Manitoba Liberals pitch switch to voting in provincial elections

Manitoba's Liberal Party says it will change the voting system in provincial elections, introducing ranked balloting, if it forms the next government.

The party would replace the current system offirst-past-the-post voting in which peoplecast a vote for a single candidate, and the candidate with the most votes winsand introduce one that enables voters to rank candidates first, second, thirdand so on, leader Dougald Lamont said at a news conference on Friday.

That would allowManitobans to vote in a way that better reflectstheir personal and community values, he said.

"If we want lasting change in Manitoba, we need to change the way we vote by strengthening grassroots democracy with ranked ballots in provincial elections,"Lamont said at the news conference.

"One of the reasons we keep flip-flopping back and forth in Manitoba is that under our system, voters are told they have no choice but to vote for someone they don't like to keep out someone else."

Lamont said the commitment is the first plank in the party's platformfor the Oct. 3 election,a platform he says is dedicated to democratic renewal and rebuilding trust and accountability in the provincial government.

WATCH |Liberal leader says ranked ballots would help his party, Manitobans:

Voters wouldn't hold their noses with ranked ballot system: Manitoba Liberals

1 year ago

Duration 0:52

Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont defends the ranked ballot system, which his party is proposing to implement, as a way to empower voters to choose who they want to win, rather than voting to prevent one party from being elected.

The current system often leads to strategic voting, rather than voting for a preferred candidate, Lamont said.

Strategic voting, also called tactical voting, is when people castballots for a candidate or party other than theirtop choice in the hope ofpreventing someone else from winning.

That leads to election campaigns "where the main goal is stampeding voters to a particular outcome with fear and panic," Lamont said at the news conference on the south side of the legislative building.

And that's what theNDP and PCs are now doing in the lead-up to the Oct. 3 election, he said.

They're not giving Manitobans anything to vote for but rather "treating this as an election about one thing: who to vote against. They're just giving reasons not to vote for each other," Lamont said.

"These are two parties who campaign based on spite, and they govern based on spite, and it's Manitobans who get caught in the crossfire."

He called the current labour strikes a political spat between the two parties.

"The PCs are trying to make a point and they're willing to hurt Manitoba businesses and families," he said.

The Liberals are the only choice for rebuilding trust in Manitoba's democracy, he said.

"If we want lasting change in Manitoba, we need to change the way we vote."

One way is by getting aLiberal candidate elected, and the other is by strengthening voter choice with ranked ballots, he said.

"You don't have to demonize your opponent to win under a ranked ballot system. In fact, you have to reach out to your opponent's supporters with the hope that they'll support you, too," he said.

The first-past-the-postsystem "is a place where you only have one choice, and that's not a democratic choice at all."

Robert-Falcon Ouellette, the Liberals' candidate for Southdale,pitched the switch to ranked balloting when he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Winnipeg in 2022.

Ranked ballots, or some version of runoff elections, are used by many political parties to elect their leaders.

Lamont said he favours ranked ballots over proportional representation because it give voters more choice and more say.

"Last election, more Manitobans stayed home than all votes combined for the winning side. This speaks to the need to get Manitobans on board with the political process, which starts with a ranked ballot," he said.

Lamont will release other planks of his party's platform next week, when the election campaign is officially launched, he said.