Vote YES Yukon
On November 3rd, say YES to ranked voting.
It’s simple. It makes more voices count.
What’s happening?
Yukoners will be asked whether to switch to ranked voting or to keep first‑past‑the‑post on a territorial plebiscite, which will take place along with the next Yukon territorial election on November 3rd, 2025. Ranked voting lets you mark candidates 1, 2, 3. It reflects more voices and reduces wasted votes.
If you want ranked voting, vote yes! If you want to stick with first-past-the-post, vote no.
You can find out more on Elections Yukon’s plebiscite page, or in their plebiscite explainer video.
Why ranked vote?
Lead the way in Canada
Yukon can be the first to replace first‑past‑the‑post and show that reform is possible.
Better outcomes
Ranked voting encourages broader support and more sincere voting. Fewer “wasted votes.”
Right fit for Yukon
Close local races stay local and accountable while reflecting more voters’ preferences.
Why vote yes?
Show Canada that electoral reform is possible
The Yukon is an awesome role model for so many things. People across Canada have suggested replacing first-past-the-post for years, and no other province or territory has been able to make it happen. We could be the first, and help improve politics across the country.
Create better political outcomes
The Yukon Citizens’ Assembly on electoral reform chose ranked vote because it makes more votes matter than first-past-the-post. Ranked vote allows “voters to vote for who they truly want, and it opens the door to smaller parties and independent candidates getting voted in”.
If you’re like many voters, you might have felt that you’ve needed to vote strategically over the years, even for parties that you’re not that excited about. Ranked vote means that you could vote for the candidates you genuinely care about most.
As the Citizens’ Assembly report pointed out, “with Ranked Vote, voters can honestly rank their choices without feeling their vote is wasted”. That’s pretty awesome!
Political parties think it’s a good idea, even if they won’t admit it
Canadian political parties at both the federal and provincial levels already use ranked vote to choose their party leadership candidates.
Ranked voting helps choose representatives that more supporters can get behind, and ultimately helps the party leadership better reflect their membership.
Choose a great option for Yukon
The Yukon is a small territory and elections tend to be pretty tight (remember when there was an exact tie?). Ranked vote keeps the local accountability and representation we have right now, while better reflecting people’s views without anyone feeling like their vote is wasted.
Although there are lots of great electoral reform options out there (including proportional representation, which is excellent), many of these work best on a country-sized scale rather than a population of 48,000 people.
Everyday Yukoners from across the territory who were part of the Citizens’ Assembly – not politicians or government officials! – landed on ranked vote as the best option to improve our electoral system.
Be part of a really cool change
It would be awesome for Yukon to be the first Canadian territory or province to adopt an alternative to first-past-the-post. Past Canadian prime ministers wish they’d done it. We could actually be the first to pull it off, and you can be part of making it happen.
Why vote no?
Here’s some reasons to vote no (these are tongue-in-cheek!).
- You’re a current Yukon politician or political staffer, and you want to keep things the same so it’s easier to get re-elected.
- You think politics in Canada is working totally fine the way it is.
- Your favourite colour is beige.
- You don’t like nice things.
- You wish all these over-enthusiastic young kids would get off your dang lawn.
Support the Vote YES Yukon campaign
We’re not affiliated with any Yukon political party or organization, and we’re just doing this because we think electoral reform is really cool.
If you’d like to support the campaign, that would be awesome!
Print off a poster
Here are some posters that you can print off (on your work printer at a local office supply store), in 11x17 ledger/tabloid size. If you have ideas for other poster designs, give us a shout at voteyesyukon@gmail.com.
Donate to our lawn sign fund
Lawn signs are surprisingly expensive (like $10 apiece to print!). If you donate $10 or more before our planned print run, we’ll make sure to get you a lawn sign (we’re still figuring out shipping options for outside of Whitehorse).
You can send donations by e-transfer to voteyesyukon@gmail.com.
Some quick donation rules
- If you’ve donated and you’d like a lawn sign, fill out our lawn sign request form.
- We are not a political party and these donations are not tax deductible.
- For transparency, your name (as displayed in the e-transfer) will be added to a publicly-visible donation record spreadsheet.
- Please only send a donation if you are a Yukon resident, and please don’t donate more than $200.
- If for any reason we’re unsure about you or your donation, we’ll refund it back to you via e-transfer.
- If we have any donation funds left over after the election, we’ll donate them to the Samara Centre for Democracy, which does awesome work to promote civic engagement in Canada.
For public transparency, you can see who donated to Vote YES Yukon here, and you can see our expenses here. These are updated on a weekly basis.
Request a lawn sign
Always wanted an election sign but weren’t sure about any of the political parties? This is your chance to shine!
You can request a lawn sign without making a donation, with our lawn sign request form.
We’ll get these to people in first-come, first-serve order, using any additional donation funds we receive. (Not first-past-the-post order! That was a joke.) If you donate more than $10, you’re helping print lawn signs for other Vote YES Yukon supporters, which is super nice!
Getting the word out about the plebiscite is our biggest challenge. Lawn signs are an awesome way to let your neighbours know that voting YES is a great idea!
Tell your friends to vote YES
The best thing you can do is tell your friends, family, coworkers, neighbours, secret archrivals, annoying relatives, and anyone else you know to vote YES for electoral reform!
It’s a niche topic that almost no one cares about, but it’s such a great opportunity to make our territory better. Letting folks know that it’s happening, and that voting YES is a good idea, will make a big difference.
You can share our website link (voteyesyukon.ca) or Facebook page with anyone who is interested.
Who are you people?
We’re the non-partisan Vote YES Yukon campaign! We’re not affiliated with any Yukon political party or other organization.
Sean Boots
Public servant and technology writer
Whitehorse, Yukon
(other members coming soon – reach out if you’d like to get involved!)
Quotes
“You’re voting your heart, rather than just voting somebody out. We are recommending something that can actually change the political landscape.” Dave Mavi
“A ranked ballot would give candidates an incentive to moderate their platform and approach in order to appeal as the second-choice candidate to supporters of other candidates or parties. This could lead to less partisan politics.” Floyd McCormick
“At one time or another, we’ve all felt that election results didn’t reflect vote distribution or intent. This is our chance to fix one of our system’s biggest shortcomings by supporting the plebiscite and leading the rest of Canada. I hope that all parties will agree to be bound by the will of Yukoners if the plebiscite receives majority support.” Christopher Griffiths
“This is a recommendation that came from people just like themselves… Yukoners who learned from experts and developed shared values to make a decision that they hoped will benefit the territory.” Sara McPhee-Knowles
Have thoughts or quotes to share? Fill out our quotes and comments form!