PEI votes for fair elections
150 years after Canada was conceived in Charlottetown, the residents of Prince Edward Island have delivered a blow to Canada's archaic First-Past-the-Post voting system. How fitting that the birthplace of confederation would now lead Canada towards democratic renewal!
Voters were asked to express their preference for five different voting systems:
First-Past-The-Post: the current system
First-Past-The-Post Plus Leaders: A variation of the current system that automatically allocates a seat to the leader of any party that wins more than 10% of the vote.
Mixed Member Proportional (MMP): A proportional system used in Germany and New Zealand that creates a proportional outcome while still maintaining single-member ridings.
Dual Member Proportional (DMP): A made-in-Canada variation of MMPR that achieves proportionality without using party 'lists'.
Preferential Voting: A ranked ballot, used in single-member districts, with candidates requiring 50% of the vote to win.
The referendum itself was conducted with a ranked ballot, and the winner requiring 50%. The option with the fewest votes was eliminated each round, until one option has achieved a majority of the votes.
1st Round:
FPTP 11,567
MMP 10,757
DMP 7,951
Pref Ballot 3,944
FPTP + Leaders 2,821 (Eliminated)
2nd Round:
FPTP 13,108
MMP 11,153
DMP 8,224
Pref Ballot 4,216 (Eliminated)
3rd Round:
FPTP 14,466
MMP 12,780
DMP 8,948 (Eliminated)
Final Round:
MMP 19,418
FPTP 15,869
This is the first time in 11 years that any province has voted in the majority for Proportional Representation. Congrats to Campaign Manager Mark Greenan and all the volunteers at the PEI Coalition for Proportional Representation!
Here are the LegoMyVote results from PEI's last election, in 2015. Let's hope the Liberal government respects the wishes of PEI voters and ensures that they are using MMP in time for their next election. And then let's hope that other provinces follow suit!
Thank you PEI!
