No ranked balloting for Hamilton in 2018

Some councillors say it would dissuade voters

Hamilton won’t offer ranked balloting in the 2018 municipal election.

The province passed new legislation in June giving Ontario cities the option to switch from traditional first-pastthe-post voting to using ranked ballots, which allow voters to choose as many as three candidates in order of preference.

Fans of the ranked ballot argue it tries to make every vote count, representing a far larger proportion of voter preferences than the current winner-take-all plurality system.

Coun. Matthew Green made a formal pitch for ranked balloting Wednesday, arguing it’s a way of en-

gaging more voters and hopefully “changing the tone” of sometimes divisive election campaigning.

“It gives people options,” said Green, who in the past has criticized the “democratic deficit” created by a system that can elect a councillor or mayor with a fraction of votes cast.

His motion called for staff to report back on implementation costs and timelines to be ready by 2018.

But elections manager Tony Fallis told councillors a decision would need to be made by next month to give sufficient time to make a change for the next municipal election. He estimated such a change would cost about $300,000 and added so far, no other city in Ontario has adopted the change.

A recent council vote in Brampton rejected the idea decisively, 11-0, while Toronto’s council at one point requested the ability to use ranked ballots but later reversed its position.

Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger supported the idea, arguing the point of ranked balloting is “giving people the sense their vote matters more” than under the current system.

But a majority of councillors argued ranking candidates by preference would be difficult and unpopular with voters.

“The most confusing system is a ranked ballot system,” argued Terry Whitehead, suggesting the best way to increase voter turnout is to add “plebiscite” issues to the ballot.

Doug Conley suggested the change would “frustrate” voters and even keep them away from the voting booth.

Jason Farr, by contrast, suggested he found cat licensing more complicated than ranked balloting, which he noted Ward 2 residents use each year to vote for $1.6 million in infrastructure spending.

In the end, the general issues committee voted 9-5 against the proposal, with Green, Eisenberger, Sam Merulla, Farr and Donna Skelly in support. The vote was missing Rob Pasuta and Aidan Johnson, a ranked balloting supporter who was away for minor surgery.

Online, some residents expressed frustration with the decision.

“Yet another governance issue that shouldn’t be in the hands of council incumbents. I wish the province would simply enact it,” said Matt Jelly, who is spearheading a petition to force ward boundary changes on the city.

Councillors did request a report back on ways to increase voter turnout and deal with persistent election-day problems, such as inaccurate voter lists and polling station delays.