Electoral System of Canada: Structure, Processes, and Challenges

This essay provides a detailed analysis of the electoral system of Canada, highlighting its democratic foundations and unique characteristics. It discusses the structure of the Canadian Parliament, including the roles of the Senate and the House of Commons, and explains the function of Elections Canada in conducting fair and regular elections. The essay also examines the 'first past the post' system, the timing of elections, and the eligibility criteria for candidates and voters. Furthermore, it addresses the historical trends in voter turnout and the recent adoption of modern technologies to enhance electoral participation. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of the electoral system in maintaining a representative democracy in Canada, offering students a comprehensive understanding; solved assignments and study resources are available on Desklib.

Running head: ELECTORAL SYSTEM OF CANADA
Electoral System of Canada
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1ELECTORAL SYSTEM OF CANADA
Introduction
As opined by Van Reybrouck1, one of the most important features of the democratic
system of government is the fact that the people are given the right to elect their own
representatives who would in turn govern and manage the different affairs of the nation or
state on behalf of them. Achen and Bartels2 are of the viewpoint that the different nations of
the world for the attainment of this goal take the help of the method of electoral system not
only for ensuring the fact that the people are being able to elect their representatives but also
to ensure that the elections are being conducted as per the laws or regulations of the nation.
More importantly, regular conduct of elections and the use of an effective electoral system is
one of the trademarks of the different nations of the world like India, USA, Canada, UK and
others3. In this regard, it needs to be said that the nation of Canada had evolved its own
unique electoral system which is a mix of traditional methods that had been used by the
nation over the years and the improvements brought on by technology like social media,
digitalisation and others4. The uniqueness of the electoral system of Canada lies in the fact
that it is not only an indicative of the democratic system of government that the nation has
but at the same time is in synchronicity with the changing needs of the Canadian citizens.
This essay will analyse the electoral system which is being used in Canada and its related
aspects.
1 Van Reybrouck, David. Against elections: The case for democracy. Random House, 2016.
2 Achen, Christopher H., and Larry M. Bartels. Democracy for realists: Why elections do not produce
responsive government. Vol. 4. Princeton University Press, 2017.
3 Stockemer, Daniel. "Electoral participation: how to measure voter turnout?." Social Indicators Research 133.3
(2017): 943-962.
4 Dawood, Yasmin. "The Process of Electoral Reform in Canada: Democratic and Constitutional
Constraints." Supreme Court Law Review, Forthcoming (2016).

2ELECTORAL SYSTEM OF CANADA
Canadian Democracy and Parliament
Canada in the recent times had emerged as one of the most important representative
democracies of the world. It is pertinent to note that the model of democracy which is being
followed by Canada is almost akin to the one that is being followed in the United Kingdom5.
More importantly, one of the most important features of the Canadian democracy is the fact
that the citizens of the nation are given the right to elect their representatives at each of the
three levels of the government, namely, federal, territorial or provincial and the municipal6.
Davidson et al.7 have articulated the viewpoint that the people have been given the right to
elect their representatives at each of the three levels of the government because of the fact
that the actions or the decisions taken by these representatives affect people from all walks of
life. More importantly, it is seen that the Canadian Parliament consists of two houses,
namely, the Upper House or the Senate and the Lower House or the “House of Commons”8.
In addition to these two, the nation also has a titular head akin to the Sovereign or the Crown
in the United Kingdom, namely, the Governor General9. In this regard, it needs to be said that
the members of the Upper House or the Senate are being elected by the Governor General on
the suggestion or the recommendation of the Prime Minister. On the other hand, the members
of the Lower House or the “House of Commons” are being selected by the citizens of the
nation through the general elections which are being conducted at regular intervals in the
5 Cross, William. "Party membership in Canada." Party members and activists. Routledge, 2015. 70-85.
6 Koop, Royce, and Campbell Sharman. "National party structure in parliamentary federations: subcontracting
electoral mobilisation in Canada and Australia." Commonwealth & Comparative Politics 53.2 (2015): 177-196.
7 Davidson, Adrienne, et al. "Advancing the study of political cleavages through experimentation: Revisiting
regionalism and redistributive preferences in Canada." Regional & Federal Studies 27.2 (2017): 103-125.
8 Godbout, Jean-François, and Bjørn Høyland. "Unity in diversity? The development of political parties in the
parliament of Canada, 1867–2011." British Journal of Political Science 47.3 (2017): 545-569.
9 Barnes, Andre, Dara Lithwick, and Erin Virgint. Electoral systems and electoral reform in Canada and
elsewhere: An overview. Library of Parliament= Bibliothèque du Parlement, 2016.

