Instant Run-Off Voting
In the election conducted by the United Conservative Party (UCP) to choose a new leader, it used a method called "instant run-off voting." Wikipedia explains it as follows:
"Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of ranked preferential voting method. It uses a majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. [...]
"Voters in IRV elections rank the candidates in order of preference. Ballots are initially counted for each voter's top choice. If a candidate has more than half of the first-choice votes, that candidate wins. If not, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and the voters who selected the defeated candidate as a first choice then have their votes added to the totals of their next choice. This process continues until a candidate has more than half of the votes. When the field is reduced to two, it has become an 'instant runoff' that allows a comparison of the top two candidates head-to-head. IRV is not a proportional voting system but rather a 'winner takes all' method, as it elects only one winner in an election (in one district).
"IRV is usually used where first-past-the-post voting (FPTP) was abandoned, and to be better in line with the (absolute) majority rule in single-winner elections. Where there are more than two candidates and none wins a majority, IRV prevents a candidate with the most votes but not a majority from winning by default."
We are to believe that such a method is more democratic which covers up the point that the fundamental nature of the exercise is anti-people and anti-democratic. Using such methods does nothing to address the crisis of legitimacy of the Westminster system of government and so-called democratic institutions.
But the question remains as to why the UCP membership decided on Smith as the winner? Why her and not one of the others? Certainly it does not help their cause that she lacks a seat. One analysis by Lisa Young, Professor of Political Science at the University of Calgary says:
"The party's membership is predominantly located outside Calgary and Edmonton. Unlike many other parties' rules for electing a leader, there was no weighting of votes by electoral district to ensure the new leader has support from across the province.
"Each vote was counted equally. Anti-establishment populist sentiment is strong in rural Alberta."
Is this really how things pose themselves? How do votes get weighted equally when it is not possible to know what the person who votes actually wants? The words "anti-establishment populist sentiment" do not tell us anything about what it means to be "anti-establishment" or why people in rural Alberta are "anti-establishment" or said to be "anti-establishment." If the people of rural Alberta are "anti-establishment" does that make the people of Calgary and Edmonton "pro-establishment?"
One thing seems obvious -- Canadians can now expect that the election of Danielle Smith as leader of the UCP and therefore Premier of Alberta will be used as fodder for certain forces to slander and make spurious claims about Albertans being reactionary. It seems obvious that the workers will be called on to preserve the liberal democratic institutions from the danger posed to them by anti-establishment populist Albertans who, it is claimed, are represented by Danielle Smith, all evidence to the contrary.
What the developments nonetheless reveal is the urgency with which the workers and the youth should heed the call to get together to discuss the crisis in which the democratic institutions are mired and how this affects their lives and what they can do to turn things around in their favour. They must not accept to have discussion reduced to choosing voting methods in a manner which covers up the content of the rule imposed on them. The aim must be to empower the workers and people politically so that they can participate in making the decisions which affect their lives.
Methods used to divide the people spread disinformation about their concerns, beliefs, desires, aspirations, experiences and perceptions. They are promoted by the narrow private interests which direct the cartel parties, their courtiers and retinues who are either unwilling or incapable of renewing the democracy in a manner that humanizes the natural and social environment and brings in a new coherence which is so much needed at this point in time. An important starting point is to take a firm stand that the crisis Alberta finds herself in is not caused by so-called anti-establishment rural Albertans who we are to believe are profoundly reactionary and dangerous.
This article was published in
Volume 52 Number 27 - October 12, 2022
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmld2022/Articles/D520273.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca