Election reform: A look at some available options for choosing a government

OTTAWA – The Trudeau government has promised to change the way Canadians elect their members of Parliament. Here is a look at some electoral systems in use around the world:

First past the post: The system in use in Canada since Confederation. The candidate who gets the most votes wins, regardless of whether he or she has 50 per cent support. Opponents say this allows “false majorities” with MPs elected with just over a third of the vote in some cases. Supporters say it’s easy to understand and tends to produce stable, majority governments.

Preferential Ballot: Under a preferential or ranked ballot system, voters rank their choices in order of preference. If no candidate wins more than 50 per cent of the vote, the last-place contender is dropped from the ballot and the second choices of his or her supporters are counted. The process continues until one candidate emerges with more than 50 per cent. Some argue that such a system would favour the Liberals, a centrist party likely to attract a lot of second choices.

Proportional Representation: There are a variety proportional systems used around the world. A mixed member proportional model was proposed and rejected in Ontario and P.E.I. Under that system, voters would cast two ballots, one for a local candidate and one for their preferred party. Each riding would continue to elect one member using first-past-the-post, another set of members would be chosen via party lists, apportioned according to each party’s share of the popular vote. Supporters say proportional representation makes every vote count. Critics say it leads to unstable minority governments or coalitions.

Single Transferable: Under this variation of proportional representation, which was proposed and rejected in British Columbia, the country would be divided into multi-member regions, in each of which parties could nominate multiple candidates. Voters would rank their choices in order of preference and a complicated mathematical formula would be used to determine the winners.