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Tom Monto

Edmonton's PR record shows that PR works

Updated: Jul 6, 2022

People invent reasons why PR would not work, but actually we know that it does work.


Alberta and Manitoba used a district-level PR system (STV) in provincial elections 1920s to 1950s, and during that time it proved that it does ensure that representation is more fair, more people vote and more votes are used to elect someone.


Voter turn-out

Voters were not scared of voting despite the complications of preferential voting. in fact, voter turn-out increased in Edmonton when STV was used - and also increased when elections returned to FPTP.

1921 (Block Voting) 17,950 voted

1926 (PR-STV) 18,150 voted

1930 (PR-STV) 21,000 voted

1935 (PR-STV) 37,000 voted.

...

1948 (PR-STV) 46,000 voted. 1952 (PR-STV) 52,000 voted. 1955 (PR-STV) 77,000 voted. 1959 (FPTP-SMP) 93,000 voted Party representation Party representation was more mixed and fair under STV than single-member plurality

1921 (Block Voting) one party elected among five MLAs elected 1926 (PR-STV) four parties elected (UFA, Conservative, Liberal, Labour) among five MLAs elected 1930 (PR-STV) four parties elected (UFA, Conservative, Liberal, Labour) 1935 (PR-STV) three parties elected (Social Credit, Conservative, Liberal) ... 1948 (PR-STV) three parties elected (Social Credit, Liberal, CCF) 1952 (PR-STV) four parties elected (Social Credit, Conservative, Liberal, CCF) 1955 (PR-STV) three parties elected (Social Credit, Conservative, Liberal) among seven MLAs elected

1959 (FPTP-SMP) one party elected (Social Credit) among nine MLAs elected

Percentage of votes used to elect someone 1921 (Block Voting) -- number of voters that voted for successful candidates is unknown - somewhere between 6500 (36 percent) and 18,000 (100 percent). votes cast for Liberal candidates were equal to 28 percent more than number of voters who voted.) 1926 (PR-STV) 14,283 out of 18,000 valid votes -- 79 percent 1930 (PR-STV) 17,000 out of 21,000 valid votes -- 81 percent 1935 (PR-STV) 31,000 out of 37000 valid votes -- 83 percent 1948 (PR-STV) 39.000 out of 46,000 valid votes -- 85 percent 1952 (PR-STV) 42,000 out of 52,000 valid votes -- 81 percent 1955 (PR-STV) 66,000 out of 77,000 valid votes -- 86 percent

1959 (FPTP-SMP) 44,000 out of 93,000 votes cast -- 48 percent. So as Edmonton stats show, PR means more mixed representation that truly reflects how voters voted, more voters voting, and more votes used to elect someone (and therefore fewer wasted) - despite the supposed reasons that people dredge up to block adoption of PR.


Thanks for reading.

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