Prince Edward Island electoral reform referendum, 2016

Last updated

2016 Plebiscite on
Democratic Renewal
Location Prince Edward Island
Date27 October 2016 (2016-10-27) – 7 November 2016 (2016-11-07)
Voting system Instant-runoff voting
First round
Dual Member Proportional Representation
 
21.45%
First-Past-The-Post (the current system)
 
31.22%
First-Past-The-Post Plus Leaders
 
7.61%
Mixed Member Proportional Representation
 
29.04%
Preferential Voting
 
10.64%
Website: yourchoicepei.ca

The 2016 Plebiscite on Democratic Renewal [1] was a non-binding [2] referendum on electoral reform held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island between 27 October – 7 November 2016. The referendum asked which of five voting systems residents would prefer to use in electing members to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island. [3] [4] [5] The referendum, after four instant run-off rounds, indicated mixed member proportional representation was the preferred choice with over 52% support on the final ballot. [6]

A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is invited to vote on a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new law. In some countries, it is synonymous with a plebiscite or a vote on a ballot question.

Canada Country in North America

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States, stretching some 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, with 70% of citizens residing within 100 kilometres (62 mi) of the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.

Prince Edward Island Province of Canada

Prince Edward Island is a province of Canada consisting of the Atlantic island of the same name along with several much smaller islands nearby. PEI is one of the three Maritime Provinces. It is the smallest province of Canada in both land area and population, but it is the most densely populated. Part of the traditional lands of the Mi'kmaq, it became a British colony in the 1700s and was federated into Canada as a province in 1873. Its capital is Charlottetown. According to the 2016 census, the province of PEI has 142,907 residents.

Contents

Despite a variety of voting options and a long voting period, the final 36.46% turnout was very low by PEI standards. [6] The province regularly gets more than 80% turnout in provincial general elections. [7] However, the only threshold defined for the plebiscite was that the result achieve the support of more than 50% of the valid votes, which it did. [8]

Voter turnout percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election

Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. Eligibility varies by country, and the voting-eligible population should not be confused with the total adult population. Age and citizenship status are often among the criteria used to determine eligibility, but some countries further restrict eligibility based on sex, race, or religion.

Question

The official question on the ballot was:

"Rank the following electoral systems in your order of preference, 1 through 5 (with "1st Choice" being your most preferred and "5th choice" being your least preferred). You may choose as many, or as few, of the electoral system options as you want." [9]

The options were listed alphabetically on the ballot as:

Dual-member proportional representation (DMP), also known as dual-member mixed proportional, is an electoral system designed to produce proportional election results across a region by electing two representatives in each of the region’s districts. The 1st seat in every district is awarded to the candidate who receives the most votes, similar to first-past-the-post voting (FPTP). The 2nd seat is awarded to one of the remaining district candidates so that proportionality is achieved across the region, using a calculation that aims to award parties their seats in the districts where they had their strongest performances.

First-past-the-post voting voting system in which voters select one candidate, and the candidate who receives more votes than any other candidate wins

A first-past-the-post electoral system is one in which voters indicate on a ballot the candidate of their choice, and the candidate who receives the most votes wins. This is sometimes described as winner takes all. First-past-the-post voting is a plurality voting method. FPTP is a common, but not universal, feature of electoral systems with single-member electoral divisions, and is practised in close to one third of countries. Notable examples include Canada, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as most of their current or former colonies and protectorates.

Mixed-member proportional (MMP) representation is a mixed electoral system in which voters get two votes: one to decide the representative for their single-seat constituency, and one for a political party. Seats in the legislature are filled firstly by the successful constituency candidates, and secondly, by party candidates based on the percentage of nationwide or region-wide votes that each party received. The constituency representatives are elected using first-past-the-post voting (FPTP) or another plurality/majoritarian system. The nationwide or region-wide party representatives are, in most jurisdictions, drawn from published party lists, similar to party-list proportional representation. To gain a nationwide representative, parties may be required to achieve a minimum number of constituency candidates, a minimum percentage of the nationwide party vote, or both.

Results

The result of the plebiscite was found by using the Preferential Voting system, itself one of the options for elections being considered. Voters were given the opportunity to rank the five options from most preferred to least preferred, although they did not have to rank all five options. If more than half of the voters chose one option as their first choice, that option won; if no option captured a majority of first-choice votes, the winner was determined using instant-runoff voting. The option with the fewest votes was dropped, and those ballots were distributed to the other options based on the second choice on those ballots. This was repeated as necessary until one option had a majority of the votes cast. [10]

Instant-runoff voting (IRV) or Ranked choice voting (RCV) is a type of ranked preferential voting method used in single-seat elections with more than two candidates. Instead of indicating support for only one candidate, voters in IRV elections can rank the candidates in order of preference. Ballots are initially counted for each voter's top choice. If a candidate has more than half of the vote based on first-choices, that candidate wins. If not, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. The voters who selected the defeated candidate as a first choice then have their votes added to the totals of their next choice. This process continues until a candidate has more than half of the votes. When the field is reduced to two, it has become an "instant runoff" that allows a comparison of the top two candidates head-to-head.

The referendum was non-binding on the government however.

Prince Edward Island electoral reform referendum, 2016 (final results) [11] 18,521 votes required to win
OptionFirst preferenceSecond iterationThird iterationLast iteration
Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%
First-Past-The-Post 11,56731.2213,10835.3814,46639.0515,86942.84
Mixed Member Proportional Representation 10,75729.0411,15330.1112,78034.5019,41852.42
Dual Member Proportional Representation 7,95121.468,22422.208,94824.15N/A
Preferential Voting 3,94410.644,21611.38N/A
First-Past-The-Post + Leaders2,8217.61N/A
Total Remaining Ballots37,040100.0036,70199.0836,19497.7235,28795.27
Exhausted Ballots - By Round003390.925071.379072.45
Exhausted Ballots - Cumulative003390.928462.441,7534.73
Total Ballots Cast37,040100.0037,040100.0037,040100.0037,040100.00

After four counts, the Mixed Member Proportional Representational option received a majority of the votes, followed by the existing first-past-the-post system. Voter turnout was low, at 36.46% [6] . However, the only threshold defined for the plebiscite was that the winner achieve the support of more than half of the valid votes, which MMP did [12] .

Voting eligibility and methods

This plebiscite marked several firsts in Canadian electoral history. Sixteen- and seventeen-year-old PEI residents were permitted to vote on the grounds that they will be aged eighteen (and therefore eligible to vote under normal election rules) in the next provincial election, which would potentially be held using the voting system that wins this plebiscite. As well, plebiscite voters were able to submit their votes online or via touch-tone telephone for the first time in a major Canadian vote. Internet and telephone voting was open from 12:00 noon Saturday 29 October 2016 and ran until 7:00 p.m. on Monday, 7 November 2016. [13] In-person voting was open in polling stations across the province on Friday, 4 November 2016, 4:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m., and Saturday, 5 November 2016, 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. [14]

Aftermath

Premier Wade MacLauchlan said after the vote that he is doubtful the result of the referendum "can be said to constitute a clear expression of the will of Prince Edward Islanders" due to the unusually low turnout. [15] MacLauchlan did commit to discussing the results when the provincial legislature resumed on 15 November 2016; noting the need to examine the urban and rural breakdown of votes, among other issues. [16]

MacLauchlan's government introduced a motion in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island to hold a second referendum on electoral reform at the next provincial general election, stating that the low turnout for the referendum did not provide a mandate to implement the change and the need for a more specific referendum question with two choices. [17] [18] A motion by Green Party leader Peter Bevan-Baker to implement mixed-member proportional representation in line with the referendum results was defeated on 22 November 2016 by a vote of 6–20. [19]

Next referendum scheduled for October 2019

The next Prince Edward Island electoral reform referendum is scheduled begin 29 October 2019 simultaneously with the 66th Prince Edward Island general election.

