This post is about a week and a half overdue. Given it’s the day before election day, it’s not really going to matter in about 24 hours.

Except to the poll workers in Carleton who have to count ballots with 91 names. It’s the result of the Longest Ballot Intiative, which is designed to make us all think about electoral reform.

No, this isn’t electoral interference. Electoral interference attempts to disrupt, prevent, or manipulate the electoral process to achieve specific ends. The Longest Ballot Initiative is really the opposite. It maxes out our democracy, by reminding people that 1) generally, the system limits the choices we have and 2) everyone has the right to get their name on the ballot.

Think about that. You can run. Yes, you. You don’t have to have a party affiliation. You do have to tick some boxes: pay a fee and gather signatures, so the process isn’t without its checks (to prevent outright fraud or massive disruption — i.e. actual electoral interference). Most of us don’t run because the effort seems futile, since in a first-past-the-post system, it’s the person who comes in first who gets the seat, and they can’t really do much in government unless they’re part of a group of like-credentialed (although not always like-minded) individuals also elected to seats. In other words, parties.

But the reminder is good. It’s necessary. It’s vital to always be thinking about how we run our democracy. It’s essential to think about how, when Mark wins his majority tomorrow, he’ll have almost unlimited power with very likely less than half the votes cast.

Unlimited power is actually how it works in a parliamentary system. We don’t have a system of checks and balances like the U.S. where, in theory, the president works independently of the Congress and judiciary, each of the three branches limiting the power of each other (I said in theory. That’s why when the president ignores judicial orders it becomes a constitutional crisis).

In a parliamentary system, when a party has a majority, by sheer math it has enough votes to pass whatever laws it wants. By virtue of party discipline, where the leader of the party has the power to kick any MP out of the party if they don’t vote with the crowd, it basically means a majority government can run unchecked.

(Almost. If their actions are against the Charter or any of our constitutional conventions, the courts of Canada can invalidate those laws.)

So the longest ballot is good to remind us that we make a deal when it comes to our democracy. We sort of get a say in who’s making the decisions, but the administrative rules don’t exactly adhere to our preferences — for the sake of efficiency. Because, of course, the risk with direct democracy — where everyone does get a say in every government action — is that nothing gets done, because it’s just impossible to reach common ground.

But it’s always good to be thinking about how we vote. Especially since, tomorrow, we’re giving virtually unchecked power to a man who’s never been elected to anything. Ever. I voted for him (or the candidate for his party running in my riding who, once they get elected to the House, will have no power whatsoever to take independent action). But I’m putting a lot of trust in that person, so it’s important to remember how our democracy works.

And that anyone can run. There are 90 people besides Pierre Poilievre running in Carleton. Because anyone can run.