HOW OUR ELECTORAL SYSTEM WORKS IN CANADA VOTING

HOW OUR ELECTORAL SYSTEM WORKS IN CANADA

VOTING MATTERS v. The most fundamental principle of democracy is that citizens have the right AND responsibility to vote v. While there are many issues w/ our democracy, we first need to understand how it works

TYPES OF DEMOCRACY DIRECT DEMOCRACY – Every citizen votes of EVERY law/policy idea - Athens did this, yet it’s rarely used today - WHY? ? REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY – Reps are sent from certain areas to speak for all people from their area - What are the benefits to this system? - What are the drawbacks?

Electoral Districts Voting Candida tes Campai gn Counting Votes Forming Governm ent

ELECTORAL DISTRICTS v. Provinces & Territories are divided into electoral districts called – RIDINGS v. Each riding will send 1 REPRESENTATIVE to parliament to be their voice on issues v. Ridings in Canada – 338 (as of Aug. 2, 2015) v. Ridings in Ontario - 122

CANDIDATES v. In each riding, CANDIDATES announce they will run in the election v. There is no limit to the number of candidates per district v. Typically, political parties nominate members to run

THE CAMPAIGN v. In the weeks leading up to an election, candidates go BANANAS trying to convince voters to vote for them v. Ric Mercer – “If there were more than 5 paraplegic, lesbian, Inuit women in Labrador…they would be a target. ” v. Voters are subjected to numerous strategies v Ads, media reports, phone calls, door-to-door, debates, social media campaigns…

DEBATE BURNS!! OBAMA VS ROMNEY http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=a. V 1 VUS 3 Q 2 W 0 LAYTON VS IGNATIEFF http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=pkm. F 8 B 2651 s

TRUMP DEBATE BURNS…ON HIMSELF https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=cv. Og 7 Xegq 0 M THE DUMBEST ANSWER IN HISTORY!!! https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=1 Qx. BJkf. Yk 68

HOW VOTERS ARE INFLUENCED By yourself - Read the 10 ways voters are influenced when it comes to voting (Pg. 94 -95) W/ a partner – Pick a top 5 influencers and rank them from most influential to least

NEXT…. . VOTE!!!!!!!! v. On election day, voters go to polling stations v What’s a polling station look like? ? v. Each polling station has a deputy returning officer who oversees everything v. Poll clerks check ID, cross names off voter lists and give voters their ballot v. Voting is done in secret v. How has voting changed over the years? ? (HINT – a LOT has changed)

COUNTING THE VOTE v. Sounds easy right…. . it’s a freaking GONG SHOW!!! v. Poll Clerks count the votes, but scrutineers from each political party watch the counting v WHY? ?

HOW TO COUNT THE VOTES v. This title isn’t a typo…there are many different ways to actually COUNT the votes v. Canada uses the FIRST PAST THE POST system v The candidate that receives the most votes in a riding becomes its rep v The political party with the most ridings/reps overall wins v It’s literally a metaphor for horse racing v Good system or bad system? ? WHY? ? vhttp: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=zi-Fq. Ie 9 vl 8 vhttp: //www. theglobeandmail. com/news- video/video-justin-trudeau-promises-electoralreform/article 24983568/

A DIFFERENT WAY TO COUNT v. A different way to tally the votes is to use a system called PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION v. This system awards parties seats in parliament based on their OVERALL PERCENTAGE of the entire country’s vote v. So if your party gets 10% of the votes, you get 10% of the seats (10% of the power) v How many seats would this be in Canada? v Still don’t get it……. . let’s do a goofball high school election to help