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Submission SORENSEN-0748 (Online)

Submission By Jeff Sorensen
AddressVictoria, BC,
Organization
Date20040625
CategoryElectoral system change
Abstract
The number of ridings should be halved, each riding electing two MLAs; the candidate with the most votes (2 votes in the House), and the candidate for the party with the second most votes (1 vote in the House). [2 pages]

Submission Content
Every riding should be represented by two MPs:

  1. The candidate for the party that received the most votes.
  2. The candidate who received the most votes, or the candidate who received the second most votes if the candidate with the most votes represents the party with the most votes.
This would be accompanied by reducing the number of ridings by at least half, such that the number of MPs is not increased.

For parliamentary votes, in each riding, the MP that received the most votes would get 2 votes and the MP with the 2nd most votes would get 1 vote. This could easily be handled by an electronic voting system. This would also create an easy to reference record of an MPs voting history that constituents could reference.

Advantages of this system:

  • Every riding is represented by the governing party.
  • Ridings that did not have a majority vote for the governing party would be less likely to be ignored.
  • If a constituent has a problem with an MP, they have an alternate MP they can contact.
  • Constituents can compare MPs during their term to see who represents them the best.
  • Gives opposition MPs experience in parliament; Will be good if they form the next government. (This will avoid the current problem that, if the NDP form the next government, they will only have 2 MPs with current Parliamentary experience)
The number of votes assigned to MPs could be changed from 2/1 to some other values such as 3/1 or 5/2 etc. as further analysis may show.

This system could also be modified for a proportional system that would be more fair than a proportional system that only has one MP per riding.

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