美国大选后看美加选举系统
US and Canadian election system: all you need to know
来源: Bob Mok
川普一路冲破重重阻力，最终击败民主党候选人希拉里当选美国第45任总统。但选出美国总统绝非易事。在川普大获全胜后，Bob Mok撰写系列文章解析了美国选举系统，并阐述了特鲁多总理所承诺的在加国推行的选举制度。
Defying all odds, Donald Trump has defeated Democratic candidate Clinton to become 45th president of United States. But choosing the American President is anything but easy. In the wake of Trump’s stunning victory, Bob Mok’s article series explain the American voting system, and shed light on the election system that PM Trudeau promised to use in Canada.
在最近一次加拿大联邦大选中，特鲁多曾承诺2015年大选将是最后一次采用“简单多数制”的联邦选举。要想兑现这一承诺，他必须在短短四年内选择并实施新的选举制度。由于加拿大选举局需要一定时间设置提议的新制度，确定和调整适应新制度的最后期限定在2017年1月。
During the last Canadian Federal election, Justin Trudeau promised that the 2015 election will be the last “First-past-the-post” federal election. To fulfill that promise, he will only have four years to select a new voting system and have it implemented. Since Elections Canada will need some time to set up the proposed system, the deadline to identify and adapt that new system is set for January of 2017.
但是该项改革计划从一开始就引发诸多争议。首先，最初在选举改革特别委员会中只有来自三个主要政党的成员是投票成员，并且其中是自由党占多数，而魁人政团和绿党的成员都是非投票成员。在边缘政党进行抗议后才做出改变，对委员会进行重组以确保自由党占少数。其次，自由党一直拒绝就其最终改革建议进行全民公投。在公众大声疾呼后，据说自由党政府现在准备发起邮件问卷调查，以了解公民对改革委员会所提议的不同建议的偏好和支持度。
There are a number of controversies for this project from the very start. First, the Special Committee on Electoral Reform was initially comprised of voting members from the three major political parties only with a Liberal Party majority. The Party Quebecois and the Green Party members were non-voting members. This was eventually changed after protests by the fringe parties and the committee was restructured to ensure a Liberal minority. Then, the Liberal Party steadfastly refused to put their final proposal up to the Canadians for a referendum. After much public outcry, it was rumored that they are now going to send out a mailing survey to gather preferences and support from citizens on the different proposals put forward by the committee.
我最近刚刚完成选举改革特别委员会发起的网上调查，并仔细研究了他们提出的不同选举制度改革建议。鉴于普通公民难以理解这些复杂的选举制度，我将尝试在本系列接下来的文章中对这些选举制度加以详述。
I have recently completed a survey on-line from the Special Committee on Electoral Reform and examined their different voting proposals. These are complicated voting systems not easily understood by the average citizen. I will attempt to elaborate on them in this series of upcoming articles.
许多加拿大人在11月份刚刚目睹了美国总统选举制度的运作，并因此感到困惑。所以容我跑一会儿题，先概述一下与加国选举国家领导人的联邦选举制度迥然不同的美国大选制度。
Many Canadians have just witnessed the American Presidential election system in action during November and they are confused by it. So, let me digress for a moment and first outline the American election system which is very different from our Canadian Federal elections for the country's leadership.
大多数美国选举都是采用“简单多数制”，也就是得票最多的候选人当选。目前美国的参议员和众议员选举都是采用这种选举制度。但是，在没有候选人能一举赢得多数（半数以上）选票时，一些州级政府职位可能会使用“两轮选举制”。但第二轮决赛只是首轮得票数最高的两名候选人进行厮杀，最终得票最高者胜出。由于这种选举制度必需确定第二次投票日期，并且选民也需要再次参加投票，因此其代价不菲。目前普遍使用的另一种替代选举制度是“排名投票制”，这也是特鲁多政府建议的选举制度之一，我将在后文对其进行详细阐述。
Most of the United States elections utilizes the “First-past-the-post” system where the highest polling candidate wins the election. This is the system used in the election of members for the Senate and House of Representatives. However, some other state offices may use the “two-round system” when no candidate receives a majority (50% plus one vote) at the polls. This is a runoff between just the two candidates with the most votes to determine a winner. This method is costly as a second voting date will have to be assigned and voters have to go to the polls a second time. An alternate system of “Ranked Balloting” is now commonly used. It is one of the election schemes proposed by the Trudeau government and I will elaborate on this later.
