Friday, September 28, 2007
What is "MMP"? - The Proposed Electoral System
"MMP" stands for Mixed Member Proportional (MMP). This is the proposed electoral system. You will hear the slogan "1 ballot, 2 votes" because in this system, the voter selects a party and a candidate.
A Mixed Member Proportional system combines members elected in local districts and members elected for the whole province to serve as MPPs in the legislature. If this system is accepted, Ontarians will have two votes in future elections: one for a "Local Member" and one for a political party. The selected Local Member does not need to be from the party the voter chooses.
Under MMP, the provincial legislature would have 129 seats: Local Members' would fill 90 seats while "List Members" would fill 39 seats.
The share of seats in the legislature that each party wins is roughly equal to its share of the party vote. For example, if a party wins 25% of the vote, it wins about 25% of the seats in the legislature. The political party with the largest number of seats in the legislature, including Local Members and List Members, is asked to form a government.
In each electoral district, one vote would be used to elect a Local Member using a First-Past-the-Post system. The candidate with the most votes in an electoral district wins.
The other vote would be for a political party. Votes for parties will be used to determine the number of List Members each party gets. This is the proportional representation part.
If a political party is entitled to more seats than it won at the local
level, candidates from that party's list of members join the government; these are the List Members. The list of members is created before the election and is distributed to the public. Members are selected for a position in the government based on their order on this list. Only a political party that has received more than 3% of the votes can have List Members.
In the end, a political party's overall share of seats will roughly equal its share of the total votes for parties in the province.
A Mixed Member Proportional system combines members elected in local districts and members elected for the whole province to serve as MPPs in the legislature. If this system is accepted, Ontarians will have two votes in future elections: one for a "Local Member" and one for a political party. The selected Local Member does not need to be from the party the voter chooses.
Under MMP, the provincial legislature would have 129 seats: Local Members' would fill 90 seats while "List Members" would fill 39 seats.
The share of seats in the legislature that each party wins is roughly equal to its share of the party vote. For example, if a party wins 25% of the vote, it wins about 25% of the seats in the legislature. The political party with the largest number of seats in the legislature, including Local Members and List Members, is asked to form a government.
In each electoral district, one vote would be used to elect a Local Member using a First-Past-the-Post system. The candidate with the most votes in an electoral district wins.
The other vote would be for a political party. Votes for parties will be used to determine the number of List Members each party gets. This is the proportional representation part.
If a political party is entitled to more seats than it won at the local
level, candidates from that party's list of members join the government; these are the List Members. The list of members is created before the election and is distributed to the public. Members are selected for a position in the government based on their order on this list. Only a political party that has received more than 3% of the votes can have List Members.
In the end, a political party's overall share of seats will roughly equal its share of the total votes for parties in the province.
Labels: Meetings_and_Events
