Most are satisfied with “first-past-the-post”, but a majority would welcome a move to party-list proportional representation.
Vancouver, BC [February 22, 2024] – More than three-in-five Canadians have no qualms about the electoral system used in federal ballots, a new Research Co. poll has found.
Canadians elect the members of the House of Commons through a system called “first-past-the-post”, where a candidate wins a constituency by receiving more votes than any others.
In the online survey of a representative national sample, 62% of Canadians say they are satisfied with “first-past-the-post”, while 27% are dissatisfied and 11% are not sure.
More than two thirds of Canadians aged 18-to-34 (67%) are satisfied with the current system, along with 61% of those aged 55 and over and 57% of those aged 35-to-54.
Just over three-in-four Canadians who supported the Liberal Party in the last federal election (76%) are content with “first-past-the-post”. Satisfaction is lower among those who cast ballots for the New Democratic Party (NDP) (62%) or the Conservative Party (58%) in 2021.
Respondents to this survey were provided with the definitions of three electoral systems that are used in other countries.
More than half of Canadians (56%) would agree to elect all members of the House of Commons through Party-List Proportional Representation, a system in which parties make lists of candidates to be elected, and seats get allocated to each party in accordance with the number of total votes the party receives.
“A move to Party-List Proportional Representation in federal elections would be welcomed by 62% of Canadians aged 18-to-34 and 57% of Canadians aged 35-to-54,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Support is lower among their counterparts aged 55 and over (49%).”
On a regional basis, agreement with electing the members of the House of Commons through Party-List Proportional Representation is highest in British Columbia (60%), followed by Ontario (57%), Atlantic Canada (also 57%), Quebec (54%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (51%) and Alberta (also 51%).
Fewer than half of Canadians (46%) would agree to adopt the Single Transferable Vote system, where votes are initially allocated to a voter’s most preferred candidate, and as the count proceeds and candidates are either elected or eliminated, they are transferred to other candidates in accordance to the voter’s stated preferences.
Just over two-in-five Canadians (41%) would prefer to elect the members of the Hose of Commons through Mixed Member Proportional Representation MMP—a hybrid method that would use Party-List Proportional Representation for a portion of the legislature, and first-past-the-post for another portion.
Methodology: Results are based on an online study conducted from January 29 to January 31, 2024, among 1,000 adults in Canada. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.1 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
Find our data tables here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca