[fvc-wat-disc] The Record: Waterloo rejects online voting, ranked ballot (21 Nov 2016)

Tue Nov 29 02:28:29 EST 2016

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Another item that just crossed my news feed:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/no-ranked-ballots-for-2018-waterloo-region-municipal-elections-1.3861857

== No ranked ballots for 2018 Waterloo Region municipal elections ==

> There will be no change to how residents elect municipal
> politicians in 2018, according to a Region of Waterloo staff
> report.

[...]

> But making that happen is a complicated process, Coun. Sean
> Strickland told The Morning Edition host Craig Norris on CBC K-W on
> Tuesday.
> 
> "Because we're a two-tier system, we would need all municipalities
> to agree to proceed to a ranked ballot. And as of last night, [the
> City of] Waterloo actually decided not to proceed with a ranked
> ballot for 2018."
> 
> "It is dead in the water, in Region of Waterloo," said Strickland.

[...]

> According to the staff report, some municipalities are considering
> adding a question to the 2018 ballot, asking voters if they would
> like to move to ranked ballots in future elections.

Sadly, the interview with Sean Strickland is not on the CBC-KW website.

- --Bob.

On 2016-11-22 01:43 PM, Bob Jonkman wrote:
> (moving this to the Discussion List)
> 
> Eleanor Grant wrote:
>> Let's hope municipal ranked ballots will be discussed again next 
>> election cycle.
> 
> That's only likely to happen if we mount a vigorous campaign to 
> pressure the six (seven?) municipal + regional councils to adopt a 
> ranked ballot, but only for mayor. Councillors should be elected
> in multi-member wards using a ranked ballot and STV, but that
> requires re-districting ward boundaries (or eliminating them), and
> that's likely to be met with great resistance.
> 
> As it is, I expect the Ontario provincial election to take place
> in June 2018 (that's not official yet), and the Ontario municipal 
> elections in October 2018. Since we're all likely to be busy for
> the provincial election, that leaves only three months between June
> and October to work on municipal election reform. And with a fixed 
> four-year election cycle both provincially and municipally, that'll
> be the case again in 2022.
> 
> --Bob
> 
> (is New Dundee part of Waterloo Region? If so, there's seven
> municipal councils)
> 
> 
> On 2016-11-22 12:19 PM, Eleanor Grant wrote:
>> I'm only happy that the issues of municipal ranked ballots and 
>> federal PR won't be happening at the same time - it would make 
>> uninformed public think that ranked ballots would be a good idea 
>> federally too.  (Methinks this may have been Wynne's motive for 
>> bringing it in AT THIS TIME.)
> 
>> Let's hope municipal ranked ballots will be discussed again next 
>> election cycle.
> 
>> Eleanor
> 
>> On 22 Nov 2016 10:00, "STUART CHANDLER"
>> <stuchandler43 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>>> Thanks Bob. ‎Thanks for the info. I'm guessing Whaley did not 
>>> expand on his "reason" for having FPTP for 149 years.
>>> (Normally having just about anything completely unchanged for
>>> that length of time would be seen as shocking, and cause for
>>> serious concern. I don't supposed he'd like to submit to the
>>> 1867 version of health care.) if he did explain, it would
>>> likely have something to do with "common sense" and
>>> simplicity.
>>> 
>>> My sense of "the reason" (other than mental & emotional
>>> laziness, plus fear of change - ie: lack of imagination,
>>> caring, & courage) is that we have "inherited" it from our
>>> historical past which has been one based on dictatorship and
>>> control over "the masses" by a monarch or some set of elites.
>>> In other words, it is a remnant of the very types of regimes
>>> that democracy was supposed to replace - a fact that seems to
>>> be lost on folks like Mr. Whaley.
>>> 
>>> When those we elect to positions of leadership lack the vision 
>>> to recognize a flawed system, the imagination to recognize one 
>>> that with the potential to move the cause of democracy
>>> forward, and/or the courage to do something about it, how do we
>>> respond?
>>> 
>>> Thanks again. Stu
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Rogers network. 
>>> Original Message From: Bob Jonkman Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 
>>> 2016 8:36 AM To: FairvoteWRC Letter Writing Group Subject: The 
>>> Record: Waterloo rejects online voting, ranked ballot (21 Nov 
>>> 2016)
>>> 
>> In The Record on Monday is an article on municipal ranked ballots
>>  being denied in the City of Waterloo, as well as online or 
>> electronic voting.
> 
> 
>> http://www.therecord.com/news-story/6979179-waterloo- 
>> rejects-online-voting-ranked-ballot/
> 
>> While I'm happy to see online and electronic voting getting
>> turned down, the last line of the article is somewhat
>> disturbing:
> 
>>>>> Also Monday, council voted not to pursue ranked-ballot
>>>>> voting for the 2018 municipal contest.
>>>>> 
>>>>> "We've had the first-past-the-post for 149 years for a 
>>>>> reason," Coun. Mark Whaley said.
> 
>> I agree with Councillor Whaley, there *is* a reason we've had
>> FPTP for 149 years, but I don't think that reason is what he
>> thinks it is.
> 
>> --Bob.
> 
>>> 
>>> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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- -- 

- --
Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com>          Phone: +1-519-635-9413
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