Canadian Politics- The Electoral System

What document outlines democratic rights?

CA 1982 - “every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election

What is an electoral system

the rules that structure how an election is to be conducted

Within the electoral system there is two subsections?

eligibility and the voting system

Eligibility:

who can vote/ be elected

Voting system:

how the votes translate into seats in the parliament/legislative assemblies

What are the 3 criteria to be eligible to vote in Canada?

Be a Canadian citizen, be at least 18 years of age, prove your identity and address *person can attest to your ID, for over 10+ years(see changes to eligibility on table on Nexus)

What are the 4 ways to vote?

On election day, on advance polling days, by mail, special ballot process

On election day:

Vote at assigned polling station, open for 12 hours the day of the election

On advance polling days:

open for 4 (separate) days, +/- 10 days before the day of the election, only at your assigned polling station (12 hours)

5.89 million Canadians voted using this option in 2021

± 19% increase since last general election

By mail:

must first apply, at least a week before election day

to be valid, your ballot must be received by your assigned polling station by the end of the election day

1.2 million Canadians requested to vote by mail in 2021 - but 90k invalid ballots (didn’t arrive on time)

Special ballot process:

(vote at) any elections Canada office (at least a week before the election day), use of special ballot will be counted in your designated polling station

Voter turnout:

The % of eligible voters that voted - see table on Nexus

The SMP (single member plurality system)

Canada ➗ into 338 electoral districts - so 338 different elections

one elected MP per electoral district

MPs are elected from a pool of candidates - no limit

citizens have only one vote per election

plurality vs majority

T/F? To win a seat in the federal parliament (or provincial legislature), a candidate in an electoral district must not necessarily obtain 50% + 1 vote

True - they only need to get most of the votes in their electoral district (vs majority) ex. Plurality: The individual with the most votes ex. 33% of vote means 67% of voters didn’t vote for them

Majority: more than 50% of voters voted for that specific candidate

Electoral district:

a territorially delineated political unit where the votes are counted

T/F - an electoral district is the most important political unit in our electoral system

True

3 Criteria for the design of electoral districts?

electoral quotient, community of interest, constitutional norms

Electoral quotient:

electoral districts should comprise a similar number of people (± 111k people)

Community of interest:

(e.g) official language minority communities, to avoid gerrymandering (manipulate the boundaries of an electoral constituency so as to favor one party or class -results then, are not proportionate to the electorate)

Constitutional Norms: 3 criteria

Section 51 (1) (1) - Proportionality, Section 51 (1) (2) Historical Right, Section 51 A - the Senate Rule

Section 51 (1) (1) - Proportionality:

“There shall be assigned to each of the provinces a number of members equal to the number obtained by dividing the population of the province by the electoral quotient and rounding up any fractional remainder to one.”

Section 51 (1) (2) Historical Right:

“If the number of members assigned to a province by the application of rule 1 [...] is less than the total number assigned to that province on the date of the coming into force of the Constitution Act, 1985 (Representation), there shall be added to the number of members so assigned such number of members as will result in the province having the same number of

members as were assigned on that date”.

Section 51 A - the Senate Rule:

“ [...] a province shall always be entitled to a number of members in the House of Commons not less than the number of senators representing such province”

“one person, one vote”

1 vote in Labrador = 5 votes in Brantford-Brant

The electoral map:

is not static

T/F? The constitution requires seats in the House to be recalculated and the boundaries of federal electoral districts reviewed after each 10 year census to reflect changes and movements in Can’s population.

true- known as the redistribution of federal electoral districts

Who oversees changes to electoral districts?

the electoral boundaries commission (one per province - judge + panel of experts)

Next federal election will probably have how many electoral districts?

342 (2014 - 308 to 338 districts)

Pros of the SMP system: SDAP

Simple: the most simple voting system to understand and apply (one vote, district, electorate)

Direct connection: between the citizen and the elected rep, every citizen has one clear representative in Ottawa

Accountability: citizens can easily reward or punish their MP based on a good or bad job

Political stability: solid majority in parliament (in theory, not with regional parties), because of 338 ridings, tends to reward 2 parties, (imperfect) bipartism - produced at the expense of marginal parties - plurality, limits political extremism - these voters are not sufficiently concentrated in districts

Cons of the SMP system: RFL

Representativeness - distortion between the number of votes and number of seats ex. 1979 Liberals 40.1% (of popular vote) vs PC 35.89% but PC’s formed government

Favours regional parties at the expense of national parties (as concentrated parties will benefit)

Limits the representation of minority groups (candidates vs elected MP,s) non-politicized people vote for sameness, sense of trust with incumbents, spread out populations, political parties give minority candidates districts that are not winnable

Liberals tend to win as?

support is spread throughout the country

Microcosm theory of representation argues

the assembly should mirror society - Argument #1 - fairness/ strict proportionality, Argument #2 diversity of voices / interests heard in the assembly

the end of representative democracy? more into the theory than actual representative democracy

The PR (proportional representation) system pros: NMAICG

Number of seats = % of popular votes * only one electoral district, the entire country voting for a political party - number of seats = number of votes

More democratic: a more accurate representation of political views in society (in the house but not exactly in the executive)

A higher turnout: but after 5-6 elections tends to decline - citizenship education - froces institutions to offer education to the public

Ideas and ideology matter more than the candidates: you do not vote for a candidate but for a party

closed list vs open list - better rep for minority groups?

governance - increase in overall # of parties getting elected - next to impossible to have one party control the majority of seats, to govern you need a coalition (usually governs in the center)

Closed list? (PR system)

political parties have list from 1-338 ,10% the first 38 on the list, higher on the list, greater chance of getting elected (not spread out regions) greater representation of minority groups?

Open list:

list of 338 people for each of the parties, need to decide who, citizens then get a better say

PR cons: HQPN

higher degree of political instability - lots more parties

quasi-impossible to form coalition government (ex. Belgium) - makes it harder for citizens to know exactly who should be accountable for decisions, partycracy and deals behind closed doors after the election (parties dominate - sometimes it takes weeks to find leaders - Belgium 542 days without gov)

party leaders have ltos of power within their organization (ex. designing the voting lists)

no local representation by a single MP

Mixed Member System Pros: C2DSE

a combination of SMP and PR systems

citizens have 2 votes (can be different parties):

1) # of seats = results of vote #1 (proportional, list)

2) SMP, electoral districts

Democracy strengthened - an accurate representation of political views in society (PR) + local representation (bigger electoral districts)

proved to be more stable than pure PR systems

a greater electoral choice for citizens than SMP (specific party + candidates)

Where is mixed member implemented?

Germany, New Zealand

Where is PR system implemented ?

Japan (2.5% threshold), Belgium (5% threshold), Israel (3.25% threshold)

Mixed member system cons?

too complex - need the education

one type of MP considered more important than the other?

name the features of the STV system

citizens rank (1, 2, x) the candidates

need 50% + 1 vote to win a district..

if after round 1 no one is elected, the least popular candidate is eliminated and their votes go to the second preferred candidates of the voters .. until there is a clear winner

-but not an accurate representation of what would happen - electoral behaviour adapts to voting environment (see pic of different systems)