I support a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system and I
do not support a Single Transferrable Vote (STV) system.
If the Citizens' Assembly recommends STV, I am seriously concerned
that the people of BC will vote against it, and our one opportunity
to change the current inequitable system will be lost.
Specifically, I support MMP because it is:
-
fair in terms of proportional representation. A party gets a
share of seats in the legislature proportional to its share of
province-wide vote.
-
better at retaining local representation, which many British
Columbians want. Ridings would have to be slightly larger but
voters get two kinds of representatives: a local representative,
and party representatives.
STV is not a good system for BC because:
-
it is unfair. Some peoples' votes have a far better chance of
getting representation, especially in a proposal like Nick Loenen's
where some voters would still have single-member ridings like now
(9 rural ridings). The more rural the riding, the greater the
percentage of votes a candidate would need to get elected
(Victoria, 7 members: 12.5% each; rest of Vancouver Island, 6
members: 14.3% each; Prince George, 3 members: 25% each; unchanged
rural ridings, 1 member: 51% each).
-
it is too complex in terms of vote-counting. Most people want
to know how their votes are counted to have confidence in the
system - it is too complicated for voters who do not want to rank
lots of candidates. As an example of how complicated it is, I have
included the instructions on how to count votes in Ireland
(below).
-
it is not proportional, especially in ridings with few members.
Smaller parties have a smaller chance of electing any candidates
(see Ireland as an example). This is not any improvement over the
current system.
-
it appears to discourage women from running: Ireland and Malta,
the two countries using STV, have among the lowest number of women
elected in the world.
Other Commissions that have studied electoral reform have
rejected STV including the Jenkins Commission in the UK, the Royal
Commission on Electoral Reform in New Zealand (of 85% who voted,
70% supported MMP and only 17% STV) and most recently the Law
Commission of Canada in their recommendation of an MMP system of
voting federally in Canada.
Example of how STV is too complicated for people to believe that
their vote counts:
SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTE COUNTING PROCEDURE AS USED IN THE
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
STEP 1 The ballot papers are sorted and counted according to first
preferences.
STEP 2 A quota is calculated using the Droop formula: divide the
number of valid ballot papers by N, and add 1, (where N is equal to
the number of seats to be filled, plus 1. Candidates whose number
of first preference ballot papers meet or exceed the quota are
declared elected.
STEP 3 If no candidate is elected the candidate with the least
number of first preference ballots is removed, and those ballot
papers are transferred to remaining candidates according to the
preference instructions the voter left on the ballot paper.
STEP 4 Whenever a candidate meets the quota, surplus ballot papers
for that candidate must be transferred to remaining candidates in
proportion to the support those remaining candidates received
within the total number of ballot papers for the just elected
candidate. The formula is as follows: the surplus number is divided
by the total number for the elected candidate, the resulting
fraction is multiplied by the number of ballot papers indicating a
preference for the unelected candidate.
STEP 5 Steps 3 and 4 are repeated until all seats except one are
filled. At that point the candidate with the highest number of
ballot papers among the remaining candidates is declared
elected.
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