Proponents of electoral change take their arguments to the street
As proponents of electoral reform passed leaflets and prepared to fan out and lobby Italian Day celebrants, Paul Bassett leaned up against an East Van coffee shop window, unimpressed.
“I’m not interested,” he said, dryly, as he watched Vote PR advocates launch their “Yes” campaign Sunday with a flurry of activity at the corner of Commercial and Broadway.
“I don’t have time to think about this right now,” he continued.
But that doesn’t mean he isn’t willing to consider the questions that will be on the proportional representation referendum ballot B.C. voters will receive in their mailboxes in October.
Bassett said he thinks electoral reform is important but he believes proportional representation could make things worse for smalltown and rural residents.
“If you have a government that’s run by Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, the larger centres, the fate of rural communities will be decided by these cities.”
His friend Ann Buckerfield, on the other hand, is very interested, and she plans to vote in the fall referendum on the issue.
“I’m going to look into it and learn more to see if I want to support it,” said Buckerfield.
“I think it’s important.” Nearby, Shai Mor, who was also approached by the blue-clad PR proponents, said he cares deeply about the issue.
“One person, one vote, and each vote influences the final tally. It’s the most common system out there.
“First past the post is not working.”
Mor, who was born in Israel, said proportional representation is an effective system, already in place in that country.
B.C.’s NDP government is fulfilling an election promise to put the question of electoral reform before provincial voters with a referendum to be held this fall.
The mail-in ballot will determine whether B.C. should keep its current “first past the post” system, or introduce some form of proportional representation. Proportional representation is designed to ensure that the number of representatives in the legislature is proportional to the number of votes each party gets.
“Currently we have a system in which a party with 40 per cent of the vote can get 100 per cent of the power, and can control government,” said Maria Dobrinskaya, a spokeswoman for Vote PR B.C.
“It’s frustrating for people to feel their vote doesn’t count. We see distorted outcomes in which a majority government doesn’t have the support of the majority of the population.”
Dobrinskaya said, “All voters deserve to have their position represented in the legislature more so than it is now.”
Attorney General David Eby has proposed a mail-in vote with two questions. The first will ask whether voters prefer the current system, or a system of proportional representation.
The second question will ask voters to rank which of three systems they prefer, dual-member, mixed-member (the most common) or rural-urban representation.
Voters can answer one or both of the questions.
Ballots will be available in October 2018, and voters will have until the end of November to submit their ballots.
New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Israel, Belgium, Denmark and Russia all use some form of proportional representation in their election process.
I’m going to look into it and learn more to see if I want to support it. I think it’s important.