Provincial Election & Referendum

There's a very important election coming up in Ontario. On October 10th Ontarians will not only vote in provincial leaders but decide the fate of a referendum on the province's electoral system.

You'll be presented with two ballots at the polls: one for casting a vote for a candidate in the general election - and the other for choosing an electoral system in the referendum.

In our current electoral system "First-Past-the-Post", each voter in a district gets one vote to choose a candidate they believe should win a seat in the provincial legislature. The candidate with the most votes in a district wins, no matter how close the race, and the political party that wins the most electoral districts forms a government.

The alternative electoral system proposed by the Citizens' Assembly (Mixed Member Proportional) is a combination of two voting systems - First-Past-the-Post and a Proportional Representation system. Under this system, Ontarians would vote twice - once for a 'Local Member' and once for a political party. The province would have 129 seats in total - 90 'Local Members" (representing 90 electoral districts) and 39 'List Members.' The candidate with the most votes in a district will still win using the First-Past-the-Post system but in this alternative system, votes for parties will determine the number of 'List Members' each party gets, resulting in a more representative government than we have now.

For more details on the two electoral systems check out:

• the referendum website - Your Big Decision

• the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform

Thanks to Courtney Summers for reminding Ontario bloggers about what an important decision this is and don't forget to make sure you're on the Voters List (1-888-ONT-VOTE or www.elections.on.ca)!