Notes

  1. ↑ Where members are elected with FPTP as before, but party leaders do not run for seats and are instead assigned an at-large seat if their party receives more than 10% of the popular vote

Related Research Articles

Plurality voting is an electoral system in which each voter is allowed to vote for only one candidate, and the candidate who polls the most among their counterparts is elected. In a system based on single-member districts, it may be called first-past-the-post (FPTP), single-choice voting, simple plurality or relative/simple majority. In a system based on multi-member districts, it may be referred to as winner-takes-all or bloc voting. The system is often used to elect members of a legislative assembly or executive officers. It is the most common form of the system, and is used in most elections in the United States, the lower house in India, elections to the House of Commons and English local elections in the United Kingdom and Canada.

National referendums are seldom used in Canada. The first two referendums saw voters in Quebec and the remainder of Canada take dramatically opposing stands, the third saw most of the voters take a stand dramatically opposed to that of the politicians in power.

Electoral Reform Society political group in the United Kingdom

The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is a political pressure group based in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It seeks to replace the first-past-the-post voting system with one of proportional representation, advocating the single transferable vote. It is the world's oldest operating organisation concerned with political and electoral reform.

Canada holds elections for legislatures or governments in several jurisdictions: nationally (federally), provincially and territorially, and municipally. Elections are also held for self-governing First Nations and for many other public and private organizations including corporations and trade unions. Municipal elections can also be held for both upper-tier and lower-tier governments. Formal elections have occurred in Canada since at least 1792, when both Upper Canada and Lower Canada had their first elections.

2005 British Columbia electoral reform referendum

A referendum was held in the Canadian province of British Columbia on May 17, 2005, to determine whether or not to adopt the recommendation of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform to replace the existing first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP) with a single transferable vote system (BC-STV). It was held in conjunction with the BC Legislative Assembly election of 2005. Voters were given two ballots at that time: a ballot to vote for a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA) in their constituency and a referendum ballot. The referendum received considerable support from the electorate but failed in meeting the demanding threshold that had been set. A second referendum was held in 2009.

Robert Ghiz Canadian politician

Robert Watson Joseph Ghiz is a Canadian politician who served as the 31st Premier of Prince Edward Island from 2007 to 2015. He is the son of the 27th Premier, Joe Ghiz. On November 13, 2014 Ghiz announced he would be resigning as Premier in early 2015 as soon as the Liberal Party elected a new leader.

The politics of Prince Edward Island are centred on a provincial government resembling that of the other Canadian provinces. The capital of the province of Prince Edward Island is Charlottetown, where reside the premier, provincial legislature, lieutenant-governor and cabinet.

A referendum was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island on November 28, 2005 to determine whether to adopt the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system as recommended by the Prince Edward Island Electoral Reform Commission in 2003.

Richard Brown is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in the 2007 provincial election. He represented the electoral district of Charlottetown-Victoria Park as a member of the Liberal Party.

Robert Vessey is a Canadian politician. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in the 2007 provincial election and represented the electoral district of York-Oyster Bed as a member of the Liberal Party until 2015.

Electoral reform is change in electoral systems to improve how public desires are expressed in election results. That can include reforms of:

2015 Prince Edward Island general election

The 2015 Prince Edward Island general election was held May 4, 2015, to elect members of the 65th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island. Under amendments passed by the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in 2008, Prince Edward Island elections are usually held on the first Monday of October in the fourth calendar year, unless it is dissolved earlier by the Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island due to a motion of no confidence. The current government had hinted that an election would be held "before Mother's Day" 2015, and such a dissolution would avoid any conflicts with the next federal election, expected to be held in October 2015.

2019 Prince Edward Island general election

The 2019 Prince Edward Island general election was held to elect the 27 members of the 66th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada. The election in 26 of the electoral districts was held April 23, 2019, while the vote in Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park was cancelled due to the death of the Green party's candidate, with a by-election to be held no later than July 19, 2019.

The House of Commons Special Committee on Electoral Reform (ERRE) was a special committee of the House of Commons of Canada established during the 42nd Canadian Parliament to investigate reforms to the Canadian electoral system. The formation of "an all-party Parliamentary committee to review... [electoral] reforms" was an election promise by Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau in the 2015 federal election. After becoming Prime Minister, Trudeau indicated the formation of a special committee was a priority in his mandate letter for Minister of Democratic Institutions Maryam Monsef. Shortly after the committee submitted its report to parliament on December 1, 2016, Monsef was transferred to the position of the Minister of Status of Women and Karina Gould took over the electoral reform file. Shortly after taking her position Gould announced that the government would no longer be pursuing reform of the electoral system, stating "It has become evident that the broad support needed among Canadians for a change of this magnitude does not exist".

