Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Another Victim Of FPTP

From the coverage of the Manitoba election:
McFadyen added that his party was the victim of a cruel numbers game under the first-past-the post election system.

"Under any other circumstance we would be happy with 45 per cent of the popular vote," he said. "Obviously we didn't get those votes in the right places.

"It's a very disappointing night for all of us."
It is too bad, the leaders of the parties only see the stupidity of FPTP after being victimized by it. When they profit, it is a wonderful system. The Manitoba NDP did not get a majority of votes and only bested the Conservatives by 1% of the popular vote, but it got twice the number of seats. This stinks and is completely undemocratic. The NDP government in Manitoba should move ahead with electoral reform. That it won't says more about the corruption of NDP by power than anything else.
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9 comments:

  1. *smoooooooch*

    I exhausted my hand cutting and pasting the following comment on ecstatic New Democrats' facebook updates last night: It's not a majority win, it's a "majority" win. (Either we're FOR electoral reform, or we're AGAINST it; we don't get to pick and choose jurisdictions.)

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  2. Well, McFadyen tried to win Winnipeg seats, and he failed...

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  3. He did indeed, Ben. And now, rather than having 45% of the seats, he has far fewer and his party will be completely irrelevant for four years. Not very just, if you ask me.

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  4. I find it hard to disagree. I'm generally happy when New Democrats win, but real democracy would make me happier.

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  5. Seems to this observer that the MB NDP won fair and square.

    If they govern badly, swing voters will flip and put the PCs in government next time out.

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  6. Fair according to the established rules. Not fair compared to more democratic alternatives.

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  7. what does the Harper Government thing about FPTP elections?

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  8. I want a system that reflects population density. I'm sick and tired of rural and suburban areas having so much clout.

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