this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2025
31 points (97.0% liked)

Fairvote Canada

580 readers
12 users here now

Matrix Chat


What is This Group is About?

De Quoi Parle ce Groupe?


The unofficial non-partisan Lemmy movement to bring proportional representation to all levels of government in Canada.

🗳️Voters deserve more choice and accountability from all politicians.


Le mouvement non officiel et non partisan de Lemmy visant à introduire la représentation proportionnelle à tous les niveaux de gouvernement au Canada.

🗳️Les électeurs méritent davantage de choix et de responsabilité de la part de tous les politiciens.




Related Communities/Communautés Associées

Resources/Ressources

Official Organizations/Organisations Officielles



Content Moderation Policies

We're looking for more moderators, especially those who are of French and indigenous identities.


Politiques de modération de contenu

Nous recherchons davantage de modérateurs, notamment ceux qui sont d'identité française et autochtone.


founded 10 months ago
MODERATORS
 

Fair Vote Canada 🗳️🍁 on Bluesky

Democracy shouldn't be a guessing game.

Vote for who you believe in—and get the representation you deserve.

Demand proportional representation!

#cdnpoli #Election2025

A two-panel infographic compares strategic voting with proportional representation. The left panel, titled "Strategic Voting," has a winding, confusing path of yellow boxes with the following steps: “I like this party,” “What if they can’t win?” “Should I vote for another party?” and “Don’t get the result I wanted anyway.” The right panel, titled "Proportional Representation," shows a simple vertical path: “I like this party,” “Vote for this party,” and “Get the representation I voted for.” Below, bold text reads: “Strategic voting is a guessing game. PR makes every vote count – no second guessing needed.” A yellow box in the bottom right corner says: “Learn more at fairvote.ca.”

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (5 children)

https://www.veritasium.com/videos/2025/1/17/why-democracy-is-mathematically-impossible

The title is clickbaity but the point stands. PR is just a different kind of suboptimal. If you want election reform, please push for something more modern than just another system with inherent problems.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

@cdegroot @AlolanVulpix What did you have in mind? I watched the whole video and I didn't see PR mentioned at all. He was pretty down on ranked choice voting as a voting method, but then seemed to say at least it's better than FPTP. He also said most countries in the world use ranked choice voting to elect their leaders, which... is not true. He seemed keen on approval voting, which I've read can also be used with multi-winner proportional systems, though I think that's pretty theoretical. Either way, seems like less suboptimal is always a worthwhile direction to go.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

You're exactly right, @cosmo. PR isn't mentioned in the video specifically - it's primarily about voting mechanisms (how voters express preferences) rather than seat allocation methods (how those preferences translate to representation).

The video does contain some inaccuracies. At 1:19, it claims FPTP is used in 44 countries, but fails to mention that most democracies use some form of proportional representation. And it conflates ranked-choice voting with instant-runoff voting, which leads to confusion.

The key insight is that proportionality and ballot type are separate issues:

  • You can have proportional systems using various ballot types (ranked, rated, or simple choice)
  • What makes a system proportional is how votes translate to seats, not how preferences are marked

You're absolutely correct that approval voting (a rated system) can be adapted for proportional representation through systems like Proportional Approval Voting or Satisfaction Approval Voting. Similarly, ranked ballots can be used in proportional systems like Single Transferable Vote (STV).

The fundamental question isn't which ballot type to use, but whether the system ensures that citizens get the representation they voted for. In our current system, roughly half of all valid votes elect nobody at all.

As you say - moving toward less suboptimal is worthwhile! And on that metric, proportional representation clearly outperforms our current system.

load more comments (3 replies)