Canadian Elections

[iamjoy]

Could some one please explain how this works - in comparison to our Congressional and Presidential elections? How is Prime Minister elected? I've heard something about you can vote for a minority party candidate & not be "throwing your vote away" because the parties get proportional representation in parliament?

For example in the U.S. (generally, there may be exceptions)-

CONGRESS: We are broken down into districts. Some states only have one district, our largest - California - has 53. Each district has one representative. The parties can put up candidates in a "primary" election, but no more than one candidate repreenting each party can appear on the ballot in the general election for that district. Whoever gets the most votes, wins.
SENATE: Each state has 2 senators. Everyone in the state votes for the same Senate race. Otherwise, voting process is same as Congress.
PRESIDENT: People vote for the candidate they want to be President. Each state tallies its votes and determines who won that state.
Whoever wins that state is assigned all of the state's electors (a few states don't have the "winner take all" system). The number of electors for a state is equal to its Congressional districts(varies from 1 to 53) plus the number of senators (always 2). The electors are obligated to vote for the candidate that won their state.

BUT HOW DOES CANADA'S SYSTEM WORK?

[CHIMO]

1. Sugest The Following

Site.

If you have questions about understanding after reading, then just ask.
Good reading.

http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/voterstoolkit/index.html

[Joel]

2. re: Canadian Elections

The people who run in elections in each riding are chosen at nomination meetings by their local party members(much like your congressmen only quicker). However The party leaders must certify the choice so sometimes we get carpetbaggers.

We don't have proportional representation in parliament, but we do have more than two parties that win seats. On election day the candidate with the most votes in his or her riding wins. If you get 24% and the other 4 guys get 19% you still win.

These 'lower house' members are distribute pretty evenly based on population. The party leader that has the largest number of members of parliament support him or her becomes Prime Minister.(The leader must have his own seat in the lower or upper house to be Prime Minister)

The Prime Minister appoints the Senate, or 'Upper House', when senators retire (they must retire by 75) or die. The Senate has some regional balance, but it doesn't have near as much power as your version does. It's pretty much a policy research arm of the government.

The Governor General represents the Queen. She is our head of state. She doesn't do anything important.

I hope that helps. :)

[CHIMO]

3. Legislation

Must must have senate approval before it will move forward. In my book they have more power as they have a veto on the lower house. Maybe it doesn't appear that way but whenever anyone has a veto they have power.

[Mother Jones]

6. I fully agree with your view on our Senate

They ARE indeed very powerful.....never more evident than the exhaustive process we've been fighting for years now, where we, the PEOPLE (thru our MPs) have been screaming for changes to our centuries-old animal cruelty legislation.

The Senate keeps rejecting the people's requests, thanks to special interest lobby groups. And we continue to see abusers getting away with, literally - murder.

This has become a disgusting habit for our pathetic senate. And do they give a shit when you call them to ask why? Not a chance - because they are not elected!

[iamjoy]

4. How Do You Avoid Extremists?

I mean, it sound like if each district or riding elects their representatives and then whichever party is in the majority elects their leader from the representatives...

one of the reasons our Congress is so partisan is because the reps only have to win a narrow slice of the population. If you then elect a leader from reps who appeal to a very narrow segment, how do you avoid extremists?

I'm not criticizing, certainly our American system has produced extremists in nat'l leadership positions.

[CHIMO]

5. Each Riding

Has reps running for each major party.
Your question is pertinent, because in our last election some people voted for the Liberal candidate in their riding to prevent the Conservative/Alliance party from getting a majority in parliament. The Conservative/Alliance is a party that has become, if they weren't already, a fundamentalist type party.
So in summary, I guess that my response would be that the media is not yet controlled by one group.

[yvr girl]

7. We know who the leader of each party is before the election

They are chosen at leadership conventions. If the leader happens not to win his seat in a general election, then chances are he would be replaced. I can't remember the last time that happened.

[Iceburg]

8. Here's a good simple overview of the electoral process

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizen/look/look-16e.html

Pivotal to Canada's election process is the national register of voters....

In Canada, we maintain a permanent national register of eligible voters. It contains basic information about each person: name, address, sex and date of birth. The information in the National Register of Electors is used to produce the preliminary voters lists for federal elections, by-elections and referendums. About 20 percent of elector information changes every year.

16 % due to address changes
2 % new additions due to persons reaching 18
1 % new citizens added
1 % removed due to deaths

The data is kept current through the cooperation of many federal and provincial agencies (tax, motor vehicle, vital statistics, immigration etc) in addition to targeted mail-outs to potential eligible voters.
Eligible voters not on the list may register anytime including election day. Because of Elections Canada's extrordinary effort to maintain the National Register:
a) very few eligible voters are not registered (including first-time voters)
b) dead people do not inflate the list
c) duplicate registrations are minimized

Description of the National Register of Electors
http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=ins&document=national&dir=nre&lang=e&textonly=false

Frequently Asked Questions (including my favourite "Is someone allowed to eat a ballot?")
http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=faq&document=faqvoting&lang=e&textonly=false

In Canada, You will NEVER see:
a) more ballots cast then registered voters
b) more registered voters than eligible population