With what is happening in the United States now, we understand that Joe Biden felt the need to say, opening his summit on democracy, that his country was not always up to the task. The very future of democracy is at stake now. Not just in the United States.
As Winston Churchill said: “Democracy is the worst form of government, apart from all the other forms that have already been tried. »It allows – in the long run – to get rid of the incompetent and the corrupt or, at least, the cynics would say, it ensures that it is not always the same people without purpose who enjoy the butter dish.
Here in Quebec, national elections are scheduled for next year and we have just had municipal elections. In Montreal, Valérie Plante was elected mayor although she obtained only 217,986 votes out of 1,111,100 registered voters. Do the math. Less than 20% of voters deigned to vote for Notre-Dame-du-Perpétuel-Sourire. 62% of voters abstained from voting. So is our democracy.
The fact is that most of the elected representatives in Quebec do not represent a majority of their electors. This situation is found to varying degrees for those elected to the National Assembly and to the House of Commons, at the federal level. There is, of course, the exception of predominantly anglophone or allophone ridings in Quebec, where voters give the Liberals astronomical scores to protect them from the francophone majority.
How can we make our electoral system more representative? First, take steps to get more lazy or indifferent citizens to vote. One could imagine a reward system for conscientious citizens. You did not go to vote, you will have to pay to have access to such government services. You have voted – congratulations! – you will pay less for your license for this or that.
In 23 countries we are going even further. The law forces people to vote. Australia has compulsory voting for all its citizens aged 18 and over. When compulsory voting was introduced there in 1924, it led to a dramatic increase in voter turnout. The results are convincing: 95% of registered Australian voters participate in the polls. Voters at fault must justify themselves. If they have no valid reasons (illness, absence from the country, etc.), they must pay a fine. The stubborn refusal to submit to the electoral law results in a conviction for community service, or a few days in prison.
It should be noted, by the way, that in Australia, lunatics and criminals serving time in jail do not have the right to vote. Normal no? A study of the electoral laws of 63 democratic countries reveals that only 4 of them – Canada, Ireland, Italy and Sweden – do not impose restrictions on the right to vote of people with an intellectual disability.
To ensure that all elected officials have the support of the majority of their constituents, we should also adopt the first past the post vote, as is the case in a good part of the democratic countries of the planet, including France. . Our current one-round system makes it virtually impossible to achieve majorities as soon as there are more than two candidates in a constituency, that is in most cases.
Adding a second round also promotes coalitions and agreements between parties. Which is not a bad thing. Loto-Quebec could even organize a system of betting on the results of the second round in constituencies where the carryovers are not obvious, another way to interest the less resourceful in the elections. I’m joking.
Barely !
What about proportional representation, the list system? Wouldn’t that be a way of making our elections more democratic? I do not think so. Elected officials must respond to voters in specific constituencies. Not be imposed by party election committees. We would end up with six, seven, ten parties in the National Assembly.