美国的总统和副总统是在（间接）的总统大选中配对选出。各州选民首先投票选出心仪的总统候选人。在一个州赢得最多选票的总统候选人即可获得该州所有选举人票（“胜者全得”选举制度）。
The United States President and Vice President are elected together as a team in an (indirect) Presidential Election. The voters in each state select from Presidential Candidates on a voting ballot. The Presidential candidate that wins the most votes in the state receives all its allotted number of electors (a "winner takes all" system).
每名当选的选举人可以投一张选举团票，总统候选人至少需要获得270张选举团票才能赢得大选。因此，在选举中有可能会出现候选人普选票落败，但却赢得多数选举人票的情况。比如在2000年，美国总统候选人布什虽然只获得47.9%普选票，不及其竞争对手戈尔的48.4%，但最终仍当选美国总统。
Each winning elector casts one Electoral College vote. The winner of the election is the candidate with at least 270 Electoral College votes. It is therefore possible to win the majority of electoral votes while losing the nationwide popular vote. For example, in 2000 Presidential candidate George W. Bush won with 47.9% of the popular votes to 48.4% for his rival Al Gore.
在2016年的美国总统大选中历史再次重演，候选人川普获得290张选举团票（普选票得票率47.01%），紧随其后的候选人希拉里获得228张选举团票（普选票得票率47.55%），尽管川普普选票落后（相差692,814票），但最终仍赢得此次大选。这在美国国内也再次激起要求改革大选制度以推行“简单多数制”的呼声。美国联邦奠基人设置现行选举团制度的目的是为了防止少数拥有大量人口的州份左右选举结果，给予人口稀少的州份更多影响力。这种选举制度在不远的将来不太可能改变。
History repeats itself again in the 2016 Presidential election, Candidate Trump received 290 Electoral College votes ( 47.01% of popular votes ) to 228 Electoral College votes ( 47.55% of popular votes ) for runner-up Hillary Clinton and won the Presidency with less popular votes ( a difference of 692,814 ). This brings up a demand for change in the voting system once more to bring it in line with a “First-past-the post” system. The United States confederation fathers devised the current Electoral College System with the intentions to prevent just a few states with large populations to determine the winner and to provide less populous states with more influence in the outcome. This election system is unlikely to change in the near future.
下一次，我们将详细论述选举改革特别委员会考虑拟议的各种加国联邦选举方式。
We will examine the various proposed Canadian Federal Election methods under considerations from the Special Committee for Electoral Reform next time.
Defying all odds, Donald Trump has defeated Democratic candidate Clinton to become 45th president of United States. But choosing the American President is anything but easy. In the wake of Trump’s stunning victory, Bob Mok’s article series explain the American voting system, and shed light on the election system that PM Trudeau promised to use in Canada.
在最近一次加拿大联邦大选中，特鲁多曾承诺2015年大选将是最后一次采用“简单多数制”的联邦选举。要想兑现这一承诺，他必须在短短四年内选择并实施新的选举制度。由于加拿大选举局需要一定时间设置提议的新制度，确定和调整适应新制度的最后期限定在2017年1月。
During the last Canadian Federal election, Justin Trudeau promised that the 2015 election will be the last “First-past-the-post” federal election. To fulfill that promise, he will only have four years to select a new voting system and have it implemented. Since Elections Canada will need some time to set up the proposed system, the deadline to identify and adapt that new system is set for January of 2017.
但是该项改革计划从一开始就引发诸多争议。首先，最初在选举改革特别委员会中只有来自三个主要政党的成员是投票成员，并且其中是自由党占多数，而魁人政团和绿党的成员都是非投票成员。在边缘政党进行抗议后才做出改变，对委员会进行重组以确保自由党占少数。其次，自由党一直拒绝就其最终改革建议进行全民公投。在公众大声疾呼后，据说自由党政府现在准备发起邮件问卷调查，以了解公民对改革委员会所提议的不同建议的偏好和支持度。
There are a number of controversies for this project from the very start. First, the Special Committee on Electoral Reform was initially comprised of voting members from the three major political parties only with a Liberal Party majority. The Party Quebecois and the Green Party members were non-voting members. This was eventually changed after protests by the fringe parties and the committee was restructured to ensure a Liberal minority. Then, the Liberal Party steadfastly refused to put their final proposal up to the Canadians for a referendum. After much public outcry, it was rumored that they are now going to send out a mailing survey to gather preferences and support from citizens on the different proposals put forward by the committee.
