On August 13, we held our second mock election at Fireweed Market. Here are the results.
The results were very different from Mock Election 1 using Canada’s present electoral system.
Two political parties both had almost 25 per cent of the popular vote. One of those parties won two seats, the other party won one seat. The fourth seat was won by one of the two political parties that both had 13 per cent of the popular vote.
The other party did not win any representation in this electoral area consisting of four seats.
The six independent candidates won almost 25 per cent of the popular vote.
The results were the same as Mock Election 1 using the proposed preferential vote/proportional system.
The four political parties each won one seat.
The voters had no difficulty with the preferential ballot. Many said they liked the ballot. The instructions on the ballot were as follows:
Choose up to three candidates in the order of your choice using:
“1” for first choice, “2” for second and “3” for third.
Many thanks are expressed to the participants on behalf of the event organizers, Ted Dean, Connie Dublenko and Don Roberts.
A special thanks to Mayor Bev Buckway for her participation and openness to exploring new ideas.
Many thanks to the CBC for announcing the event and promoting awareness of different voting systems, the basis of representative democracy. Likewise, many thanks to the Whitehorse Star and Yukon News.
For a link to Mock Election I results and details of both events, see www.electoralchange.ca and go to the bottom of page one.
Dave Brekke, former returning officer,
Whitehorse