I am in favour of the MMP system because it meets the criteria
that are most important to me:
-
MMP is designed to include all parties that achieve a certain
threshold of popular support. In most MMP systems the threshold is
set at four or five percent of the vote. This means that a party
meeting that threshold is guaranteed representation in the
legislature.
-
MMP guarantees real proportionality. That is, all parties
achieving the needed percentage of support are certain to be
represented by the same proportion of members in the
legislature.
Major problems:
STV does not guarantee either of the above two important
criteria. In many cases, the outcome can be the similar to MMP, but
in some cases neither criteria will be satisfied.
A major problem with the MMP system is that the list members are
not directly elected, but are supplied by the party. Many voters
feel more comfortable with representatives who have been directly
elected.
Nominations
A serious problem with both systems involves the nomination
process. As we see more and more, candidates are nominated by such
undemocratic methods as appointments by the party executive,
hijacking of the delegate process by special interests, and
nominations through very limited constituency input.
MMP modification suggestion:
I believe that a modification to the MMP system could alleviate
the nomination problem, so that voters could have the best of both
the MMP and STV systems.
-
The party lists in the MMP system could be drawn from a pool of
candidates who must first achieve a certain level of support within
the province. Eligible candidates might be persons achieving
province-wide (or community-wide) support within a particular area
of interest, such as First Nations, Wilderness tourism operators,
Chambers of Commerce, Unions, Child Care professionals, Doctors,
Nurses, Teachers, Environmentalists, etc.
-
The criteria to define eligibility could be based on the
decision of an independent panel taking strong direction from such
mechanisms as community petitions, and submissions from existing
organizations as well as legislated guidelines.
-
The parties could promote nominees of their own to gain this
community support prior to elections, or they could go into the
community to attract persons who already enjoy community support in
their respective areas.
-
a. Candidates could be eligible if their
support were locally based or if it spanned a community with
members throughout the province.
-
b. Candidates could also be eligible if they independently
gained recognition within their field of specialty, even if it were
not directly related to an existing body of support in the
province.
I believe this kind of system for selecting list
candidates would establish strong credentials for list members
while tending to populate the legislature with candidates already
representative of a significant constituency within the
province.
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