Electoral reform needed to restore democracy

American "Elections" are a Sham

• Below is an interesting article about opening up elections in Canada.  
• But this article applies triple to elections in the U.S.  In our sham elections voters are given a pretend "choice" between the open borders, big government loving Democrats and the open borders, big government loving Republicans. 
•  If, like me, you don't like either of those choices you are just shit out of luck.

By: Bruce Campion-Smith Ottawa Bureau

(The Star)  -  The Kiwis do it. So do the Germans and Scots.

Now Kelly Carmichael is hopeful that after years of study, debate and political promises, Canada may be on the brink of doing it, too.

“It” is electoral reform, putting in place a voting system that ensures the makeup of Parliament better reflects the ballots cast.

Indeed, the October election could be the last federal election using the first-past-the-post system as both Liberals and NDP have vowed changes to how Canadians elect their MPs.

“I have to say we are pretty hopeful,” said Carmichael, the executive director of Fair Vote Canada, which advocates for electoral reform.

The organization is getting ready to launch a national campaign later this month to put a spotlight on the issue and enlist the backing of candidates running in this election.

Boosters of the idea believe electoral reform would bring new voices and fresh ideas to Parliament. It would shake up the big-party dominance of the political system. It would lead to consensus-driven government and better policies.

Carmichael says reform gives voice to groups sidelined by the current voting system. She notes that in jurisdictions that have introduced proportional representation, more women get elected.

And because of the greater diversity of political viewpoints, it produces better policies because of the need for consensus, she said.

“You change the dynamic of government,” she said in an interview.

Sorry John, but "free" elections ended long ago with the paid off
Dems and GOP "magically" winning 100% of all seats.

New Zealand: New Zealand uses a mixed member proportional system. Each voter gets two votes. The first vote is for the political party. It’s known as the party vote and determines the total number of seats each political party gets in parliament, according to the New Zealand Electoral Commission. The second vote chooses the MP in a riding; the candidate with the most votes wins. A political party that wins at least one electorate seat or five per cent of the party vote gets a share of the seats in parliament that is about the same as its share of the party vote.

The electoral commission provides this example: If a party gets 30 per cent of the party vote, it will get roughly 36 MPs in parliament — 30 per cent of the 120 seats. If that party wins 20 electorate seats, it will have 16 list MPs in addition to its 20 directly elected MPs.

Five parties and free elections for
the German Bundestag

Germany: Germans cast two votes when electing politicians to the German Bundestag or lower parliament. The first vote determines the constituency candidate; the candidate with the most votes wins. The second ballot determines the strength of each party in the Bundestag. This vote is the “decisive” one as it dictates which party, or coalition of parties, will hold the majority, according to the Bundestag website.

Half of the parliament’s 630 members are directly elected through the first ballots. The rest are elected via lists drawn up by the parties, based on the results of the second ballots. A party that gets at least five per cent of the votes gets seats in the parliament, even if it didn’t win those seats in the direct elections.

Canada: In 2004, the Law Commission of Canada concluded that the current voting system was badly out of date and said a system of proportional representation was a “necessary and vital” step to improve democracy in Canada. “For an increasing number of Canadians, the imbalances in our system are unacceptable,” the report said.

The commission recommended that two-thirds of the 308 Commons seats at the time be elected in constituency seats using the first-past-the-post system. The remaining one-third would be elected from a list of candidates submitted by the parties within each province and territory to reflect their share of the popular vote. As well, one list seat each would be allotted to Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Yukon.

Read the full article . . . .

Thanks to Ballot Access News

Sample of a Free Election

U. S. House of Representatives elections, 1854

k
The U.S. used to have free elections and a multi-party Congress.  Because House districts were small, if people were angry they could easily form brand new political parties to speak for them in Congress.  Large numbers of parties were elected to the House:  Federalists, Democrat-Republicans, Free Soil, Greenback, Whigs, Prohibition, Socialist and Populist among many.
k
But those days are long gone.  The last non-Dem or Republican to be elected to the House was way back in 1948.  Only someone who is 80 to 90 years old could remember that election.  Our "freedom" vanished long ago.

With super sized 700,000 person districts the corrupt GOP and Democrats, backed by special interest money, "magically" win 100% of the seats in every election.  We need election reform now.  The American people have a right to be heard.