Canadian Electoral System Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Canadian Electoral System - Term Paper Example Even then, they were expected to have certain qualifications. Elections, back then, were held at different times of the year. Unlike now, secret ballot was not a system that was used by the Canadians. However, as times moved on, the right for every adult man and woman to vote was given. As this happened, the people became less tolerant of the previous system. They advocated for reforms in the electoral system. This is so that the process of voting in political institutions in the land could be free, and fair. These reforms became paramount so that the system could find support from the public, thus acquiring legitimacy. This paper will review some of the ways in which the electoral system in Canada operates, and the nature of their system. The extraordinary complexity of the electoral system requires that it should be fine- tuned to suit the immediate environment at all times. Canada’s federal nature shows of the country’s electoral law as much as it does the political life that exists in the country (Dyck 2011, 45).2 This is so that every individual will get to understand their fundamental right to vote, and elect into office their preferred choice of authority. The different systems present in Canada allow the people to vote in candidates in their own provinces. However, for the federal parliament, there exists only one electoral system. This ensures that there is uniformity during the general election process. The Canada Elections Act contains all the election laws that are present in Canada. The publishing of such information ensures that everyone gets to understand the laws that govern elections. The consequences of committing an election offense can also be found there. There are other documents that have this kind of information displayed to the people (Farrell 2006, 62).3 These include; Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, the Criminal Code, the Income Tax Act among others. Although laws in Canada continue to be passed by politicians, th e electoral system is governed by a neutral party. It consists of an unbiased, independent group of individuals. This is the most recent development that the Canadian electoral system has undergone since the inception of law. As adult men and women were allowed to vote, it became imperative that the organizational procedure be removed from political control. The neutral party was not expected to be close to the government (Farrell 2006, 67).4 These were the expectations of the public with the introduction of neutral parties to run the organizational procedures. Laws must keep on changing and evolving to accommodate the current trends that need to be met. Also, the public should be able to see the changes, and the positive effect they may have on them. In 1920, the Dominion Elections Act, advocated for the creation of a position in the election system. This position was for the Chief Electoral Officer. The position entailed the party’s involvement to be the main supervisor of the elections. Also, they were supposed to map out the general direction of the elections (Farrell 2006, 73).5 The office, which is also known as Elections Canada, was mandated to enforce fairness and impartiality when it came to the elections. In Canada, the general elections for federal government are held after four years. However, in the case where there is a minority government, the elections can be called at any time. A minority governmen