Saturday, February 20, 2016

Learning to make votes equal - a great webinar



Do you want your vote to count in federal elections – even though your chosen party didn’t win in your riding?

Soon, this might actually happen! – after 150 years of it not happening! Join this live “learn-at-home” webinar discussion in a fantastic opportunity to learn about your options, ask questions, etc:

The new Liberal government has promised that 2015 was the last election using the “first-past-the-post” voting system. Their election platform stated:
“We will make every vote count.
We will convene an all-party Parliamentary committee to review a wide variety of reforms, such as ranked ballots, proportional representation, mandatory voting, and online voting.”

An all-party committee is being formed now and public consultations are set to get underway soon to ask Canadians about what values are most important to them in a new electoral system.

With values such as fair and proportional results, equality for voters, more inclusive politics, diversity and effective local representation in mind, you may be wondering:
What do the terms “ranked ballot” and “proportional representation” really mean? Which systems will deliver on our most important values and the promise to Make Every Vote Count?

We invite you to join us Sunday, Feb 21, 7:00 pm EST for a two part webinar:

1. 7:00-7:20: Make Every Vote Count -  Campaign 101
2. 7:20-7:55: Unpacking Ranked Ballots


Are you new to the issue of electoral reform? Join our first section to learn more about proportional representation, and how it will build a more diverse and inclusive Parliament!

If you already have a handle on the basic case for PR, jump on the webinar for the second section where Associate Professor and Canadian electoral reform expert Dennis Pilon will explain how ranked ballots are used in winner-take-all and proportional electoral systems - the options, the history, the objectives and the possible consequences.

Fair Voting BC President Antony Hodgson will contribute to the discussion to explain how Single Transferable Vote (STV) could work as one option for Canada.
You can attend the entire webinar, or you can join us for the section you are most interested in.

Following the presenters, we will have Q+A where you can ask questions via a chat box. We will endeavour to answer as many as we can!

Please share this webinar widely with friends who may be interested.
Thanks for being part of the campaign to Make Every Vote Count.