Plebiscite results and Vote YES Yukon in the Yukon News
The plebiscite results and Vote YES Yukon were covered in yesterday’s Yukon News. You can read the full article here.
From the article:
The Yukon electorate voted in favour of changing the electoral system from first past the post to ranked vote while also voting in a majority government for the Yukon Party, which encouraged party members to mark their ballots against ranked vote.
Blue, orange and red signs representing the three territorial political parties as well as black-and-white Vote Yes signs peppered the landscape throughout the election campaign.
Grassroots organizer Sean Boots, who helped organize the Vote Yes campaign, was shocked and pleased with the results of the Yukon’s plebiscite vote on electoral reform: More than 56 per cent of electors voted “yes” in favour of changing the electoral system from the status quo (first past the post) to a ranked-voting system.
“Such a strong result was like, way, way, way cooler than we expected going in,” he said.
Boots organized the Vote Yes campaign in favour of moving to a ranked-voting system, which gives voters the option to rank their candidates in order of preference. The current system involves voters choosing one candidate for MLA, and the candidate with the most votes wins. Ranked vote requires a majority of 50 per cent plus one in order for a candidate to be elected.
“It’s a neat indication that Yukoners care about politics and how to make it better, and are paying more attention to it than I think people might have expected,” he said.
“It’s a really neat testament to the work of the citizens’ assembly looking at good options for electoral reform for the Yukon, and also a real credit to the work of people like Floyd McCormick, a former clerk of the Yukon legislature.”