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REP DAY 2013 Our Electoral System. What is an electoral district?. An electoral district is a geographical area represented by an elected official, also known as a riding or constituency . The size of an electoral district is determined by population and geographical features .
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REP DAY 2013 Our Electoral System
What is an electoral district? • An electoral district is a geographical area represented by an elected official, also known as a riding or constituency. • The size of an electoral districtis determined by population and geographical features. • Urban ridings are small and heavily populated, rural ridings are large and sparse.
What is an electoral system? • An electoral system is the way that citizens’ choices, expressed as votes, are translated into legislative seats. • All electoral systems have three basic elements: • District magnitude: the number of members elected per electoral district • Ballot type: the way in which choices are presented to voters • Electoral formula: the method for determining which candidate gets elected
How are our representatives elected? • Canada uses a system called First-Past-the-Post (or Single-Member Plurality) • Citizens elect one member per electoral district. • Citizens can only choose one candidate/party on the ballot. • The winning candidate must receive at least one more vote than any other candidate. This is also known as plurality.
How does First-Past-the-Post work? • An example of FPTP, in an electoral district with 100 people. VOTE TOTALS BY CANDIDATE Lucy (Banana Party) 40 Josh (Apple Party) 15 Nancy (Pear Party) 11 Norman (No Affiliation) 34 • Lucy wins because she has the most votes, even though most voters chose someone else.
How does someone run for election? • A person running for election is called a candidate. • Any person who wants to run in a federal election must file papers with Elections Canada by the nomination deadline. • Political parties select candidates to run for their party in the electoral districts across the country. • Candidates can also run as an independent or without any relation to a party.