我最近刚刚完成选举改革特别委员会发起的网上调查，并仔细研究了他们提出的不同选举制度改革建议。鉴于普通公民难以理解这些复杂的选举制度，我将尝试在本系列接下来的文章中对这些选举制度加以详述。
I have recently completed a survey on-line from the Special Committee on Electoral Reform and examined their different voting proposals. These are complicated voting systems not easily understood by the average citizen. I will attempt to elaborate on them in this series of upcoming articles.
许多加拿大人在11月份刚刚目睹了美国总统选举制度的运作，并因此感到困惑。所以容我跑一会儿题，先概述一下与加国选举国家领导人的联邦选举制度迥然不同的美国大选制度。
Many Canadians have just witnessed the American Presidential election system in action during November and they are confused by it. So, let me digress for a moment and first outline the American election system which is very different from our Canadian Federal elections for the country's leadership.
大多数美国选举都是采用“简单多数制”，也就是得票最多的候选人当选。目前美国的参议员和众议员选举都是采用这种选举制度。但是，在没有候选人能一举赢得多数（半数以上）选票时，一些州级政府职位可能会使用“两轮选举制”。但第二轮决赛只是首轮得票数最高的两名候选人进行厮杀，最终得票最高者胜出。由于这种选举制度必需确定第二次投票日期，并且选民也需要再次参加投票，因此其代价不菲。目前普遍使用的另一种替代选举制度是“排名投票制”，这也是特鲁多政府建议的选举制度之一，我将在后文对其进行详细阐述。
Most of the United States elections utilizes the “First-past-the-post” system where the highest polling candidate wins the election. This is the system used in the election of members for the Senate and House of Representatives. However, some other state offices may use the “two-round system” when no candidate receives a majority (50% plus one vote) at the polls. This is a runoff between just the two candidates with the most votes to determine a winner. This method is costly as a second voting date will have to be assigned and voters have to go to the polls a second time. An alternate system of “Ranked Balloting” is now commonly used. It is one of the election schemes proposed by the Trudeau government and I will elaborate on this later.
美国的总统和副总统是在（间接）的总统大选中配对选出。各州选民首先投票选出心仪的总统候选人。在一个州赢得最多选票的总统候选人即可获得该州所有选举人票（“胜者全得”选举制度）。
The United States President and Vice President are elected together as a team in an (indirect) Presidential Election. The voters in each state select from Presidential Candidates on a voting ballot. The Presidential candidate that wins the most votes in the state receives all its allotted number of electors (a "winner takes all" system).
每名当选的选举人可以投一张选举团票，总统候选人至少需要获得270张选举团票才能赢得大选。因此，在选举中有可能会出现候选人普选票落败，但却赢得多数选举人票的情况。比如在2000年，美国总统候选人布什虽然只获得47.9%普选票，不及其竞争对手戈尔的48.4%，但最终仍当选美国总统。
Each winning elector casts one Electoral College vote. The winner of the election is the candidate with at least 270 Electoral College votes. It is therefore possible to win the majority of electoral votes while losing the nationwide popular vote. For example, in 2000 Presidential candidate George W. Bush won with 47.9% of the popular votes to 48.4% for his rival Al Gore.
在2016年的美国总统大选中历史再次重演，候选人川普获得290张选举团票（普选票得票率47.01%），紧随其后的候选人希拉里获得228张选举团票（普选票得票率47.55%），尽管川普普选票落后（相差692,814票），但最终仍赢得此次大选。这在美国国内也再次激起要求改革大选制度以推行“简单多数制”的呼声。美国联邦奠基人设置现行选举团制度的目的是为了防止少数拥有大量人口的州份左右选举结果，给予人口稀少的州份更多影响力。这种选举制度在不远的将来不太可能改变。
History repeats itself again in the 2016 Presidential election, Candidate Trump received 290 Electoral College votes ( 47.01% of popular votes ) to 228 Electoral College votes ( 47.55% of popular votes ) for runner-up Hillary Clinton and won the Presidency with less popular votes ( a difference of 692,814 ). This brings up a demand for change in the voting system once more to bring it in line with a “First-past-the post” system. The United States confederation fathers devised the current Electoral College System with the intentions to prevent just a few states with large populations to determine the winner and to provide less populous states with more influence in the outcome. This election system is unlikely to change in the near future.
下一次，我们将详细论述选举改革特别委员会考虑拟议的各种加国联邦选举方式。
We will examine the various proposed Canadian Federal Election methods under considerations from the Special Committee for Electoral Reform next time.
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