3ELECTORAL SYSTEM OF CANADA
nation10. It is precisely here that the role played by the electoral system of Canada becomes
important since it enables the citizens of the nation to cast their votes and thereby elect their
representatives to the ‘House of Commons’.
Electoral system of Canada
Elections in the nation of Canada are conducted as per the precepts of the “Canada
Elections Act” and regulatory body which is responsible for conducting elections in the
concerned nation is Elections Canada11. In this regard, it can be said that Elections Canada is
a “non-partisan agency” which is imbued with the responsibility of conducting elections at all
three levels of the government, namely, federal, provincial and the municipal12. In addition to
this, it is seen that the affairs of Elections Canada are being regulated by the ‘Chief Electoral
Officer’13. More importantly, as per the dictums of the “Electoral Boundaries Readjustment
Act” new commission are being set up every ten years so as to make necessary adjustments
or revisions to the boundaries of the different municipalities14.
First past the Post
Ferris, Winer and Grofman15 have articulated the viewpoint that one of the most
important aspects of the Canadian electoral systems is its usage of the system of “first past
10 White, Stephen E. "Canadian immigrants at the polls: the effects of socialisation in the country of origin and
resocialisation in Canada on electoral participation." Political Science 69.2 (2017): 101-121.
11 Elections.ca. "Elections Canada Online | The Electoral System Of Canada". 2019,
http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?dir=ces&document=part1&lang=e&section=res.
12 Thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. "Canadian Electoral Systems | The Canadian Encyclopedia". 2019,
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/electoral-systems.
13 Elections.ca. "Elections Canada Online | The Electoral System Of Canada". 2019,
http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?dir=ces&document=part1&lang=e&section=res.
14 Derriennic, Jean-Pierre. "A Better Electoral System for Canada: Moderate Proportional Representation With
Ranked Ballots." Canadian parliamentary review (2016): 27.
15 Ferris, J. Stephen, Stanley L. Winer, and Bernard Grofman. "The Duverger-Demsetz perspective on electoral
competitiveness and fragmentation: With application to the Canadian parliamentary system, 1867–2011." The
Political Economy of Social Choices. Springer, Cham, 2016. 93-122.

4ELECTORAL SYSTEM OF CANADA
the post”. For example, a candidate or representatives whose gets the maximum number of
votes in the election gets a seat in the House of Commons and represents the concerned riding
as the ‘Member of Parliament’. More importantly, the different ‘Members of Parliament’ are
being asked by the Governor General to form the government, which is usually the party with
the maximum number of votes and seats16. In addition to this, it is seen that the leader of the
party which had won the maximum number seats within the House of Commons is being
asked to become the Prime Minister of the nation. In addition to this, it is seen that the party
with the second largest number of seats is asked to become the Official Opposition within the
government. As opined by Pruysers and Cross17, the primary purpose of doing so is to ensure
that there a check to the power of the ruling party so as to ensure the misappropriation of
national or governmental power.
Timing of the elections
Marland, Giasson and Esselment18 have noted that until recently the Prime Minister of
Canada had the power to ask the Governor General of the concerned nation at any point of
time to call for an election. However, at the same it needs to be said that as per section 4 of
the ‘Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’, the Governor General is compelled to call
for an election if there had not been any election in the nation in the past five years19.
Furthermore, the ‘Conservative Parliament’ in the year 2007 passed an act which fixed the
dates of elections in the nation after every four years however at the same time it needs to be
said that the Governor General still holds to power to dissolve any government in case of
16 Lindquist, Evert A., and Chris Eichbaum. "Remaking Government in Canada: Dares, Resilience, and Civility
in Westminster Systems." Governance 29.4 (2016): 553-571.
17 Pruysers, Scott, and William Cross. "Candidate selection in Canada: Local autonomy, centralization, and
competing democratic norms." American Behavioral Scientist 60.7 (2016): 781-798.
18 Marland, Alex, Thierry Giasson, and Anna Lennox Esselment, eds. Permanent Campaigning in Canada. UBC
Press, 2017.
19 Barnes, Andre, Dara Lithwick, and Erin Virgint. Electoral systems and electoral reform in Canada and
elsewhere: An overview. Library of Parliament= Bibliothèque du Parlement, 2016.

