Tootfinder

The German state election yesterday is a perfect demonstration of why Proportional Representation (PR) is far superior for democracy than First Past the Post (FPTP).
TLDR: Thanks to Proportionality, the AfD only won a minority, not majority parliament because the state parliament always reflects the popular vote.
The picture shows the state of Saxony-Anhalt divided into its electoral districts. It is almost all blue because the AfD won the most votes in all but three districts but with 42% of the popular vote overall.
Had this been a province in Canada, it would have produced a legislature with just 3 opposition members, and all the rest government members. Delivering absolute majority power with no meaningful voice for any other party (likely also losing official party status and key funding for political activities) despite a significant share of the popular vote. This has happened in Canada many times, including in BC in 2001 when the NDP won just 2 seats with all 77 others going to the B.C. Liberals… it led to a referendum on PR that won over 60% of the vote but was never implemented.
Had this German state used FPTP they would have a gigantic majority of exclusively far right members and just 3 opposition.
Thanks to PR, their legislature will actually reflect the vote of the people.
42% AfD (39 seats)
17% CDU (15)
9% SPD (8)
8% GRN (8)
8% LNK (8)
5% BSW (5)
83 seats: 42 needed for majority.
AfD: 39
Other parties: 44
In B.C., one of the tropes the status quo campaigners constantly bring up is that PR somehow enables extreme parties more than FPTP and is thus dangerous. This has been proven false over and over including right now,
Here we are, with another example as this German state breathes a sigh of relief that PR saved them from a whollly undemocratic and extreme outcome.
Meanwhile, back in B.C., our own now far right BC Conservatives have successfully splintered the “big tent” remnants of the old slightly more centrist B.C. Liberals leading to a mish mash of independents and new parties in the B.C. Legislature that have not been elected by the people and are unable to really function as a proper opposition to the majority government. FPTP doing a great job! *sarc
Why doesn’t Canada have *any* proportional elections?
Inertia, greed, and power.
Germany 2026 state election: #democracy #fptp #pr #germany #canada #bcpoli

And just to underline the point of betrayal of democratic promises. Here is the seminal tweet from September 21, 2015 just before that year's Canadian Federal Election where the eventual winner, Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada, promises to abolish FPTP.
He did not.
(i love that X pulled up the current Liberal Party preview card, appropriately associating both the former and current Liberal party leaders with this betrayal. Democracy denied.)
#canpoli #cdnpoli
#democracy #fptp #pr #germany #canada #bcpoli