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Submission CARTER-1202 (Online)

Submission By Dave Carter
AddressCastlegar, British Columbia, Canada
Organization
Date20040812
CategoryElectoral system change
Abstract
No voting system will correct all the problems in our democratic process; ultimately people will have to make the system functional by thier own direction and involvement. MMP will make this public input and direction easier.  [1 page]

Submission Content
I am in favor of a mixed member proportional voting system for the following reasons:

  • It is proportionally fair and it encourages more people to vote because they know that their vote will not be wasted. It allows more flexibility in voting. Many people have expressed that they would like to vote for a candidate but vote for the party of thier choice as well.
  • It allows new political parties to elect representatives to government and bring new ideas and direction into government. It is more inclusive of various opinions and ideas and it reflects more accurately the varied range of political opinions that exist in B.C. today.
  • It broadens the range of influence in the political landscape, making it harder for specific lobbying intrests to control the governing parties.
  • It maintains a vote for a local candidate in each electoral district. In a MMP system, a person can vote to determine the candidates on the party list by joining the party of their choice if they wish to.
The main problem with our current first past the post voting system is in its lack of proportionality. A system that allows a party to win an election and form a majority government with less votes than its opposing party is clearly unfair. Equally unfair is the lack of representation for voters whose votes are in a minority without any seats to represent them. This situation narrows voters choices as well as causes many people not to vote at all. No voting system will correct all the problems in our democratic process, ultimatly people will have to make the system functional by their own direction and involvement. The mixed member propotional voting system will however make this public input and direction easier.

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