If we want to use ranked ballots for the 2018 city election, we need to see action at Queen's Park right now.
It's been eight months since Toronto City Council asked the province for permission to use ranked ballots and over eight thousand people have signed our petition asking for action at Queen's Park, but so far we've seen no formal response from any of the three parties.
We've heard from MPPs that "the province is carefully considering the City of Toronto's proposal" and that "a change before the 2014 election is unlikely".
The problem is, if we want to see ranked ballots in place for 2018 then we need the legislation right now. That's because it could easily take four years to implement the change. Here's how it works:
2014 Legislation introduced (this could take months to reach final reading).
City Council approves ranked ballots in principle, asks staff for a report.
2015 Staff reports back to newly elected Council.
Public consultations are held.
2016 City Committee approves ranked ballots.
City Council votes to use ranked ballots.
2017 Staff seeks quotes for new voting machines.
City purchases new machines.
Design of voter outreach campaign begins.
2018 Nominations open in January, election begins.
As you can see, the timeline is tight. So if your MPP says "we don't need this legislation now", tell them they're wrong. If we want to ensure that 2014 is the last election dominated by negative campaigns, strategic voting and unfair results, then we need to see action at Queen's Park, now.
Any delay at this point, by any provincial party, means that we're looking at 2022 as our first fair election.
We're calling on Kathleen Wynne, Andrea Horwath and Tim Hudak to respect our local City Council and bring forward legislation today.
