Ranked ballot road show visits Cambridge on Thursday
CAMBRIDGE — Ranked balloting is struggling to gather momentum at the municipal level in traditional, first-past-the-post Ontario.
“We’re just up against inertia,” said Dave Meslin of Unlock Democracy Canada, which brings its Ranked Ballot Roadshow to Cambridge on Thursday. “Out of 444 cities, 441 decided to not even look at this. If that’s not inertia, what is?”
Every Ontario municipality can switch to ranked ballots — a system were voters’ second or third choices, or more, can be taken into account until a winner gets a majority — thanks to legislation passed in 2016. Ranked ballot supporters say it promotes more choice, more diversity, more civil campaigns and a winner who gets the majority of votes.
“There’s no drawback,” Meslin says.
Yet only three municipalities are making a move toward it. London is switching to ranked ballots. Cambridge and Kingston
will ask voters for their opinion on the ranked option. “As a Torontonian, I’m quite jealous,” said Meslin, a champion of the ranked-ballot cause at the municipal level for a decade. “Cambridge can feel pretty proud that their council didn’t just sweep it under the rug. To be honest, I think Cambridge took the right path. Voting systems are important.”
Last Halloween, Cambridge council unanimously approved placing a 20-word question on the ballot for next Oct. 22 — Are you in favour of the City of Cambridge using a ranked ballot voting system for the 2022 municipal election? It’s a simple yes-or-no referendum.
Yet, 441 other municipalities won’t even ask voters this fall. Why? Political inertia, Meslin believes. The road show sets up in the Bowman Room of Cambridge City Hall at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Speakers include Jeanne Massey, executive director of FairVote Minnesota.