Vote the better way

Toronto city councillors do it, and the rest of us should too. They’ll be at it again Thursday, voting in a “run-off” system for the newest member on council, instead of using the traditional, and flawed, “first-past-the-post” approach.

They’re selecting a replacement for Doug Holyday in Etobicoke Centre. He left his municipal seat for a place in the Ontario Legislature after winning a byelection for the Progressive Conservatives. Council decided to fill that vacancy on its own, instead of going to the people. But the candidate garnering the most council votes, after one ballot, won’t necessarily take the prize.

That’s because, unlike the system which wafted them into office, councillors must keep voting until a candidate emerges with more than 50 per cent support. It’s a far better way to proceed. The first-past-the-post method used in general elections simply awards victory to whoever attracts the most ballots, regardless of how low this support might be. That lets people squeak into office with minimal backing.

Councillor James Pasternak, for example, won his York Centre seat in the last election with a mere 19 per cent of the vote. And he’s far from alone. More than 20 members of council, including Mayor Rob Ford, fell short of majority support.

To its credit, city council has opted for change. It voted last June in favour of a ranked ballot system for city elections and Queen’s Park is now studying it. Under this approach, everyone elected to council will need backing from more than 50 per cent of voters.

Here’s how it works: Instead of selecting just one candidate for office electors mark their top choice but also their second, third and fourth preference, and so on. If nobody achieves an immediate majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is struck off and second-choices on that person’s ballots are issued to remaining contenders. Eliminations and transfers continue until one person emerges with more than 50 per cent.

Arun-off system was employed this past week when a majority on the Etobicoke York Community Council voted to recommend former Tory MPP Chris Stockwell to replace Holyday. It took three rounds of balloting. City council isn’t obliged to choose Stockwell Thursday, but he’s now the front-runner.

A ranked ballot system is more efficient than holding repeated votes, the way council does, because electors mark all their choices at once on a single ballot. Modern voting technology does the necessary calculations, producing a winner. As well as enhancing democracy, it favours moderate candidates who can attract a broad cross-section of support.

As it studies Toronto’s request for a ranked ballot, Ontario’s Liberal government shouldn’t hesitate to approve this welcome reform. If having more ballot choice is good for councillors, it should also extend to the average voter.