Good morning and welcome to General Election Day 2014. Many South Bayviewites will have already voted in advance polls but for those who have not it ought to be solemn duty to get to the polling station in one’s electoral subdivision and vote. Lawn signs in Ward 22 (Josh Matlow) Ward 25 (Jaye Robinson) Ward 26 (John Parker) and Ward 27 (Kristyn Wong-Tam) have shown pretty solid support for John Tory. Ms Wong Tam is a Chow supporter however and no doubt the former NDP member of Parliament will do well in that ward’s south end. Today on Twitter and elsewhere Mr. Tory has published his #57 graphic, reminding voters that he is the 57th name on the billboard-like ballots. At City Hall, the MyVote website has delivered useful information. Still, the Toronto electoral system seems clanky as an old streetcar. The National Post this morning laments that we do not yet have Internet voting. It might be nice but far more essential to simple democracy is the reform known as ranked voting. In so many ridings the numbers of candidates deeply distorts the wishes of the community. In Ward 27 (Toronto-Centre) and many others it is quite common for the “winner” to emerge with a plurality of less than 30 percent of the ballots. This is entirely unsatisfactory. It is one of the things the City should change for the next election. In Ward 26 (Leaside and East York) voters may expect a close fight and maybe a later night. John Parker will it duke it out with Jon-Burnside, the man who almost won the last time.
