HT to Scott Tribe:
The supposedly non-partisan agency that runs provincial elections in Ontario is trying to do everything they can to make sure the referendum on MMP is defeated. That's because the ballot on October 10th isn't a straight yes or no question. It's whether people support first past the post or mixed member proportional. (The website they've set up is even more ambiguous in trying to explain things.)
So let's put it in layperson's terms: If you support the current system that ensures a one man (or woman) dictatorship for four years, vote FPTP. If you think it's time we joined the civilized world and have legislatures that actually represent the popular vote, vote MMP.
I hope you vote for the latter -- and tell EO to f*** off, too.
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
7 comments:
For the purpose of the election, the EO considers the Citizens' Assembly to be an advocacy group. The government has been persuaded not to print any more of the Assembly's "biased" brochures for public awareness raising.
To merely describe MMP and outcomes accurately is now considered advocacy - that's why the EO website is so scant with information.
If they describe the two systems side by side, MMP will come out on top. Therefore, no such comparisons will be allowed.
They even use itty bitty fonts on their site so it's nice and accessible.
Why would the ambiguous ballot help one sidemore than the other?
Gary: Agreed. The truth about MMP is the enemy of the status quo (FPTP) so it must not be part of the offcial campaign.
Absolutely fascinating that the government would attempt to get away with dismissing the report of the their own deliberative body as "advocacy".
Only a brain determined to keep First Past the Post could seriously entertain such twistd reasoning.
Eithr way, we are NOT seeing the sincere information campaign we were rpomised and that would be essential in the 20 week downhill run from the May 15th release of the final report, to the October 10th referendum.
Dum de dum dum...
When has the "yes" side won a referendum in Canada since WWII? As a person who opposes MMP, I WISH it were a yes/no question.
As for why Elections Ontario wouldn't want to tell people why they should vore for MMP, maybe you should look up the definition of "impartial".
I think what an independent election authority should do is explain how FPTP works, and how MPP works; then let the people decide. If there's an ambiguous ballot and people don't know what's going on, then they might not vote one way or the other at all -- and as I understand the rules, a spoiled or rejected ballot counts as a vote for the status quo.
Jason, on one point we actually agree: It would have been far better to ask a simple yes or no question. My questions to you would be; is there any form of PR you could support? And if you can't, would you favour an instant run-off system where people rank the candidates in order of preference and the votes reassigned until someone gets 50%+ 1 (what they use for the lower house in Australia)?
The answer to that is an obvious no. Jason supports preferential ballot - what I call FPTP lite.
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