One hundred and two. That’s the number of candidates that competed in the recent Toronto mayoral election. It was a tight contest in a crowded field. The winning candidate, Olivia Chow, won with far less than a majority of votes — just 37.2%. To make matters even more complicated, three candidates received a greater number of votes than the margin between the top two candidates. All of this could have been avoided if the city used ranked choice voting (RCV).

Elections like this highlight a pervasive weakness of single-choice voting: When the field is crowded, most candidates are more likely to take votes away from an actually competitive candidate than they are to win the election. For instance, if the conservative supporters of third-place candidate Mark Saunders had supported the more moderate runner-up — Ana Bailão — they could have swung the election. Similar stories can be told for any number of candidates and coalitions.

Ranked choice voting would easily solve this problem. Voters could cast their ballots with confidence that their voices will be heard: If their first choice candidate is unsuccessful, their vote is transferred to a backup choice. More voices would matter in the final contest.

Voters and other members of the government would know that newly elected officials were supported by a majority. This powerful popular mandate would allow the newly elected officials to govern more effectively and move forward with implementing their vision for the future. That vision, too, would likely have a broader appeal — after all, a majority of voters picked the winner.

Unsurprisingly, Torontonians have wanted RCV for some time now — a 2016 Mainstreet Research poll found 59% of the city in support and just 29% opposed. However, their will was blocked by the provincial Ontario government, which slipped a provision banning cities from using RCV into a 2020 COVID-19 bill. 

Ranked ballots are one important way to strengthen our democracy and improve representation. People would not have to be as concerned with vote splitting and strategic voting, instead they would feel empowered to vote for the candidate that best represents their views.

– Olivia Chow

Reform advocates in Toronto have, for the moment, been forced to turn their attention to the provincial level. For the rest of us, Toronto’s situation provides a clear lesson: Single-choice elections are fragile and unrepresentative. We should do everything in our power to repair and improve our democracy.