Get ready for ranked ballots.

Despite opposition from bureaucrats, city council’s majority — led by first-term politicians — voted Monday to make London the first Canadian city to ditch the traditional first-past-the-post voting system, for the 2018 civic election.

The unprecedented electoral reform, made within hours of a provincial deadline, will introduce a more complex ballot allowing voters to rank multiple candidates in order of preference.

“We can have confidence that the voters will understand this and it’s really not that complicated,” Coun. Maureen Cassidy said.

Voter confusion, however, isn’t the only concern. The reliability of vote-counting technology and the cost — it could add as much as $500,000 to the 2018 election’s $1.9-million budget — also were raised in the debate.

City staff recommended against making the change for the 2018 election. And in a telling split, all three ward councillors who aren’t in their rookie term — Paul Hubert, Harold Usher and Bill Armstrong — expressed opposition. All three voted against rank balloting in a final formal vote.

While London is introducing an electoral system that has vocal supporters, it has been anything but a hot-button issue among local citizens.

“At some point, somebody has to be first” to test the system, Coun. Jesse Helmer said.

But is it better?

Hubert, the deputy mayor, described the potential benefits of ranked ballots — curbing negative campaigning and encouraging women candidates, for example — as more hopeful than factual. “They’re statements of . . . something we’d like to see going forward,” he said. “But I’m not sure we see the evidence in the data I’ve (seen).”

City hall’s top bureaucrat, Martin Hayward, told council the cost of the 2018 election could inflate by upwards of half a million dollars.

Armstrong questioned the wisdom of moving ahead without a clear price tag.

Notably, Coun. Jared Zaifman said his 2014 election win, with 39 per cent of the Ward 14 vote, “isn’t a significant-enough mandate.”

Boosters claim ranked ballots ensure the winner gets at least 50 per cent — though critics say that’s not guaranteed.

A group in favour of ranked ballots, Unlock Democracy Canada, called London the “No. 1 leader of democratic renewal in Canada” after the decision.

pmaloney@postmedia.com

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RANKED-BALLOT VOTING

To win, a candidate must get more than 50 per cent of the votes cast.

Voters can rank candidates on the ballot in order of preference (1st, 2nd, 3rd).

First-choice votes are counted.

If no candidate gets more than 50 per cent, candidate with fewest votes is eliminated and his/her votes redistributed to the remaining candidates on the ballot, according to the next-highest choice on those ballots.

HOW THEY VOTED:

Approved by London city council in a 9-5 vote Monday:

For: Michael van Holst, Jesse Helmer, Maureen Cassidy, Josh Morgan, Virginia Ridley, Stephen Turner, Tanya Park, Jared Zaifman, Mayor Matt Brown

Against: Bill Armstrong, Phil Squire, Paul Hubert, Anna Hopkins, Harold Usher

Absent: Mo Salih

City hall news release

LONDON’S VOTERS WILL SELECT THE 2018 CITY COUNCIL USING THE RANKED BALLOT VOTING SYSTEM

The 2018 London municipal election will be conducted using the ranked ballot voting system.

Tonight at a Special Meeting of City Council a by-law was enacted to use the ranked ballot method of voting insteadof the traditional first past the post method for Municipal Council. London could become the first Canadian municipality where voters use this system to elect their Municipal Council. To date this has not been done in Canada.

Using the ranked ballot voting system, voters rank the candidates in order of preference on the ballot: first, second, third. All votes are counted, and if one candidate does not have at least 50 per cent plus 1 of the votes, the candidate with the fewest number of votes is eliminated and the ballots are counted again, this time using the next candidate choice from ballots where the first choice candidate was eliminated. The process is repeated until a winning candidate is determined.

Under the traditional first past the post system, voters in London selected just one candidate for councillor and one for mayor, and the candidate with the highest number of votes won.

Council needed to approve the ranked ballot voting by-law by May 1st, according to the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, for it to apply to the 2018 municipal election. All members of Council, the Mayor and City Councillors, must be selected using this method. School board trustees will continue to be voted for using the first past the post system.

Moving to a ranked ballot voting system will increase the cost of administering the election by an estimated $322,500. An extensive voter outreach and education campaign will need take place to ensure that messaging on voting and tallying results in a ranked ballot election is as clear as possible for the voters and the candidates. More staff training will be required, additional staff will be needed at polling stations, more ballots will be necessary and changes to the vote counting software will also be required.

The next municipal election will be held on October 22nd, 2018.