A group of citizens from all across Ontario were asked to evaluate the way we vote. They're proposing a change to make government more accountable. On October 10, you decide!

Watch a quick video on the proposed changes

When Ontario voters heading to the ballot box this October they will be voting on a referendum question that could fundamentally shift the look of the Legislature. The referendum will ask voters to decide whether Ontario should change to a “mixed member proportional” (MMP) electoral system. This system is used in many countries around the world including Germany, New Zealand and Mexico.  

Currently, we have a “single member plurality” (SMP) system, or in horse racing terms, the “first past the post” system. Each voter gets one vote, and whichever candidate gets the most votes in his or her riding, wins a seat in the Legislature. The party that elects the most candidates forms the government. SMP is only used in a few places in the world, including Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. 

The MMP system works to ensure that the number of seats a party wins is as equal as possible to the number of votes they received. MMP gives voters two votes; one for a local candidate, and one for a political party.  It mixes two electoral systems: the current SMP system, and proportional representation, which tries to ensure that parties’ seats match the proportion of votes they receive. This kind of voting tends to create governments with parties that have to work together and form coalitions.  

Each voter will have a ballot with two sections; one for the local candidate (single member or local tier) and one for the party (list tier). There would be 129 seats. Of those, 90 single member seats (70% of the total seats available) will be directly elected through the old system, but 39 members would be elected through a list system. 

In order to make MMP work, the list seats need to be used to even things out. Each party will create a publicly available list of candidates. List candidates will represent the province as a whole, not a particular geographical area. These party seats are often called “adjustment seats” because they are used to help make up the difference between the percentage of party votes won, and the percentage of local seats. 

For example, if Party A wins 30% of the party vote but only 20% of the local seats, than they will be granted enough seats from their list until their total number of seats (including the directly elected seats) is equal to thirty percent of all the seats available in the Legislature. Parties will choose their highest listed candidates. Candidates can both be on the list and run directly for election. If the highest candidate on the list already won a seat in a local riding, that seat would go to the next person on the list.  

If a party gets less than three percent of the total votes cast and also doesn’t win a directly elected seat, they don’t get any seats. 

For more information see:

http://www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca