2022 will be a critical year for democracy and for the ranked ballot movement. On June 2, Ontarians will head to the ballot box to elect their provincial representatives. And shortly after, on October 24, Torontonians will vote for a new Toronto City Council (without using a ranked ballot, unfortunately).
The outcomes of these elections in 2022 will determine whether Toronto can finally have a ranked ballot election in 2026 — and there’s no time to waste!
A quiet win, but a big one
This may come as a surprise, but did you know that one of the most consequential, and longest-standing obstacles blocking ranked ballot elections in Toronto has been technical, not political? It’s true: the City of Toronto doesn’t actually own voting equipment capable of running a ranked ballot election.
Thankfully, this is about to change. In November 2021, City Council agreed to purchase new voting machines that are specifically capable of running ranked ballot elections! RaBIT worked closely with our allies at Toronto City Hall to ensure this vote passed unanimously — one critical hurdle cleared on the path to ranked ballot elections!
You can read more about the new voting machines, including the City Clerk’s report and RaBIT’s letter of support, at City’s Council’s meeting information website (item EX27.13).
New RaBIT board members
A key focus for RaBIT in 2021 was building our capacity ahead of what we knew was going to be a busy 2022. So, we’re very pleased to announce that Rebecca Chesley, David Clarry, Shaigan Mujahid (Treasurer), Cam Miranda-Radbord, and Kevin Rupasinghe (Co-Chair) have recently joined RaBIT’s Board of Directors.
They are bringing fresh perspectives to complement our seasoned Board members Miriam Anderson, Jesse Barke, Miriam Fine (Secretary), Morty Fine, Carolyn Sealfon, Michael Stewart, and Michael Urban (Co-Chair).
We also bid a fond farewell to Rachel Beaupré who made valuable contributions to RaBIT and the board for many years!
Learn more about our Board of Directors here: https://www.rabit.ca/board
Roadmap to ranked ballots by 2026
In the past year, we have also been working hard on developing a new strategy to ensure that the 2026 Toronto City Council election is a ranked ballot election. As part of this, we are revamping the RaBIT website (we know it needs a little updating) and putting the finishing touches on a new roadmap to winning ranked ballots in time for the 2026 municipal election. We will have more to share in the next newsletter — stay tuned!
Want to help us?
2022 is a big year… we’ll need all the help we can get! Here are 3 ways you can help us in the quest for a ranked ballot election for Toronto City Council:
-
Sign & share RaBIT’s petition.
Sign our petition to bring back local choice to Ontario municipalities if you haven’t already, and be sure to ask family and friends who you think would support the cause to do so as well. Better municipal elected representation has never been more pressing.
-
Donate to the cause.
While RaBIT is entirely volunteer-run, there are some costs associated with our efforts at winning voting reform in Toronto. Please consider donating.
-
Volunteer your skills or time.
We’re building a database of provincial election candidates for all the major parties. We’re revamping our website to give us a strong foundation in 2022. And we’re refreshing our logo and brand.
We'll need help compiling provincial candidate data, and support from people with website design experience (especially with NationBuilder) or graphic design skills. If you want to help out, please get in touch at [email protected] and put “I want to volunteer” in the subject line.
As always, thank you for your continued support. Together, we are going to win back ranked ballots for Toronto!
Do you like this page?