2018 British Columbia electoral reform referendum referendum on British Columbias voting system

A referendum on electoral reform took place by mail-in ballot between October 22 and December 7, 2018, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. This was British Columbia's third referendum on electoral reform since 2005.

Rural–urban proportional representation

Rural–urban proportional representation (RUP), also called Flexible District PR, is a hybrid proportional system designed by Fair Vote Canada with the intention of meeting the special challenges of Canada's geography, which includes wide-flung, sparsely-populated areas. As conceived in general terms by Fair Vote Canada, the rural–urban proportional model combines the use of multi-member ridings and top-up seats to meet the different needs of both rural and urban areas, while protecting the objective of proportionality. Sweden, Denmark and Iceland use similar voting models.

2019 Prince Edward Island electoral reform referendum

A referendum on electoral reform was held on April 23, 2019 in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island – simultaneously with the 2019 provincial election – to determine if the province should adopt a mixed-member proportional representation voting system (MMP). The referendum was not binding, as neither option received majority support in 60% or more of the province's 27 electoral districts, however the popular vote was a narrow majority in favour of keeping the existing first-past-the-post system.

Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island, Canada. It was created prior to the 2019 election from parts of the former districts Tracadie-Hillsborough Park and York-Oyster Bed.

References

  1. ↑ "Media Release: Voting locations". Is it Time for Change?. Elections Prince Edward Island. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  2. ↑ "Voting begins in P.E.I. plebiscite on electoral reform". CBC News. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  3. ↑ Roberts, Rob (7 July 2016). "PEI sets voting-reform plebiscite for fall". Toronto: The Globe and Mail . Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  4. ↑ McKenna, Peter (21 September 2016). "Electoral reform in P.E.I. redux". Charlottetown, PEI: The Guardian Charlottetown . Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  5. ↑ Campbell, Kerry (16 April 2016). "P.E.I. electoral reform: 4 unanswered questions about the plebiscite". CBC. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Bradley, Susan (8 November 2016). "P.E.I. plebiscite results favour mixed member proportional representation". CBC News. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  7. ↑ Yarr, Kevin (7 November 2016). "Voter turnout in electoral reform plebiscite remains low". CBC News. Retrieved 8 November 2016. Voter turnout in provincial general elections is typically above 80 per cent on P.E.I.
  8. ↑ http://www.electionspei.ca/plebisciteresults
  9. ↑ "The Ballot". Is it time for change?. Elections Prince Edward Island. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "How will the plebiscite be run?". "Is it time for change?". Elections Prince Edward Island. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  11. ↑ Canada, Province of Prince Edward Island,. "Elections PEI: Plebiscite Results". www.electionspei.ca. Retrieved 8 November 2016.line feed character in |title= at position 27 (help)
  12. ↑ http://www.electionspei.ca/plebisciteresults
  13. ↑ "Internet & Telephone Voting". "Is it time for change?". Elections Prince Edward Island. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  14. ↑ "In Person Voting". "Is it time for change?". Elections Prince Edward Island. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  15. ↑ Sinclair, Jesara (8 November 2016). "Premier calls plebiscite results 'debatable,' cites low turnout". CBC News. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  16. ↑ Wright, Teresa (8 November 2016). "'Debatable' vote, says P.E.I. Premier Wade MacLauchlan". The Guardian. Charlottetown. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  17. ↑ "Motion No. 80, Democratic renewal: a clear question and a binding vote". www.assembly.pe.ca. Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island.
  18. ↑ Wright, Teresa (22 November 2016). "Motion urging P.E.I. government to honour electoral reform vote defeated". The Guardian. Charlottetown. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  19. ↑ "Motion No. 54 , Plebiscite on electoral reform". www.assembly.pe.ca. Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.