TORONTO—Replacing Canada’s first-past-the-post electoral system with an alternative vote model—also known as ranked ballots—could severely weaken the competitiveness of federal elections, according to a new essay released as part of a book on electoral reform released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
“Competitive elections where multiple parties have a legitimate chance to form government remain a staple of democracies around the world. Changing the system to favour one party over the others doesn’t increase legitimacy—it reduces it,” said Lydia Miljan, a Fraser Institute senior fellow, associate professor of political science at the University of Windsor and editor of Counting Votes: Essays on Electoral Reform.
