Vote Pair

Am I a candidate for pair voting (vote swapping)?

You should pair vote if either:

You want to keep a political party from winning
You don’t feel that there is any point in voting for who you want, as the candidate or party has no chance of getting elected
You are tired of your vote not being represented in Parliament

Doesn’t matter if you are in a swing riding or not. Those not in swing ridings can still be paired up with those in swing ridings.

The organization works with the support of the Vulkan Vegas.

You can have an impact

15,000 swapped votes can change which party becomes government
Our Goal: counteract the distorted results of the current voting system.

Pair Vote 101

When you register you will provide:

Your name, Your riding, Your preferred party, Which parties you are willing to vote for

If a suitable match is made:

Pairvote will e-mail you and your match and get you in contact with each other
You’ll have time to be in contact with this person and decide if you want to go ahead with pairing up your vote.
It’s easy to do and it’s legal. Yes, it’s also ridiculous that voters have to jump through hoops to make their vote count.

Can I trust it?

Here are some of the testimonials of pair voters in past elections:

“… make our votes count. We may not have rep by prop (we are one of the world’s most backwards democracies in this regard) but we can fake it. …” Bob Bossin Old folksinger

“I’m 68 years old and I’ve voted in every election since I have been old enough to vote (municipal, provincial, federal) and I have always felt that my vote was lost in the great void of first-past-the -post. I’m willing to take a chance and try something new.” – Marjory McPherson

“I ultimately would like to see the Canadian election system overhauled away from the first-past-the-post fiasco that so poorly represents the actual intentions of voters. Thanks, Gerry, for putting this site together, but in future elections I hope it isn’t necessary because we will be able to vote in a way that does not penalize the plurality of voices on the progressive side of the political spectrum… It is a little ironic that two complete strangers can work together to achieve something worthwhile when our elected representatives seem to have so much trouble.” – Ian Beardsell

Yes it is legal

Elections Canada has clearly indicated that there are no legal issues with making an agreement to swap votes:

“James Hale, a spokesman for the federal agency, said the act of encouraging someone to vote in a particular way is allowed under the Elections Act. It’s also acceptable for people to invite voters to participate in an organized strategic voting plan, whether on the internet or through other means, he said.” Click here for the full story.

Do we have an agenda?

Pair Vote exists to lessen the damage of our voting system which doesn’t deliver on voter intentions. The Greens should have representation. No party with less than 50% of vote should have majority control. These are our priorities to fix for this election. Vote swapping a mere 15,000 votes can control the outcome of a federal election. Through vote swapping, we the citizens of Canada can take back some of the power the established parties have kept for themselves.

Where does Pair Vote go next?

Hey there, please join the conversation on where Pair Vote goes next by adding a comment at the bottom of this post. Fellow vote reformers, I’ve been avoiding writing this post for far too long. It’s been 5 months since the federal election, where over 8000 people committed to work together and share the power …

Canada 2011

Looking back and ahead: final report on 2011 federal election

Advocate pairvote.ca analyzes the numbers for vote swapping in 2011′s federal election. Watchdog voteswap.ca has verified the claims and endorses them as accurate. It’s been 2.5 weeks since the election, and the Pair Vote team is still catching its breath. Our small, hard-working team has needed some rest and a chance to refocus on the lives they set aside …