One of the criticisms of our FPTP voting system is that most ridings (about 80%) are not competitive. Everyone knows ahead of time which party's candidate is going to win, and so voters in these ridings tend to be ignored or taken for granted. In these "safe ridings," the real election occurs in the entrenched party's nomination process. Unfortunately, most voters are aware of neither this nor most of the other flaws with FPTP, so below I outline an idea for an organization that would attempt to actually empower voters in these safe ridings, while raising awareness of this flaw with FPTP.
The "Take Part in the Real Election" Organization would let its members know which party is going to win their riding (if it is a safe riding) and when and how to join this party in time to vote in the nomination process. Members would also be provided with information about the candidates, since the media wouldn't cover these nomination races (perhaps via bloggers through the voter-funded media model).
This would be a move in the direction of the primary model used in the US, and could help empower those voters that are willing to pay a membership fee and attend a nomination meeting. In addition, it would hopefully help raise awareness of this particular shortcoming of our current voting system.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
How to Help the NDP Win in 4 Years
This election the BC Conservative Party got 2.1%. They didn't run candidates in all ridings, so extrapolating they probably would have gotten about 10% province-wide. Some of these voters probably otherwise wouldn't have voted, but I think we can safely assume that at least 5% of them would be drawn from the Liberals. This is enough to tip the election in the NDP's favour.
So perhaps the best strategy to get the NDP elected 4 years hence is to make donations to the BC Conservative Party. This will ensure they are organized, and run candidates in all ridings. One might even want to donate specifically to the Conservative riding associations in swing ridings, so that they draw away votes where it really counts for the NDP.
There's obviously demand for another (Reform-type) party on the right, which will inevitably become split again, returning the NDP to power. But why count on chance when you can actively help split the right?
Notes:
1) I wrote this post because this seems to make sense, but am interested in other perspectives..
2) Right now I see no party that could be similarly supported to split the left.
3) Please don't construe this as my actually advocating this strategy. I am simply interested in exploring it as an idea.
So perhaps the best strategy to get the NDP elected 4 years hence is to make donations to the BC Conservative Party. This will ensure they are organized, and run candidates in all ridings. One might even want to donate specifically to the Conservative riding associations in swing ridings, so that they draw away votes where it really counts for the NDP.
There's obviously demand for another (Reform-type) party on the right, which will inevitably become split again, returning the NDP to power. But why count on chance when you can actively help split the right?
Notes:
1) I wrote this post because this seems to make sense, but am interested in other perspectives..
2) Right now I see no party that could be similarly supported to split the left.
3) Please don't construe this as my actually advocating this strategy. I am simply interested in exploring it as an idea.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
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