At-Large Elections Work Against You

Five major problems that undermine democracy:

  • In 2022 Vancouver, voters faced a ballot with 137 candidates for mayor, council, park board, and school board. In 2018, there were 158 candidates.

    • This massive list makes it impossible for voters to get information about all candidates.
    • At-large elections force you to make uninformed choices.

  • At-large elections force candidates to campaign across the entire city which is prohibitively expensive.

    • Candidates need to spend big to win in city-wide campaigns which forces them to rely on big-money political parties.
    • Independent candidates with smaller budgets are shut out, leaving voters with fewer real choices.

  • The at-large system distorts election results, giving larger parties more seats than they deserve.

    • In 2022, Ken Sim's ABC party secured 70 per cent of Vancouver City Council seats despite receiving just 33 per cent of the vote. This came at the expense of other Vancouver parties such as One City and COPE who won fewer seats than they deserved or were completely shut out.
    • In 2022, Brenda Locke's Surrey Connect party won 4 of the 8 council seats (50%) with only 25% of the vote. [VERIFY THIS]

    This unfair system rewards larger parties with deep pockets, making it harder for new voices to break through.

  • Some neighbourhoods are ignored as parties focus on winning votes in their core areas.

    • Parties focus their campaigns on their strongholds giving more attention to voters in those areas while leaving others behind.
    • This creates a two-tiered city—some areas get representation, while others are forgotten.

  • Just like their U.S. counterparts, municipal councils rarely reflect the communities for which they make decisions.

    • In 2022, eight-of-ten city councillors elected to office were white, as were five-of-eight councillors in Surrey despite these cities being two of the country's most diverse municipalities.
    • The at-large system undermines council diversity, limiting the perspectives and experiences in local decision-making. That's one reason why U.S. courts have been striking them down for decades.