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'Not a single municipality asked for this': London reacts to Ford's move to end ranked-ballot voting

'Not a single municipality asked for this': London reacts to Ford's move to end ranked-ballot voting

The Ontario government's move to eliminate ranked-ballot voting as an option in the next municipal election has led to a lot of head-shaking in London, Ont., a city that received widespread praise for becoming the first Canadian city to implement the voting system in its 2018 election.

In a statement to CBC News, Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark said sticking with one voting system across all municipalities maintains predictability and consistency for elections and saves taxpayer dollars.

Under a ranked-ballot system, voters can list a first, second and third choice of their preferred candidate. If a candidate wins 50 per cent of the first-place votes, plus one more first-place vote, they win the election.

But if no one achieves that majority, the candidate with the fewest first-place votes is eliminated and voters' second-place choices are then divided up among the remaining candidates. The process continues until there is a majority winner.

Ranked ballot proponents say the method gives voters a more fulsome expression of their intent and forces candidates to seek support from a wider portion of the electorate. The possibility of one candidate winning with support of only about 30 per cent of voters is also eliminated.

When London became the first municipality to try ranked ballots in 2018, there were fears it could take days to get results. However the city was able to declare a winner for mayor and all 14 ward council races the day after polls closed.

According to a City of London staff report, implementing ranked-ballot voting in 2018 cost local taxpayers about $515,000, an amount that includes costs such as extra staff and a public information campaign to let voters know how the new voting system works.

City clerk Cathy Saunders estimated the cost of holding a ranked-ballot election in 2022 would be less than $500,000 as some of those costs would not need to be repeated.

London Coun. Jesse Helmer said the move to ranked-ballot voting delivered benefits that far exceed the extra cost of implementation.

"When we have more information from voters, we're going to make better decisions in terms of who gets elected, and we saw that it can be done successfully here in London," said Helmer who was re-elected in a first-ballot victory. "Here's an example of electoral reform happening at the local level ... and then the province comes in and takes it all away."

Helmer said he favours the ranked ballot system because it reduces the incumbents' advantage and encourages challengers.

He cited Coun. Arielle Kayabaga's historic win in Ward 13 which made her the first black woman ever elected on London's council. Kayabaga has said the ranked ballot system helped encourage her to run.

Helmer has also posted a petition on his website opposing the province's move.

Questions the money motivation

Retired Western University political science professor Andrew Sancton disputes the province's argument that this is an effort to save money.

"This came out of nowhere," he said. "It's a tiny amount of money in the overall scheme of things and it's up to the municipalities anyway to spent those taxpayers dollars how they wish."

Sancton also suggested the Ford government is moving to block ranked-ballot voting from catching on at the provincial level. Some have argued ranked ballots in a party system benefits parties in the middle of the political spectrum, like the Liberals, said Sancton.

"If a lot of municipalities adopted it, then people would be thinking 'Why don't we have this at the provincial level?' In that situation, I'm sure the Liberals would be the winner because they're in the middle between the NDP and the conservatives," he said.

'Not a single municipality asked for this'

London West MPP Peggy Sattler raised the issue in Question Period at Queen's Park on Wednesday, saying the move runs counter to the province's promises to support and work with municipalities.

"Not a single municipality asked for this decision to be made," said Sattler. She also said the move comes at a time when the province should be working to help municipalities deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, not eliminating an option for electoral reform.

Voters in Cambridge and Kingston have voted in referendums to move to ranked balloting, which won't happen if the legislation passes. Toronto had been looking to implement ranked ballots in 2022 but has now opted to push that target back to 2026 because the pandemic had made laying the groundwork more difficult.