Frequently Asked Questions
Shouldn't I vote for the party I like the best?
No. That leads to vote splitting. If you are not going to vote for one of the top two candidates in your riding, then you may have well not voted.
Shouldn't I vote for the party I like the best because they get money for each vote?
Each party gets $1.75 for each vote. Your vote is worth much more than $1.75. We suggest that you send a donation of $3.50 to the party of your choice, that you didn't vote for. That is twice as good! Ask yourself the question: I am willing to throw away my right to vote for the government I want for $1.75?
Surely voting for the party I like the most is the best way to show support!
No! A vote for a party that isn't in contention is the same as not voting. Apart from the $1.75, the party gets nothing. It doesn't get more prestige or respect. If however, a party were to be a power broker and to throw its support behind another party when it isn't one of the top two in a riding, it would gain power and respect. Other parties would vie for its second preferences. It can use this power to advance its causes. In this way a smaller party could even choose the government, just by throwing its support behind other parties in close ridings. We now have the irony that by not voting for the party you like the best, you can make that party powerful.
What about vote swapping (e.g. at Pair Vote)?
We do not advocate vote swapping, unless both of the people involved end up voting strategically. Otherwise one of the people involved will be wasting their vote. It is a myth that an extra vote for a party is useful to the party if it doesn't help them get a member of parliament (all it results in is $1.75 for the party being voted for, and glee for the party that wins by vote splitting).
Doesn't this give too much power to polling companies?
Probably. That is why this is not the preferred system, but it seems like the best we can do with the current electoral system. A preferential voting system would do the strategizing for us, and would be much fairer.
Remember that opinion polls and elections are not the same thing. An election is not an opinion poll. An election is a mechanism for choosing a government. Let's leave opinion polling to the the polling companies, and use elections as ways to choose governments. Once people stop using elections for expressing opinions, people will stop using elections for measuring opinions. The we will all be better off.