Single Transferrable Vote: Canada’s Electoral Solution

Establishing a system of governance that is perfect is impossible. Same thing with how we elect our leaders. There is no perfect system since somebody will always go home unhappy when it comes to elections. The question is what system creates the greatest good for the greatest number of people?

In my previous articles on Proportional Representation, I argued that the STV (Single Transferable Vote) system is the best. Here are the benefits to STV:

1. Voters have the ultimate choice who gets elected. The List-based Proportional Representation systems used in Europe and South America puts all of the control of who actually is elected into the party executive (who are elected only by their own members). As I stated before, leadership does not come from policy but by having the right kind of person. Let the voters decide who that person should be instead of a bunch of party policy wonks.
2. Votes do not get wasted because voters get can have their ballot transfer over to help get somebody elected. Even if your favorite candidate gets eliminated, your next choices can still count.
3. Reduce the influence of the political party. Politicians are reviled as a group, yet individually a politician’s positive traits are more objectively viewed under STV since you vote for a candidate and not a party. This is socially beneficial since it increases the positive attachment that can develop between an individual politician and his/her constituents.
4. With STV and multi-member constituencies, it is more possible for a ethnically and gender diverse candidate to be elected. Voters can then approach the candidate they trust the most for any post-election issues.
5. Since all parties are broad coalitions, STV allows voters to favor a spectrum of candidates instead of just the least disliked person or party. No more tactical voting.
6. There are no safe seats with STV so politicians must remain competitive and responsive. A widely disliked candidate will never get elected since they will not get enough second, third, and lower placed votes to put them over the threshold.
7. Negative campaigning is reduced. Politicians become sensitive to attacking another’s position too vigorously since there may be a chance that that politician’s supporters could be a potential vote source for them.

Here is a website that does a great job demonstrating how STV works. STV is definitely a more complicated voting system than anything else out there but that speaks to its sophistication. People who argue that its complicatedness makes it unappealing forget that we all use complicated machines like computers and cars every day without difficulty.

Scottish Local Authorities flash demonstration

For us in Canada, STV makes the most sense. It allows us to continue directly electing our candidates, takes power away from political parties, yet can improve our relationship with individual politicians. It is the most perfect solution since it creates the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Popularity: unranked [?]