Voters will choose from record-setting 48 names in Winnipeg South Centre federal byelection ballot

More names are on the ballot for the Winnipeg South Centre byelection next week than for any federal election in Canada's history.

A record-setting 48 individuals are running for office — 42 of whom are part of a co-ordinated effort from the Longest Ballot Committee to protest the first-past-the-post voting system.

The federal Liberals abandoned their 2015 election pledge to reform the electoral system, and the Longest Ballot Committee doesn't want the government to forget about that promise.

"We mobilized candidates from across the country, from Grande Prairie to Rimouski, Pickle Lake to Surrey, the youngest 18 and the oldest 70, to stand in a single riding," the group said in a recent news release.

"Some call the longest ballot frivolous, inappropriate, or just ballot clutter. We must disagree. It takes courage to stand for election and at this time more than ever it is critically important that the demands for meaningful democratic reform be answered."

The vast majority of the Winnipeg South Centre hopefuls live outside the city, but not all.

Christopher Clacio, who campaigned for Winnipeg mayor in 2022 as an average citizen advocating for more engagement in the democratic process, said his views dovetail nicely with the Longest Ballot group. They approached him about running in the byelection, he said.

Clacio said a new voting system could encourage more participation in democracy.

Need for more candidates: Clacio

"I think the data shows that there is a disengaged audience and if you really want to change the dynamic in the way we run politics, you need a diverse set of candidates to run," said Clacio, who received the fewest votes among the 11 mayoral candidates in last October's civic election.

The current system, in which the person with the most votes wins the seat, can distort voter preferences, as candidates can win the election despite getting fewer than half of the votes.

The Longest Ballot group would like some form of electoral reform, such as proportional representation, which supporters say would reduce the practice of strategic voting and more accurately reflect voters' views.

All of the Longest Ballot candidates are running as independents, except for Sébastien CoRhino, the leader of the Rhinoceros Party. He also goes by the name of Sébastien Corriveau.

The actual process of getting 48 names on the ballot forced an amendment to the Canada Elections Act so all names could fit on the paper itself, which will be 50.7 centimetres long and 30.5 centimetres wide.

Elections Canada said it has trained poll workers on a new method for folding the ballots to maintain their secrecy. The federal agency is also expecting it'll take longer to count the ballots on election day.

Clacio acknowledged people may see the long list of candidates as a distraction. 

"I really understand the criticism that this is a headache for having so many names on the ballot, but it's so crucial that citizens are engaged in the civic process and political process at the end of the day."

Ellen Karr was among the more than 9,100 voters in Winnipeg South Centre who cast their ballots during the advance voting period.

She found the lengthy ballot so annoying, she wrote a letter to the editor published in the Winnipeg Free Press, alleging the group is making a circus out of the election.

Karr said in an interview there are other ways for individuals to make their case for electoral reform. She pointed out the group doesn't appear to be putting forward a detailed proposal.

"I take voting and elections very seriously," she said.

"I know that it's not perfect and I know that there could be improvements in some ways or certainly in some peoples' minds. But it's our right and our responsibility to cast our vote and I really don't like people using it to make a statement for their own belief."

This is the collective's third effort to flood a federal ballot with candidates. It started in 2021 with 21 candidates running in the Winnipeg riding of Saint Boniface-Saint Vital. The group later got a then-record 40 candidates late last year for a byelection in the Mississauga-Lakeshore electoral district in Ontario.

In Winnipeg South Centre, Kieran Szuchewycz is listed as the official agent for 42 of the 48 candidates. Szuchewycz, who lives in Winnipeg, declined an interview, but confirmed he was required to create separate bank accounts for all 42 candidates. Legislation requires an official agent open a bank account for the purposes of a federal campaign.

The federal Liberals said in 2017 they wouldn't follow through on a pledge for electoral reform because no clear choice emerged for an alternative system. The party hasn't entertained those discussions in following years. 

The byelection for Winnipeg South Centre became necessary following the death of Liberal MP Jim Carr last December.

His son, Ben Carr, is running for the Liberals in the riding's byelection. Damir Stipanovic, an air traffic controller and member of the Royal Canadian Air Force Reserve, is running for the Conservatives; clinical psychologist Julia Riddell is running again for the NDP; educator Doug Hemmerling is running for the Green Party; Tylor Baer is running for the People's Party of Canada; and Tait Palsson, who is not connected to the longest ballot initiative, is running as an independent.

The riding has reliably belonged to the Liberals since the 1990s, except for Conservative Joyce Bateman holding the seat from 2011 to 2015.

Voting day is on June 19.