Voting system changes in B.C. on the line with referendum

The voting packages for the referendum on how B.C. voters will elect the next provincial government are either in the mail, or have been received. Mine came on Wednesday. Everyone on the voters' list should receive their ballots by today. If they don't, they should contact Elections BC. There is an ongoing rotating postal strike, but voters have yet to hear if there will be alternate ways to get them back to Elections BC - perhaps by dropping them off at designated locations.

The municipal election is over, althoigh inaugural meetings of most new councils and school boards won't take place until next week.

Now voters are being asked to cast another vote.

The province is conducting a referendum, using mail-in ballots, on the issue of proportional representation. Voting was to start on Oct. 22, just two days after the municipal election. All completed ballots must be in the hands of Elections BC by Nov. 30. No date has been publicly set as to when results will be announced.

The mailing of the ballots has been complicated by a rotating postal strike, and some people have not yet received their packages. All were to be delivered by the end of the day today (Friday, Nov. 2).

Seniors tend to vote in larger numbers than any other segment of the population. Young people also seem to be the ones most interested in changing the voting system.

Here are some details about this referendum vote.

The vote is the third in 13 years on changing the voting system. It is being held primarily because the NDP and the Green Party both want to change the existing first-past-the-post system. They campaigned on such a change in the 2017 provincial election, and under a confidence and supply agreement signed by the Greens to boost the NDP into power, the governing party agreed to hold such a referendum by the fall of 2018.

The NDP campaigned on changing the voting system, but unlike the Greens, the NDP said there would be no changes without a referendum. The Greens were ready to change the system automatically, if elected as government.

The ballot asks two questions. The first one is this: “Which system should B.C. use for provincial elections?” There are two choices: “The current First Past the Post voting system” or “A proportional representation voting system.”

The second question asks voters to indicate their interest in three separate proportional systems: Dual Member Proportional (DMP), Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) and Rural-Urban Proportional (RUP). Voters will be able to “rank the systems in order of preference by filling in one oval for each system you wish to rank. When you vote, make sure you only put one choice in a column and don’t choose the same system more than once,” according to Elections BC.

Each system has its own complexities. DMP will see two candidates elected in most ridings (larger than today’s ridings). The candidate with the most votes will be elected, and the second one elected could be from the same party, or another party. This second winner will be chosen based on the proportion of votes each party received. Parties can have one candidate or two candidates on the ballot. They will be listed as primary and secondary candidates, and voters will only get one vote. This system is not in place anywhere else in the world.

MMP, which is used in countries like Germany and New Zealand, will see “regional” MLAs selected from lists prepared by the parties for a specific region (of several local ridings). Some other MLAs would be elected, using FPTP, in individual ridings. A decision will be made after the referendum whether voters would get one or two ballots. The portion of the votes in the region would determine who is elected.

The RUP system mixes Single Transferable Voting (the voting system proposed in the 2005 and 2009 referenda) and MMP. STV (where voters rank candidates in the order they prefer) would be used in urban and semi-urban areas and MMP in rural areas. What constitutes a “semi-urban” area has not been defined, and it is possible that Langley could be considered to be any one of urban, semi-urban or rural. RUP is not used anywhere else.

If any one of the systems is chosen, it is likely that the size of the provincial House will be increased, There are currently 87 MLAs, and Elections BC anticipated the number could rise to as high as 95.

If more than 50 per cent of voters choose proportional representation, it will be automatically adopted. Which system will be adopted is dependent on answers to the second question. There is no requirement to vote on the second question – those who just vote on the first question will have their ballots counted. The threshold for change is much lower than in the 2005 and 2009 referenda, which required 60 per cent overall approval and a simple majority in a majority of ridings in order to proceed.

B.C. did have a different voting system (STV) in place for the 1952 and 1953 elections. The change was made by the legislature without a referendum. It was agreed to by the ruling Coalition government, made up of Liberal and Conservative MLAs, as they were planning to break up their partnership. In 1952, STV allowed Social Credit, which had never received more than three per cent of the votes, to form a minority government. In 1953, Social Credit won a majority government under STV. It stayed in power for 20 years.

Green MLA Sonia Furstenau, who represents Cowichan Valley in the legislature, gave reasons to back the change at a politics and policies conference organized by Composite Public Affairs in Surrey on Sept. 28. Abbotsford West BC Liberal MLA Mike de Jong, who also represents an easterly portion of Langley, made arguments as to why the system should not change.

Furstenau said the problem with FPTP is it gives 100 per cent of power to the party which receives a majority of seats.

“Proportional representation creates better long-term certainty, and a kinder, gentler democracy. Elected officials will be more responsive to the electorate. There is a need to start facing challenges in a serious and co-operative way,” she said.

de Jong started his remarks by noting that he first won election in 1994 by a 44-vote margin, so “every vote counts.”

His arguments against changing the system centred on the experience with the 2005 and 2009 referenda. The first one gained support of more than 58 per cent, while support dropped by almost 20 per cent in the second one.

“The more people learned, the less they liked it. (In this referendum), the proponents do not want people to have information. They are reluctant to talk about details.”

A panel discussion on the referendum followed. PR proponent Maria Dobrinskaya said it will allow every vote to count. Anti-PR campaigner Bill Tieleman said that allowing parties which get just five per cent of the vote to be represented can lead to extremism, pointing to examples in Europe.

There is plenty of information available from Elections BC, both in a voters' guide it mailed out, and online. It is important to look it over and make an informed choice.