5ELECTORAL SYSTEM OF CANADA
non-confidence20. This becomes apparent from the election which was conducted in 2008 as
per Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s request21.
Turnout of voters
The people in the nation of Canada until recently had shown a decline in interest
towards the different elections which have been conducted by the Elections Canada. This
clearly becomes apparent from the declining percentage of voters that the nation gets at every
election. As a matter of fact, whereas the voter turnout in the 1962 was more than 79% in the
year 2011 it was below 61.4% and is expected to decline even more22. This decline in the
number of voters that the nation had been getting over the years can be explained on the basis
of the fact that the nation of Canada over the years had not modified or improvised its
electoral process in any significant manner23. In this regard, it needs to be said that the nation
until recently had been following the same traditional methods in complete disregard of the
needs or the requirements of the voters and this in turn had contributed towards the steady
decline in the percentage of voters. However, in the recent times it is seen that the Elections
Canada had learnt from its past mistakes and is therefore taking the help of modern
technologies like internet, digitalisation and others for voting and also for the effective
conduct of elections24.
20 Godbout, Jean-François, and Bjørn Høyland. "Unity in diversity? The development of political parties in the
parliament of Canada, 1867–2011." British Journal of Political Science 47.3 (2017): 545-569.
21 Michael McGregor, R., Nicholas J. Caruana, and Laura B. Stephenson. "Negative partisanship in a multi-party
system: The case of Canada." Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties 25.3 (2015): 300-316.
22 Elections.ca. "Elections Canada Online | The Electoral System Of Canada". 2019,
http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?dir=ces&document=part1&lang=e&section=res.
23 Lindquist, Evert A., and Chris Eichbaum. "Remaking Government in Canada: Dares, Resilience, and Civility
in Westminster Systems." Governance 29.4 (2016): 553-571.
24 White, Stephen E. "Canadian immigrants at the polls: the effects of socialisation in the country of origin and
resocialisation in Canada on electoral participation." Political Science 69.2 (2017): 101-121.

6ELECTORAL SYSTEM OF CANADA
Eligibility of the candidates for getting candidature
The most important eligibility criteria that the individuals require to get candidature
for the elections in Canada is the requirement that they have to be a legal citizen of Canada25.
In addition to this, a background information check with no past criminal record is also
important to get candidature in the elections. More importantly, the candidates willing to
contest in the elections need to get affiliated with any of the 19 different parties which are in
the nation or compete as ‘independent’ candidates26.
Right to Vote
The women in Canada until the year 1918 were not allowed to cast their vote in the
election and only the men over the age of 21 years were allowed to do so27. However, post-
1918 the women were allowed to cast their votes although the minimum age limit of 21 years
was set for both men and women28. Presently, the national government had stated that all
citizens of the nation over the age of 18 years can cast their single vote by virtue of the
“Right to Vote” right which the national government offers to each and every citizen of the
concerned nation29. Achen and Bartels30 have articulated the viewpoint that the “Right to
Vote” can be seen as a self-expression of the democracy and this is one of the most important
25 Godbout, Jean-François, and Bjørn Høyland. "Unity in diversity? The development of political parties in the
parliament of Canada, 1867–2011." British Journal of Political Science 47.3 (2017): 545-569.
26 Koop, Royce, and Campbell Sharman. "National party structure in parliamentary federations: subcontracting
electoral mobilisation in Canada and Australia." Commonwealth & Comparative Politics 53.2 (2015): 177-196.
27 Stockemer, Daniel. "Electoral participation: how to measure voter turnout?." Social Indicators Research 133.3
(2017): 943-962.
28 Dawood, Yasmin. "The Process of Electoral Reform in Canada: Democratic and Constitutional
Constraints." Supreme Court Law Review, Forthcoming (2016).
29 Stockemer, Daniel. "Electoral participation: how to measure voter turnout?." Social Indicators Research 133.3
(2017): 943-962.
30 Achen, Christopher H., and Larry M. Bartels. Democracy for realists: Why elections do not produce
responsive government. Vol. 4. Princeton University Press, 2017.

