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Voting Process

Voting Process. Canadian & World Politics www.CraigMarlatt.com/school. Voting Process. Electoral Systems Electoral Reform. Electoral Systems. While numerous variations exist, including complex combinations of multiple systems, there are five main electoral systems :

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Voting Process

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  1. Voting Process Canadian & World Politics www.CraigMarlatt.com/school

  2. Voting Process • Electoral Systems • Electoral Reform

  3. Electoral Systems • While numerous variations exist, including complex combinations of multiple systems, there are five main electoral systems: • First Past the Post (FPTP) • Runoff • Proportional Representation (PR) • Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) • Electoral College (only in the US, only for Pres.)

  4. Electoral Systems • First Past the Post (FPTP) • In FPTP systems, the winning candidate is simply the person who wins most votes. • In theory, a candidate could be elected with two votes, if every other candidate only secured a single vote. • FPTP systems are mainly used in former British Empire countries.

  5. Electoral Systems

  6. Electoral Systems 2. Runoff • Runoff voting is where successive rounds of voting are held until a candidate wins a majority of the positive votes. • After each inconclusive round, those candidates at the bottom whose votes together do not add up to the votes of the next candidate are eliminated. • Presidential elections in France and Finland as well as selecting Olympic host cities use this process of voting

  7. Electoral Systems 3. Proportional Representation (PR) • PR systems give political parties in parliament or legislative assemblies a number of seats approximately proportional to the percentage of vote they received. • PR systems are used in Israel, The Netherlands, and Cambridge MA (most jurisdictions do not appear to use the “pure” PR method)

  8. Electoral Systems • Mixed Member Proportionality (MMP) • A hybrid system of both FPTP and PR • Each voter casts a vote for a local candidate (who wins by obtaining the most votes) AND a vote for the political party of their choosing (which wins seats based on the total popular vote) • MMP is used in Germany, Mexico, Italy, New Zealand, and other parts of the world

  9. Electoral Systems Vote for a local candidate …AND vote for a party

  10. Electoral Systems 5. Electoral College • How to elect the President of the United States? • Each state is represented by a number of individuals proportionate to its seats in Congress, that is, two Senators and a number of Representatives based on the state's population. • There are 538 electors, so 270 votes are required to win the presidency. • The process for selecting electors varies throughout the United States (each state decides the process for choosing its “electors”)

  11. Electoral Systems • 48 out of the 50 states award electoral votes on a winner-takes-all basis (exceptions: Maine and Nebraska). • For example, all 55 of California's electoral votes go to the winner of that state election, even if the margin of victory is only 50.1 percent to 49.9 percent. • It is therefore quite possible that a presidential candidate can win the majority of the popular vote nationally, but not become president.

  12. Electoral Systems

  13. Electoral Systems • Given the previous slide’s distribution of numbers, it is possible to win the presidential election by winning in just 12 states! • The big 5: NY, PA, FL, TX, CA = 167 PLUS IL, NJ, NC, GA, MI, IN, MA = 273 • Other interesting divisions: There are only 219 electoral votes available west of the Mississippi River

  14. Electoral Reform • Voter Apathy • Why Don’t People Vote? (Maclean’s) • Why Are People Not Voting? (Maple Leaf Web) • Explaining the Turnout Decline… (StatsCan Study) • The Importance of One Vote • Solutions? • Education • Compulsory Voting • Others?

  15. Electoral Reform • Voting System Reform in Canada www.fairvote.ca

  16. Electoral Reform • Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform (Ontario) www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca

  17. Electoral Reform • Students' Assembly on Electoral Reform (Ontario)

  18. Electoral Reform • I am a grade 12 student at Anderson CVI. I am planning on majoring in Political Science at the University of Toronto. I love politics, one day I would like to work for the Canadian Government or the United Nations. I am an active participant in my community; I volunteer at many places including the YMCA. I am also part of the Culture of Peace Committee at my school and am part of many groups including the HIV/AIDS campaign, and plan on starting my own committee on stopping the use of child soldiers in Sudan.

  19. Electoral Reform • Minister for Democratic Reform (Canada) • First, we've introduced legislation to modernize the Senate to make it more democratic, more accountable, and more representative of Canadians. • Second, we are enhancing our electoral system to make it more responsive, fair and effective. • Third, we are eliminating the per-vote subsidy for political parties.

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