Fairvote Canada

I appreciate you sharing this to spark discussion. As someone deeply concerned about electoral reform in Canada, let me address these points systematically.

If you haven't already, take a look at: A Simple Guide to Electoral Systems, and other information in the sidebar.

The criticism of STV being "too complex" or vulnerable to accusations of corruption is a common but misguided concern. While STV does involve mathematical calculations to distribute excess votes, these calculations follow transparent, predetermined formulas - not arbitrary decisions. Several democracies like Ireland have successfully used STV for decades without significant corruption accusations. The benefit of STV is that it maintains local representation while ensuring proportionality, and allows voters to rank candidates by preference - expressing their full democratic voice. Even if STV is "too complex", that doesn't mean we should compromise on a fundamental democratic principle: proportionate representation.

Regarding the Baden-Württemberg model mentioned, it's an interesting hybrid approach. However, it's important to note that this system isn't fully proportional. It's a form of parallel voting that attempts to improve proportionality while maintaining FPTP elements. This half-measure approach would still leave many votes without meaningful impact on electoral outcomes.

The criticism of MMP being "gamed" to include "party hacks" is a design issue, not an inherent flaw in the system. New Zealand's challenges could be addressed through better implementation - for example, by using open lists where voters have direct input on which party candidates are selected, rather than closed lists where parties have complete control. Open list MMP is the variant of MMP advocated by fairvote canada.

What's crucial to understand is that any electoral system using winner-take-all mechanisms (like FPTP) systematically discards votes. In our current system, millions of perfectly valid ballots have zero effect on representation. This isn't just mathematically inefficient - it's fundamentally undemocratic.

Both STV and properly designed MMP would be vast improvements over our current system. I slightly prefer STV because it doesn't formalize political parties in the electoral process, but either would ensure that vote percentages match seat percentages - the core principle of democratic representation.

What's your view on electoral reform? Have you looked into the mathematical comparisons between these systems?