Editor:
Canadians should be worried about recent revelations that companies like Cambridge Analytica can use psychological profiling to target and influence voters in elections. Not to mention the use of social media with its bots, trolls, and misinformation.
Even slight changes in voting patterns in swing ridings can make a huge difference to election outcomes, especially with our current first past the post (FPTP) voting system.
The 2011 federal election gave the Harper Conservatives a majority by an increase of just over two per cent of the vote. The Ontario Liberals also gained a solid majority with only about a one per cent increase in the vote.
In contrast to the FPTP outcome, in a proportional system a one per cent increase in a party’s share of vote would give that party a one per cent increase in its share of seats.
The fact that key segments of the population could easily be manipulated by social media profiling to possibly result in a marginal but impactful outcome is truly concerning.
In a FPTP “winner takes all” system, our governments can change on a dime.
Here in B.C. we have the opportunity to change this, but we have to do our homework and get the facts before the November referendum. The “No” side already has its guns out.
Bette Chadwick, Sechelt
