Proportional elections are used all across the world and are the best way to ensure fair results. Proponents of voting reform have long advocated for proportional models at the federal and provincial level.
However proportional representation would not work for the City of Ottawa. We do not have political parties at the municipal level in Ottawa. Therefore, most proportional representation models would not work (including any ‘list’ system, such as Mixed Member Proportional). The only proportional model that could be used in Ottawa is a multi-member ward model, such as STV (Single Transferable Vote). Wards would have to be clustered into much larger wards, with multiple Councillors representing the area. For example, we might only have 5 wards, each with 4 or 5 members – instead of our current 23 wards with one Councillor each. These wards would provide an element of proportionality (where a group representing 20% of the vote could win one seat out of five). But there are also drawbacks – such as the size of these redrawn wards. Each ward would have over 200,000 voters making it difficult for a candidate to knock on every door or run a small independent campaign. The financial cost of running a campaign in a large ward could become an obstacle, reducing choice and diversity.
With Ranked Choice Voting, you would continue to have one councillor representing you based on which ward you live in. Ranked Choice voting can:
- Encourage friendlier elections among candidates;
- Increase the legitimacy of our elected representatives who gain over 50% of the vote;
- Eliminate vote-splitting among candidates with similar platforms;
- Eliminates strategic voting among constituents; and
- Enable greater participation from underrepresented groups
Why Instant Runoff rather than Multi-Round Runoff voting?
There are a few reasons why Instant Runoffs are preferable to Multi-Round Runoffs. The main factor is the cost. Having two or three city-wide elections instead of just one is expensive. More importantly, however, is the impact on voter turnout. It is hard enough to get people out to ONE election; with multiple rounds, participation would likely decline with each round.