I am suggesting a similar system to the election of the
Bundestag in Germany [MMP], where each voter has two votes, one for
an individual and one for a registered party in the riding. There,
I believe, for a party to get seats, it has to have 5% of the
popular vote.
It is also incumbent that there is a law that governs political
parties, a law that spells out who, in a riding, is able to run for
the executive, as a representative, or any office within the riding
association and, very important, who is able to vote. I would like
to see that only members who have been in good standing at and
since the last election are allowed to vote.
The same goes for the people who want to represent the riding.
This would abolish the abomination of parachuting "star
candidates". This would greatly enhance the clout of the elected
representative with the party leader. Otherwise the party leader
can utilize the members elected through the party vote as trained
seals.
On another matter, the practice of banning a member from caucus
must be stopped. The member is elected by the people to serve in
the legislature. No one has the authority to muzzle an elected
member. That is the death of democracy.
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