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Numbers

On the cover story of May 31, Greg Kyllo is quoted as saying, “B.C. largely voted for a Liberal government.” I like facts so I crunched the numbers.

On the cover story of May 31, Greg Kyllo is quoted as saying, “B.C. largely voted for a Liberal government.” I like facts so I crunched the numbers.

There were 3,156,991 registered voters in B.C. for the election. Of that, 796,672 citizens actually stood behind the Liberals. I’m not a math whiz, but I think that is 25 per cent.

So 2,360,319 people in B.C. did not vote for the Liberals — 796,672 actually did. Only 1,924,165 people voted. I do understand that we all have different perceptions of what largely means. But, in my mind 25 per cent of the vote is not an indicator that the citizens of B.C. want the Liberals running the show.

Democracy is a political system based on the formal equality of all citizens. Why then are those citizens who chose not to play the game suddenly unequal in the results? Isn’t that undemocratic?

A vote not cast is still a vote and a statement in and of itself.

If we look at the voters that played this game we call democracy, we had 60 per cent who did not vote for a Liberal government. It is my observation that the Liberals are not represented largely in any way.

Susan Ladner

Vernon