It's election day in Ontario, and as usual there's discussion of strategic voting. I wrote a short article about this controversial tactic in the new issue of @thegrindto.bsky.social. Gunna summarize it in this thread. 🧵
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Strategic voting essentially means voting to locally defeat the party you really don’t like, even if it means not voting for your first choice. Sometimes it can also mean voting for your first choice.
Take 2015. There was a big push for people to strategically vote to defeat Stephen Harper’s Conservatives. NDP/Liberal/Green/Bloc candidates who seemed to have the best chance were identified in specific ridings. Often though...
Critics of strategic voting say:
- vote counts don’t show actual support levels
- smaller parties lose votes
- it only works if people really know their local race
- it arguably doesn't have a track record of success (see article)
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In 2015, the NDP was looking like it might win federally then had some flubs and the idea of the Liberals being "the strategic vote" took hold.
- vote counts don’t show actual support levels
- smaller parties lose votes
- it only works if people really know their local race
- it arguably doesn't have a track record of success (see article)