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Letter: RE: Falsehoods unaddressed by the voting reform debate

We face the most important choice of the decade in deciding on B.C.’s voting system.
14357352_web1_referendum

RE: Falsehoods unaddressed by the voting reform debate

We face the most important choice of the decade in deciding on B.C.’s voting system.

The leaders’ debate on proportional representation provided an example of the sad dynamic of our current political system: we get antagonistic noise in which one side tries to get the upper hand by obstructing the effectiveness of the other side. The critical problems of climate change, increasing inequality, affordable housing and economic security require solutions with a broad basis of support. The solutions are there, and proportional representation offers a way out of the left-right political pendulum which has been so costly to our province as one party undoes the progress of the last.

Coalition governments may take a little longer to form policies, but the policies tend to last beyond one election, producing economic security and real progress, as the strength of the German economy shows.

First Past the Post (FPTP) works well when there are only two parties to choose from. If there are more than two parties, FPTP fails due to vote-splitting of the left- or right-leaning vote.

This is also known as the spoiler effect. Voters shouldn’t be punished when a new candidate comes along who has ideas that are similar to that of their favourite candidate. Improving voting is a non-partisan issue, as is shown by the current support for voting reform by the BC Conservative Party and the Green Party during this referendum. FPTP elections have unpredictable results and often give complete control to governments who have only 40 per cent voter support. The rise of the Conservative Party may split the right-leaning vote, giving the reason for Liberal voters to also support changing our voting system.

In 2004, after the non-proportional elections results of 1991, 1996 and 2001, the BC Citizens’ Assembly, a group of 160 men and women chosen randomly from across the province, met over the course of a year. They consulted with experts and the public and studied voting systems used around the world. The Citizens’ Assembly concluded that MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) and STV (Single Transferable Vote) were the two systems most suited to BC. MMP and STV are widely used globally. In a final vote, they chose STV as the very best system to engage and empower voters because, under STV, voters can rank local candidates, so party lists are unneeded. Both MMP and STV are on the referendum ballot, though STV is now called RUP (Rural-Urban Proportional) because MMP would be used in the low-population areas to prevent ridings from becoming too big.

On Thursday, in the televised debate, Andrew Wilkinson, the leader of the Liberal Party stated that he would support a new Citizens’ Assembly and would consider whatever voting system they proposed. When Andrew Wilkinson was here in Vernon, he suggested that he liked the STV system and (falsely) bemoaned the fact that is wasn’t one of the options offered on the ballot. He falsely claimed that two of the voting systems on the ballot were unused anywhere when only DMP (Dual Member Proportional) is an innovation. DMP is actually very similar to MMP computationally but is extremely simple to use, like FPTP. Both MMP and STV are widely used globally, so RUP is not new.

There are details to decide on any new voting system, but keep in mind that the non-partisan Electoral Boundaries Commission already re-draws the district boundaries every second election based on shifting populations. And the Attorney General’s report on How We Vote, which is the document guiding this referendum, states on page 5 that an All Party legislative committee will work out details in consultation with Elections BC, the public and experts, and that no party would have a majority on this committee.

You may choose to answer only the first question on your referendum ballot. The 3 proportional representation options are all good systems. If you would like to further understand the 3 proposed systems, the following are informative and unbiased:

Elections BC’s and CBC’s websites have four videos explaining each system.

CGP Grey on YouTube has clear and amusing animal cartoons explaining voting systems.

This Here Vancouver on YouTube has a six-minute summary comparing function of four elections systems, and a 24-minute video explaining how seats are assigned. He talks fast.

ReferendumGuide.ca has a quiz to help you choose the voting system that aligns best with your voting preferences.

Be sure to mail in your ballot soon so that it reaches Elections BC by month’s end, even with the mail strike or better yet, deliver your ballot directly to the Vernon Service BC Office, where you get your driver’s license renewed. This referendum on electoral reform will have a profound impact on life in B.C., so make your vote count.

Simone Runyan