Toronto voters prefer ranked balloting
Almost half of Torontonians prefer ranked balloting, farmore than those who want to keep the traditional first-past-the-post system.
Thestar.com
April 14, 2016
By Geoffrey Vendeville
Toronto voters prefer ranked balloting to the traditional first-past-the-post system, a Forum Research poll suggests.
In a direct comparison of the two voting models, 46 per cent of Torontonians favoured ranked balloting, compared with 29 per cent for the winner-takes-all system that has been used in Toronto for more than a century.
About two-thirds of voters approved of the ranked ballot when it was briefly described to them, whereas just over one-quarter disapproved.
“It is clear the voting public has no difficulty understanding or, indeed, preferring the ranked ballot to first past the post. Those municipal politicians who don’t favour the ranked ballot because of its complexity may just find it too complex to get re-elected under a new system,” Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff said in a statement.
Last fall, Toronto city council decided against ranked-choice voting, although councillors had lobbied the province in 2013 to permit a switch to ranked ballots.
This month, Ontario’s municipal affairs minister said he was “really disappointed” with council’s decision and hoped that voters would persuade councillors to change their mind. The Ontario government has proposed changing election laws, in a first for Canada, to give towns and cities the option of using ranked ballots to elect their councils.
Under first-past-the-post, the candidate with the most votes wins even if their share is a small percentage of the total vote in a multi-candidate race.
Under ranked ballots, however, voters choose candidates in order of preference - potentially first, second and third. A candidate with a majority of first-place votes - 50 per cent plus one - wins, just as in the current system.
If nobody meets that threshold, the candidate with the fewest first-place votes is knocked out. The second-place choices of that candidate’s supporters are added to the totals of the remaining hopefuls, and so on, until someone has a majority.
Proponents of the ranked ballot say it would ensure a more representative democracy, with less strategic voting and negative campaigning.
The Forum Research poll showed greater support for the ranked ballot than first-past-the-post across all age groups.
Those between 18 and 34 years old were especially likely to favour the ranked ballot (50 per cent). Men and wealthier voters, defined as those earning $80,000 to $100,000 a year, also skewed toward the ranked ballot.
Those who voted for Olivia Chow in the last mayoral race were more likely to support the ranked ballot (56 per cent). “Ford Nation” voters were also in favour, but by a smaller margin (39 per cent).
