PACT Warns Voters Against "Strategic Voting"

"Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil."    J. Garcia

TORONTO, Oct. 16, 2015 /CNW/ - One of the biggest flaws of our political system is the fallacy of 'strategic voting which large numbers of voters feel inclined to do, hoping for a quick fix in a 'lose-lose' situation. What seems to be an intelligent use of a vote in an attempt to influence the outcome of the elections by choosing a party that has the best chance to beat the worst party, as perceived by the voter, is in fact altering the results of the voting process in such degree that we can't tell, after counting all the votes, how much support each Party has.

It is astonishing how hundreds of thousands of voters willingly cast a vote for a Party other than the one they support! No imaginable vote fraud can cause so much damage to our electoral system. There is no coercion, no direct fraud or influence but this practice alone compromises the results to the point we should ask ourselves if this democratic system will ever be able to reflect the real political aspirations of all Canadians.

The root cause of the strategic voting is the 'First Past the Post' system we inherited from the UK. Since in each district the winner takes it all and those who voted for anyone else but the winner have arguably wasted their vote, those who support a Party that does not do well in the polls before the elections, feel inclined to vote for either one of the two top Parties, in most cases a vote 'against' the one less desirable. These strategic voters hope that one day in the future the Party they support will be in the top two, but until then, they won't waste the vote on that Party. Ironically, this smart move denies the Party they support the single most important help they can give, which is their vote! Strategic voting drastically diminishes the chances of the Party you actually support, and directly denies the voter any chance to see their own political aspirations fulfilled.

Among other downsides of strategic voting: voters are less inclined to cast a vote unless they are very angry and want to deny the top party a chance to win; the smaller, more progressive parties have a very low chance to succeed since the incumbents will always have more support and money coming into the elections year and will top the polls; voters are denying themselves yet another rare chance to vote for what they believe and support, instead casting a vote against what they hate the most. And what if the polls were wrong and you waste your strategic vote?

Strategic voting emboldens the supporters of the Party you vote against. It is neither intelligent nor effective. There are very few voters who voted strategically in the past who now think they did the right thing. If you are one of them, you should think twice this time around. It is much more important to research ALL Candidates and see who is best for you and vote accordingly, loud and clear.

PACT believes that 'strategic voting' has no merit whatsoever, and calls for voters to be honest in front of the ballot box. Voters should cast a positive, honest vote showing support for the Party, platform or policies they like the most. This way we will know more accurately whom we all support. An accurate vote count might bring wonderful surprises; maybe, just maybe there are many more voters out there who think like you. Let them know you're on the same page.

PACT supports Proportional Representation and urges voters to vote for the Party Candidate who pledges to change the electoral system. In a Proportional Representation system every vote counts, so there's no need for anyone to vote 'strategically'. A Proportional Representation system would reflect the real political aspirations and would make everyone's vote much more relevant.

On October 19^th, come out and tell the rest of us what Party you actually support! Make sure you research all Candidates and choose the one that best suits your political aspirations.

PACT (Party for Accountability, Competency and Transparency) is the Online Party of Canada; a registered federal political party represented in the 2015 elections in Spadina – Fort York.

SOURCE Party for Accountability, Competency and Transparency

Image with caption: "PACT - Party for Accountability, Competency and Transparency (CNW Group/Party for Accountability, Competency and Transparency)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20151016_C5682_PHOTO_EN_522374.jpg

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