At our Saskatoon Pride booth, we drew inspiration from a Fair Vote Canada session that used Lego to illustrate the math behind first-past-the-post (FPTP) and proportional representation (PR). The speaker's dramatic gesture of sweeping wasted votes into a garbage can had a profound impact on me. Could I replicate this visceral experience for voters? Absolutely!
I prepared two garbage containers labeled “Winners” and
“Wasted” and brought my Tile Rummy game. We asked visitors, “Did the candidate
you voted for in the last provincial or federal election win?” (Emphasizing
that we were not interested in the candidate or the party.) Those who answered
“Yes, my candidate won,” picked a black tile and tossed it into the Winners
bucket. Those who answered “No,” picked a colored tile and tossed it into the
Wasted bucket. Many of the “No” respondents shared my sense of the unfairness
of wasted votes.
Next, we compared the number of tiles in each bucket. This
comparison often led to a “Really?” moment for both “No” and “Yes” voters. Even
though we clarified that our sample at Pride was not representative of the
general electorate, many were surprised by the outcome. If our tiles
represented an election, 10 voters would have picked the winner, while 79 votes
would have been wasted.
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| FPTP Wasted Votes 79 to Winner Votes 10 |
A big thanks to volunteers Lynn and Sherry for personing our booth. We had lively conversations throughout the day with people who asked questions and people who responded to our questions. When things finally quieted down, I thought I could relax and have supper, but I was delighted to put my food aside as more questions came in.
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| Fair Vote Canada Saskatchewan Chapter at Saskatoon Pride |
I’m pleased to report that more people are becoming aware of electoral reform and proportional representation. Let’s celebrate our progress!
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