Going in the
Wrong Direction with the Elections
Yes, I know, I know, another article about the
provincial elections, but, you see, they only happen once every four years, and
they have an impact on the future of millions of people. So, when the
opportunity is given to you by a little Mio saying that The Bottom Line
needs you, you seize that chance.
Now, what can I possibly say that nobody has already
written? I will not lie: probably nothing. However, that does not mean that
what will be written here will not be relevant. Indeed, this article will be
about a political wrong in our province: Quebec’s electoral system and its
current proportional representation.
During the 2018 October elections, 6 169 772 people
were registered, but 4 033 545 voted, which means that only 66,45% of Quebec’s
adult population exercised their right to express their opinion. If we
look at the results, the Coalition Avenir Quebec won with 37,42% of the vote
and the new Official Opposition (the Liberals) collected 24,82% of it. This
implies that the CAQ beat their opponents without having a majority of Quebecers
elect them (59% of the seats with only 37 % of the vote.) This situation is
happening too often in governments like ours that are supposed to be democratic
but do not fully reflect the population’s will. However, because criticism
is not constructive without solutions, one of the things we can do - that three
of the four main parties promised to accomplish if elected - is change the
electoral process.
In Quebec, there is what is called the
‘’first-past-the-post’’ system where electors choose the candidate of their
choice only once, and the party which (technically) obtains the most votes
takes it all. The problem with this way of doing things is that it encourages
tactical voting: the population will vote not for the candidate of their
choice but for what will be logical in their perspective. Another problem is
the distortion created between the will of the population and the governing
power.
Options are available to resolve this problem. Mixed
systems are another way of doing politics. One possibility would be to apply
the parallel voting system used in Japan for example. It works like this :
people vote twice, independently, using two systems. The first vote serves to
fill the seats of the National Assembly based on the constituencies and the
second vote is a vote of compensation for the regions. The only issue: there
remains an imperfect representation of the will of the population among the
government albeit on a reduced scale. Another possibility would be to use the
proportional representation present in Germany. Two votes are the standard as
in Japan; the first vote is to elect the constituency candidate and the second
one to elect one of the parties. The second vote is also compensatory, but it
is calculated according to the percentage of votes gained on a national scale
minus the number of constituencies really won. This system is among the most
quoted as a model because it allows regions to elect someone with lesser risks
of political distortion.
All these possibilities, and still nothing is done in
this province. The CAQ promised to change the electoral system during its
electoral campaign. Will François Legault keep his promise, or will he renege
on his statement? I guess we will just have to wait and see, and, in four
years, perhaps democracy will be as we all expect it to be: with more than a
mere pinch of equity.
- Olfa Ait Siselmi
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