Wards and at-large systems work in drastically different ways and have …show more content…
At the heart of elections and democracy is the ability of individuals to vote and have their voice heard through their casting of a ballot. There are many different factors individuals take into account when voting. Some of these factors that heavily influence local elections include the popularity of the candidate, whether or not they are an incumbent, and political leanings/ideology. One factor that is closely tied to representation itself is the idea of affinity voting. What if any, does the role of affinity voting have on the results of municipal elections?
Research has shown that affinity voting is not particularly common in federal politics because of political parties. However, as most cities don’t have political parties and candidates are seen simply as individuals there is potential for affinity voting to take hold (Bird et al., p