Another try at voting reform

Here we go again. For British Columbians who didn’t get their fill of referendums with the one on treaty principles, two on electoral reform and one on the harmonized sales tax, another is on the way.

In 13 months, voters will have a third chance to ditch the current first-past-the-post voting system in favour of a form of proportional representation.

In 2005 and 2009, referendums failed to get the required number of votes. This time, the threshold will be 50 per cent plus one, so the proponents of change are optimistic.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Dave Eby introduced the Electoral Reform Referendum 2018 Act, which calls for a mail-in referendum to be held before the end of November 2018. If a new system is approved, it would take effect after July 1, 2021.

Beyond those simple facts, pretty much everything is up in the air. We don’t know what the question will be, which forms of proportional representation will be considered, whether funding will be provided to opponents or proponents, what the spending rules will be — or how British Columbians are going to cram the whole process into just over a year.

Of course, things might go more quickly because most of us have been through this before. In all likelihood, most voters have made up their minds on whether they want to keep the current system or go to proportional representation, even if they’re not sure which version of PR they prefer.

Before we get to make our choice known, the government plans to gather feedback from voters and political parties on the question to be asked and voting systems to be considered.

“Systems” is the word, because Eby made it clear that it’s unlikely to be a simple yes or no question. Voters will be offered a choice among the current system and several versions of proportional representation.

When then-premier Gordon Campbell launched his version of electoral reform in the middle of the last decade, a citizens’ assembly of ordinary voters was given a year to study the issues and come up with a recommended option.

This time, it seems likely that the referendum will have several options, and voters will rank them (1,2, 3). Just as in some forms of proportional representation, the option with the lowest number of votes will be tossed, second choices will be distributed and the ballots recounted until one option gets more than 50 per cent of the votes.

As pundits have noted, that puts the current system at a disadvantage, as those who want one form of PR will put other forms of PR as their second and third choices, while those who want the current system have nothing to pick for second and third.

Many Green Party members wanted to change the system without a referendum, arguing that it was too complex for many voters, and it was better to try at least one election under proportional representation so people could experience the system before voting on it. They and others pointed out that B.C. tried PR briefly decades ago, without a referendum.

While a referendum is better than no referendum, the decision could be made by a relatively small slice of voters. If voter turnout is 55 per cent, as in 2009, and the approval threshold is 50 per cent plus one, the outcome could be determined by 27.5 per cent of the electorate.

That kind of thing happens all the time with our current electoral system. But we are not electing a government — we are fundamentally changing the way we elect governments.

If this referendum is to mean anything, British Columbians must get out to vote.