this post was submitted on 21 Apr 2025
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Fairvote Canada

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The unofficial non-partisan Lemmy movement to bring proportional representation to all levels of government in Canada.

🗳️Voters deserve more choice and accountability from all politicians.

Le mouvement non officiel et non partisan de Lemmy visant à introduire la représentation proportionnelle à tous les niveaux de gouvernement au Canada.

🗳️Les électeurs méritent davantage de choix et de responsabilité de la part de tous les politiciens.

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Is Fairvote Canada only about PR? (question about modern urns and lowering voting age) (self.fairvote)
submitted 1 week ago by Nils to c/fairvote
12 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

There was an interesting thing during voting, someone noticed their ballot stuck on the urn slit, and asked for help.

They brought this “official” ballot pusher, it was like a long ruler they used to unclog the box. It got me thinking on how archaic is this method, and on the many ways that this can go wrong.

I found that Canada did some study on internet voting, but things are very slow. https://www.canada.ca/en/democratic-institutions/services/reports/online-voting-path-forward-federal-elections.html

News about voting technologies always bring up Estonia as a modern voting system. But it seems that other countries have been successful with electronic or internet voting for around 20 years too.

Another thing I saw is that some of those countries have the voting age down to 16 years. That makes sense to me, they have to live with those decisions longer than I. They can drive and join the army (with parents consent), voting should be added to their rights.

I could not find any organization in Canada taking care of those. And from what I read in the FairVote Canada website, it seems to cover only PR.

I ask it here because I am not sure where to ask, since those seem to make elections "fairer".

tl;dr;

Does Fairvote Canada only covers PR? Do they have any sister organization that would cover:

  • Electronic/internet voting?
  • lowering the voting age?

Thank you in advance.

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[–] AlolanVulpix 4 points 1 week ago

This isn't about "laziness" at all - it's about structural barriers to voting that disproportionately affect certain demographics.

Research consistently shows that convenience voting methods like mail ballots and early voting help increase participation among:

  • People working multiple jobs or irregular hours
  • Those with caregiving responsibilities
  • People with mobility issues or disabilities
  • Residents in areas with fewer polling stations (often in lower-income communities)
  • Younger voters with less established voting habits

These demographics often (but not always) lean left, but that's correlation, not causation. The key point is that when we remove structural barriers to voting, participation tends to increase across diverse groups.

What's especially interesting is that under proportional representation, voter turnout is consistently higher across all demographics. When people know their vote will actually help elect someone who represents their values, they're more motivated to participate, regardless of party preference.

The real issue isn't about left vs. right, but ensuring our democratic systems provide equal accessibility for all eligible voters while maintaining security and integrity. With PR electoral systems, these concerns get addressed together - higher participation AND every vote counting toward representation.