1. Government The Electoral System
and Politics

2. True or False
1. Every vote is equal – it doesn’t matter who you
support or where you live
False – Number of votes required to elect a
member can be different for different parties and
regions

3. True or False
2. Election results are fair – what voters say at the
ballot box is the government we get
False – We often get distorted results because of
First-Past-The-Post (FPTP)

4. True or False
3. A party must win a majority of votes to form a
majority government
False – Majority governments rarely get a
majority of the popular vote

5. True or False
4. The Government is always formed by the party
that wins the most votes
False – NDP in BC, PQ in Quebec

6. True or False
5. Voters who oppose the government are always
represented in Parliament by one or more
opposition parties
False – Liberals in New Brunswick won every seat
with 60% of the vote

7. True or False
6. Canada has more women in Parliament than
either Turkmenistan, Laos, or Eritrea
False – All of these countries have more women
in Parliament than Canada

8. True or False
7. Canada ranked 108th in voter turnout in the
1990s
False – Canada ranked 109th

9. True or False
8. Most older European nations use antiquated 12th
century voting systems, while Canada uses a
modern 20th century voting system
False – Most European countries use 20th century
voting systems. Canada uses a system developed
in the 12th century

10. FPTP
• Single Member Plurality – Winner take all, First
Past the Post (FPTP)
• Within a riding, the candidate
with the most votes wins
the riding or seat
• Party with the most seats forms the government

11. FPTP
What is a majority government in Canada?
• Government is formed by the party with a
majority (50%+) of the seats in the House of
Commons
Do they receive the majority of the popular vote?
• Very rarely

12. FPTP
60
Example: 1 riding, 2
candidates 55
• Candidate with most 50
votes win
45
• Winner will always
have majority of the 40
vote % of Vote
Candidate 1
Candidate 2

13. FPTP
Example: 1 riding,
multiple candidates
• Winner just needs
the most votes, not
majority of votes
• Winner rarely gets
majority of the votes Candidate 1 Candidate 2
Candidate 3 Candidate 4
Candidate 5

14. Problems with FPTP
• Candidates are elected with less than a majority
• Rarely results in true majority – phony majorities
• More votes for the losers than winners
• Wasted votes – 6 million in an average federal
election
• Fewer women elected – 20.6%

15. Problems with FPTP
• Distorted results, favours large parties
• Regional disparities – a regional party, like the
Bloc Quebecois can do very well with a relatively
small vote
• Promotes strategic voting
• Lower voter turnout

16. Distorted Results
• 580,000 people voted for the Green Party and
elected 0 members, Less than 500,000 people
voted Liberal in the Maritimes and elected 22
members
• In 2000 in Ontario 2.3 million votes for Liberals
elected 100 members, 2.2 million votes for other
parties elected only 3 members
• In 1993, the Bloc forms the official opposition but
is actually fourth in popular vote

17. 2006 Election Results
Average votes per party needed to gain a
seat in the 2004 federal election:
Bloc Quebecois 30,966
Liberals 36,675
Conservatives 40,350
NDP 111,397
Green Party 0 = 580,816

18. Proportional Representation
• A voting system that results in parties receiving
number of seats in proportion with the popular
vote they receive – every vote counts
• A party receiving 40% of the vote will receive
40% of the seats

19. Concerns about PR
• Unstable government
• Small parties will rule
• Proliferation of small parties
• Confusing

20. 2006 Results - PR Style
Party Popular Vote FPTP Seats PR Seats
Conservatives 36.3% 124 113
Liberals 30.1% 103 93
NDP 17.5% 29 59
Bloc Quebecois 10.5% 51 31
Green Party 4.5% 0 12

21. PR in BC
• In the 1996 provincial election, the NDP won a majority
with less popular vote than the Liberals (39% vs 42%)
• Gordon Campbell (Liberal) elected in 2001 committed
to reviewing voting system
• Citizen’s assembly formed in 2004, reviewed voting
systems and rejected FPTP
• Referendum on May 17, 2005 – 57.5% voted for change

22. Who else is using PR?
• 80+ countries
• Canada is one of the few countries with a
modern democratic system still using FPTP
• Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,
Greece, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland,
Serbia, Sweden, Scotland, Norway, Australia,
Wales…