NB Electoral Reform

In an uncanny bit of timing, a New Brunswick commission on provincial electoral reform has just released their findings. A great overview of the commission can be found on the CBC website:

NB's Electoral Reform Commission Proposes Preferential Ballots

The article explains some key suggestions from the commission in great detail while touching on some other recommendations in passing. There are two topics I am very intrigued by: 1) Preferential Ballots and 2) Voting age.

In regards to preferential ballots:

I like this system as it promotes positive politics and respects our system of regional representation by allowing voters to rank their choices on a ballot from best to worst.

In recent years it seems politics has become very polarizing, pitting one party against another rather than one idea against another. In a system such as this, you not only have to win over support from your followers but you are encouraged to avoid pushing your non-supporters away. Rather than promoting extreme viewpoints one must be careful to be realistic and make proposals that, even if you don't agree, you can be trusted and respected for reasonable debate. FPTP has a tendency to create us vs. them as candidates are considered either winners or losers in voters' eyes.

I also like this ballot system as it promotes support for small parties. More parties means more ideas. In a FPTP system we are often pushed to vote against someone we dislike rather than for someone we like. Preferential ballots allow voters to vote for a small party and not fear their ballot is wasted. Not fearing a ballot is wasted leads to voting for ideas we support rather than against ideas we do not support. It is a fine line but one that creates much more positive politics.

Lastly on Preferential ballots, this hybrid style of election does not destroy our long-held and often ignored need for regional representation. As a province with stark divides between rural and urban voters, many forms of proportional representation risk alienating those who live outside of our cities. We may find more of a balanced voice on party lines but there is a great risk that bypassing the tradition of one vote per region would end up with voices in the legislature being almost all people from Fredericton and Moncton, ignoring the people of Bath, Woodstock or St. Stephan. We may not see much harm in that at the provincial level but I know out tone would change if it were the whole of Atlantic Canada being excluded at the federal level.

I will save my thoughts on voting age for another day.

Please comment below your reactions to my thoughts or the article in general.