7ELECTORAL SYSTEM OF CANADA
steps towards the attainment of the kind of government which would “for the people, by the
people and of the people”.
Information to voters and their accommodation
One of the most important responsibility of Elections Canada is to cascade the
required as well as relevant information to the voters and the other people of Canada related
to the elections31. It is commonly seen that the Elections Canada takes the help of different
kinds of press releases, news releases, newspaper articles, magazine article, Television
advertisements and others for cascading relevant information32. In this regard, it needs to be
said that Elections Canada is required to convey information regarding the manner in which
people can get themselves registered to vote, information about voting dates, polling booths,
election results and others33. In addition to these, the Elections Canada is also required to
ensure the safety as well as the security of the voters who go out to vote in the different
polling booths set up by them. Thus, the body is required to make various kinds of security
arrangements and also organise for advance polls for the people who could not vote on the
prescribed voting date.
Conclusion
To conclude, the opportunity to choose one’s own representative who would in turn
handle the different affairs of government is one of the most essential features of the political
ideology of democracy. In this regard, it needs to be said that this voting right of the people is
essential for the attainment of the stage wherein the government would ‘for the people, by the
31 Elections.ca. "Elections Canada Online | The Electoral System Of Canada". 2019,
http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?dir=ces&document=part1&lang=e&section=res.
32 Thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. "Canadian Electoral Systems | The Canadian Encyclopedia". 2019,
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/electoral-systems.
33 Derriennic, Jean-Pierre. "A Better Electoral System for Canada: Moderate Proportional Representation With
Ranked Ballots." Canadian parliamentary review (2016): 27.

8ELECTORAL SYSTEM OF CANADA
people and of the people”. This is perhaps one of the major reasons why almost all the
nations of the world offer the right “Right to Vote” and also conduct regular elections to
ensure that the government which is governing their affairs is in synchronicity with their
needs or requirements. These aspects of the political ideology of democracy and election
becomes apparent from the above analysis of the electoral system of Canada.

9ELECTORAL SYSTEM OF CANADA
References
Achen, Christopher H., and Larry M. Bartels. Democracy for realists: Why elections do not
produce responsive government. Vol. 4. Princeton University Press, 2017.
Barnes, Andre, Dara Lithwick, and Erin Virgint. Electoral systems and electoral reform in
Canada and elsewhere: An overview. Library of Parliament= Bibliothèque du
Parlement, 2016.
Cross, William. "Party membership in Canada." Party members and activists. Routledge,
2015. 70-85.
Davidson, Adrienne, et al. "Advancing the study of political cleavages through
experimentation: Revisiting regionalism and redistributive preferences in
Canada." Regional & Federal Studies 27.2 (2017): 103-125.
Dawood, Yasmin. "The Process of Electoral Reform in Canada: Democratic and
Constitutional Constraints." Supreme Court Law Review, Forthcoming (2016).
Derriennic, Jean-Pierre. "A Better Electoral System for Canada: Moderate Proportional
Representation With Ranked Ballots." Canadian parliamentary review (2016): 27.
Elections.ca. "Elections Canada Online | The Electoral System Of Canada". 2019,
http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?
dir=ces&document=part1&lang=e&section=res.
Ferris, J. Stephen, Stanley L. Winer, and Bernard Grofman. "The Duverger-Demsetz
perspective on electoral competitiveness and fragmentation: With application to the
Canadian parliamentary system, 1867–2011." The Political Economy of Social
Choices. Springer, Cham, 2016. 93-122.

10ELECTORAL SYSTEM OF CANADA
Godbout, Jean-François, and Bjørn Høyland. "Unity in diversity? The development of
political parties in the parliament of Canada, 1867–2011." British Journal of Political
Science 47.3 (2017): 545-569.
Koop, Royce, and Campbell Sharman. "National party structure in parliamentary federations:
subcontracting electoral mobilisation in Canada and Australia." Commonwealth &
Comparative Politics 53.2 (2015): 177-196.
Lindquist, Evert A., and Chris Eichbaum. "Remaking Government in Canada: Dares,
Resilience, and Civility in Westminster Systems." Governance 29.4 (2016): 553-571.
Marland, Alex, Thierry Giasson, and Anna Lennox Esselment, eds. Permanent Campaigning
in Canada. UBC Press, 2017.
Michael McGregor, R., Nicholas J. Caruana, and Laura B. Stephenson. "Negative
partisanship in a multi-party system: The case of Canada." Journal of Elections,
Public Opinion and Parties 25.3 (2015): 300-316.
Pruysers, Scott, and William Cross. "Candidate selection in Canada: Local autonomy,
centralization, and competing democratic norms." American Behavioral Scientist 60.7
(2016): 781-798.
Stockemer, Daniel. "Electoral participation: how to measure voter turnout?." Social
Indicators Research 133.3 (2017): 943-962.
Thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. "Canadian Electoral Systems | The Canadian
Encyclopedia". 2019, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/electoral-
systems.
Van Reybrouck, David. Against elections: The case for democracy. Random House, 2016.

11ELECTORAL SYSTEM OF CANADA
White, Stephen E. "Canadian immigrants at the polls: the effects of socialisation in the
country of origin and resocialisation in Canada on electoral participation." Political
Science 69.2 (2017): 101-121.