Ranked Ballot strongly preferred to FPTP in Toronto

Ranked Ballot strongly preferred to FPTP in Toronto

Ranked ballot draws higher approval as well

TORONTO April 13^th, 2016 - In a random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 858 Toronto voters, the ranked ballot electoral system is strongly preferred to the current first past the post system when the two are directly compared (46% to 29%). Those who prefer the ranked ballot are especially likely to be the youngest (50%), males (49%), the wealthy ($80K to $100K - 59%), York residents (caution: small base - 66%) and those who voted Olivia Chow last time (56%).

Those who prefer the first past the post system include mid income groups ($60K to $80K - 36%), in Scarborough (32%) and among Ford and Tory voters (33% each), but not Chow voters (20%).

These findings are comparable to those noted in November, 2014, when we last polled this issue in Toronto (Approve First Past The Post - 45%, approve of Ranked Ballot - 64%).

Higher approval for Ranked ballot than First Past The Post

Two thirds of voters approve of the ranked ballot, when it is briefly described to them (63%), where just one quarter disapprove (26%). Fewer approve of First Past The Post, however (43%) and the same proportion disapproves (44%).

“It is clear the voting public has no difficulty understanding or, indeed, preferring the ranked ballot to first past the post. Those municipal politicians who don’t favour the ranked ballot because of its complexity, may just find it too complex to get re-elected under a new system," said Forum Research President, Dr. Lorne Bozinoff.

Lorne Bozinoff, Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.