As interesting and unusual as the results are for the provincial election, they still come nowhere near a true reflection of the voters’ wishes. For example, the Green Party doubled its popular vote from eight to 16 per cent and won three seats. If the number of seats won matched the percentage of popular vote, the Greens would now have 14 members in the Legislature.
Another example of disproportionate representation would be the 16 ridings in which the winning Liberal candidate had fewer votes than the combined votes for the NDP and Green candidates. One of those ridings happens to be Vernon-Monashee.
None of this is earth-shattering news. Under the current and historical system of first-past-the-post, results like this are normal. That doesn’t make them right.
Democratic elections should reflect the will of the people. Until our system of voting changes, the people who take the time to vote will be short-changed and all of us will be the losers.
Ernie Armstrong
Vernon
