Revolutionary experiment with Ontario ranked ballot voting could give voters more choice

Ontario’s municipal affairs minister is “really disappointed” Toronto councillors backed away from ranked ballots and hopes voters will convince them to embrace the new election system. Ted McMeekin made the comments Monday while revealing proposed municipal election changes that would give Ontario towns and cities, in a first for Canada, the option of using ranked ballots…

In Toronto’s last vote for mayor, top candidate Olivia Chow rightly sensed that a significant percentage of her supporters felt compelled to vote for someone else — not because they opposed Chow’s candidacy, but because they feared what one of her opponents stood for. Choose hope, not fear, Chow reasoned with them. In vain. As it…