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Old 10-26-2015, 11:18 AM   #59
Street Pharmacist
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Resolute 14 View Post
Electoral reform is an old wet dream for many "progressives", the primary purpose of which is to undermine the ability of the right to form government. Though they often claim it is an effort to make all votes count, what they really mean is that they want their votes to count more.

And that is a problem with any voting system. Under FPTP, votes for the two largest parties tend to count more - which is why the NDP and Greens want PR. Under PR, votes for the two largest party counts less and results in disproportionate power being given to fringe parties - such as the Greens. STV introduces issues like donkey voting - but more importantly - PR/STV usually creates a scenario where we basically lose local representation. And in a country as vast as Canada, that is dangerous.

FPTP is problematic, but there is no magic bullet fix. What this discussion is really about is choosing which problematic option we wish to go with.
That's a pretty slanted take. I don't want electoral reform mostly because I believe local representation is more important. It's completely disingenuous to suggest PR diminishes votes for the largest two parties. It franchises voters who don't vote for the largest parties. In fact, it would be far more accurate to say FPTP diminishes votes for other parties.
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