Lead with hearts, ignoring evidence

Dear editor: Advocates for electoral reform lead with their hearts and ignore the evidence.

In Germany, six parties sit in their 598 seat Bundestag; the ruling coalition is a majority of two parties holding 399 seats, representing 52 percent of the popular vote from a 76.2 per cent voter turnout.

Of Spain’s six political parties sitting in their 350 seat Congress of Deputes; two parties form a majority coalition of over 223 seats, representing 55 percent of the popular vote and had a voter turnout of 66.5 percent.

In Hungary, six parties make up its 199 seat parliament; Viktor Orban’s party secured a single party majority with 132 seats representing 49.27 percent of the popular vote, from a 70 percent turnout.

And New Zealand’s six parties sit in a 120seat parliament, where no party holds a majority. The first place party held 56 seats, which represented 44.5 percent of popular vote, became the opposition; when two minority parties formed a coalition together with the two seat Maori party to form a 57 seat majority, representing 44.8 percent of the popular vote from a 79 percent turnout.

And our own FPTP produced B.C.’s current coalition government which has a 44 seats coalition minority government, which represents 56 percent of the popular vote.

Advocates’ claim of a false majority is mute. Because, no matter the electoral system used, it turns out that all democracies produce similar size majorities.

So, if a majority is all the same in either PR or FPTP. Then your vote doesn’t count any less or more because it’s a PR vote or a FPTP vote. Feeling disappointed your candidate did not win, is natural; but it doesn’t mean you or your vote do not count. The political process is fluid and our civic duty doesn’t stop at the ballot box?

Higher voter turnout in some European countries represents stronger sense of civic duty. Their particular electoral systems are just as complicated as ours, for figuring out which is the best choice and yes they vote strategically too.

Their system, like ours, take effort to become knowledgeable about current issues and change is not automatic; it demands active engagement by the electorate to keep the process vibrant and successful.

Voting is not the end in itself, but only one part in the fluid democratic process. Jon Peter Christoff West Kelowna