Clerk's Report If this information is required in an alternate accessible format, please contact the Accessibility Coordinator at 905-623-3379 ext. 2131. Report To: General Government Committee Date of Meeting: November 7, 2016 Report Number: CLD-034-16 Resolution: GG-538-16 File Number: By-law Number: Report Subject: Municipal Elections - Ranked Ballot Elections Recommendations: 1. That Report CLD-034-16 be received; 2. That the Municipality of Clarington maintain the existing first-past-the-post election model for the 2018 Municipal Elections; and 3. That Staff review this position prior to the 2022 Municipal Elections. Municipality of Clarington Report CLD-034-16 Page 2 Report Overview This report provides a synopsis related to recent changes to the Municipal Elections Act regarding the new ranked ballot election framework. It is intended to assist Council in their considerations of this voting option for future elections. It is not recommended that the Municipality move to this voting system. 1. Background Report CLD-032-16 summarizes the changes to the Municipal Elections Act (MEA), including ranked ballots. The most extensive change is the establishment of a framework to allow for a ranked ballot election in Ontario for the first time. This change can be made by a Council decision and the passing of a by-law. This report is intended to provide a more in depth background on ranked ballots. The Province committed to providing municipalities with the option of using ranked ballots in future elections as an alternative to the current first-past-the-post system where the candidate who receives the highest number of votes wins. The current system does not require a certain percentage of votes to be achieved to win a contest. Ranked ballots allow a voter to rank candidates in order of preference (first choice1, second choice, third choice, etc.). Changes to the MEA now give all municipal councils in Ontario the option to pass a by- law to implement ranked ballot elections starting with the next municipal election in 2018. The related Regulation 310/16 was passed on September 16, 2016 and outlines: • rules governing ballots, voting procedures, the counting of votes, recounts and reporting results; • conditions, limitations and procedural requirements for passing the by-law, including consultation requirements and timing; and • powers that the Clerk may exercise in administering a ranked ballot election. The possibility of adopting ranked ballot voting influences decisions regarding the methods of voting (e.g. scanned paper ballots, internet voting, other electronic methods of voting), and what systems will be required for counting votes. Methods of voting and acquisition of systems will be discussed under a separate report at a later time. Municipality of Clarington Report CLD-034-16 Page 3 Ranked ballots are used (but called by different names) in approximately ten municipalities in the United States (in only a handful of communities spanning seven states), in various places in Europe and the United Kingdom and in Canada for political party leadership races. To date, ranked ballot elections have not been implemented in any municipal, provincial or federal elections in Canada. On June 7, 2016, the federal government formed a parliamentary committee, the Special Committee on Electoral Reform, which is to report by December 1, 2016, but it has promised legislation by April 19, 2017. Town Hall meetings were held in October regarding federal election reform. 2. What is a Ranked Ballot Election (RBE)? A ranked ballot election means an election whereby electors vote by ranking candidates for an office in order of the elector’s preference, votes are distributed to candidates based on the rankings marked on the ballots, and the counting of votes is carried out in one or more rounds, with at least one candidate being elected or eliminated in each round. 2.1 Framework Section 41.1 of the Act sets out the framework for RBE as follows: 1. Electors vote by ranking candidates for an office in order of the elector's preference. 2. Votes are distributed to candidates based on the rankings marked on the ballots. 3. The counting of votes is carried out in one or more rounds, with at least one candidate being elected or eliminated in each round. RBEs can only be undertaken within a municipality if all municipal races are using ranked ballots. For instance, a municipality could not use ranked ballots for the mayoral race and first-past-the-post for councillor races. It is important to note that the Act does not allow for RBEs for school boards. School boards do not have the same timeline and will not have the option of using RBEs until, at the earliest, the 2022 election. This is mainly because of the overlap of municipalities within school boards and the inherent logistics of coordinating ballots for ranking and counting Municipality of Clarington Report CLD-034-16 Page 4 2.2 Concept For RBEs, instead of voting for a single candidate, the elector ranks the list of candidates in order of your preference, first, second, third, etc. The first choice votes are totalled up and if someone receives 50% or more of the votes, then they are declared the winner and the election is over. However, if no candidate receives more than 50%, then the candidate with the least votes is eliminated from the race. The second choices of the voters whose first choice was the dropped candidate are added to the remaining totals and the votes are counted up again. Once again, if someone has a majority then they are declared the winner. If not, another candidate is eliminated and the process repeats until there is a majority winner. Attachment 1 provides a simplified example of a ranked ballot election. 2.3 Types of Ranked Ballots There are two types of ranked ballots: single-member RBEs, also known as instant runoff voting (IRV), and multi-member RBEs, also known as single transferrable vote (STV). In the Municipality of Clarington, a single-member ranked ballot process would apply to all the offices (i.e. where only one candidate is elected). A multi-member ranked ballot process would apply to where multiple candidates are elected per race. Since Clarington does not have a multi-member situation, this report will focus on the “single- member ranked ballot approach”. 2.4 Thresholds According to the ranked ballot approach, a candidate would have to cross a "threshold" of votes to be elected. In the case of a single-member RBE, the threshold to be elected is 50% plus one of the total number of votes received for a contest, calculated as follows: 100% of Votes Cast Threshold = + 1 = 50% + 1 1 candidate will be elected + 1 � � Municipality of Clarington Report CLD-034-16 Page 5 The following is a simplified example of calculating the threshold, from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs Website: (http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/Page11118.aspx ) In this election, you are being asked to vote on the kind of fruit that will be served as a snack. With ranked ballots you can rank your choices from your most preferred to least preferred option. You rank the choices as follows: • Cherry 1 • Pear 2 • Strawberry 3 • Apple 4 Thirty people voted, and only one fruit can be chosen. Sixteen votes are needed for a fruit to be chosen (50 per cent of 30 votes is 15 votes, plus one makes it a majority). 2.5 Single-Member Ranked Ballot Election To cross the threshold in a single-member RBE, votes would be distributed among candidates based on the rankings indicated by the voter on the ballot. In the event that a candidate does not receive enough votes to pass the threshold, subsequent rounds of vote counting would be conducted where the candidate(s) who received the lowest number of votes would be dropped from future counts, and his or her votes redistributed based on the rankings assigned to other candidates on the same ballot, until the threshold is met. Municipality of Clarington Report CLD-034-16 Page 6 The following image, provided by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, outlines the basic process: 2.6 Elimination of Candidates Candidates may be eliminated either using single elimination or batch elimination. The Clerk has the authority to decide which elimination method will be used. The same elimination method must be used for all offices, and all rounds of vote counting. In the single elimination method, the candidate who has the lowest number of votes is eliminated, and those votes are distributed to the remaining candidates according to the next preference shown on each ballot. In the batch elimination method, all candidates who do not have a mathematical chance of being elected are eliminated at the same time, and those votes are distributed to the remaining candidates according to the next preference shown on each ballot. Municipality of Clarington Report CLD-034-16 Page 7 3. How Rankings are Interpreted The voter's preference will be determined by looking at the rankings given to candidates. If a voter gives the same candidate more than one ranking, only the highest of those rankings will be considered. If a voter skips a ranking, the next highest ranking will be considered. If a voter gives two candidates the highest ranking, so that it is not possible to determine which candidate is the voter's first preference, the ballot will be rejected. In any round of counting after the first round, if a ballot is to be transferred, but it is not possible to determine which candidate is the voter's next preference, the ballot becomes exhausted. A voter does not have to rank the maximum number of preferences.