are the losers when a party can form a majority government with a minority of votes. The fundamental bedrock of democracy is not only one person
one vote, but that the election outcome should fairly reflect voters'choices."
"Alberta's 2004 provincial election fails this democratic test."
"Our present first-past-the-post electoral system awarded the Progressive Conservatives 61 or 73 per cent of the legislature's seats,
despite the fact that the party received 47 per cent of the vote. As a result of our electoral system, the winning party has been over rewarded for its election performance, while all the other parties were under rewarded."
"Let's compare the Monday's voting results with what would have occurred under a strictly proportional electoral system," said Narayana.
"The number of seats awarded per party would have been dramatically different."
PCs -- 47% of popular vote -- 73% of seats -- 61 seats -- under PR, would have won about 39 seats
Liberals -- 29% of popular vote -- 20% of seats -- 17 seats -- under PR, 24 seats
NDP -- 10% of popular vote -- 5% of seats -- 4 seats -- under PR, 9 seats
Alliance -- 9% of popular vote -- 1% of seats -- 1 seat -- under PR, 8 seats
Greens -- 3% of popular vote -- 0% of seats -- 0 seats -- under PR, 2 seats
Social Credit -- 1% of popular vote -- 0% of seats -- 0 seats -- under PR, 1
On October 22nd, Fair Vote Alberta launched a campaign to call on the Government of Alberta to initiate a Citizens' Assembly on Electoral
Reform. The Citizens' Assembly would assess all possible models for electing the Members of the Legislative Assembly. If it recommends
changes to the electoral system, that option would be put to a province-wide referendum.
Fair Vote Alberta is a campaign of Fair Vote Canada. It is comprised of voters from all parties, all points of view and all walks of life. We are helping Albertans learn about the problems with our voting system and the availability of better alternatives.
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Fair Vote Alberta's website
[ This Message was edited by: admin on 2005-02-26 18:35 ]