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Submission HURWOOD-0499 (Online)

Submission By Eric W Hurwood
AddressBrentwood Bay, BC,
Organization
Date20040527
CategoryElectoral system change
Abstract
By instituting the Alternative Vote [AV], minority parties could run in elections, making their vote count by making a second choice who might well get elected even though not having had a majority of the votes the first time around. [2 pages]

Submission Content
 

I favour the Alternative Vote electoral system.

The biggest problem we seem to have in politics today is the electorate's disregard for Politicians.  The general comments one hears are “It doesn’t matter which party is in, they don’t listen to us anyway” or “They are all the same” or “Out to feather their own nests” or “Why bother to vote, they will just do as they please” or “They are all a bunch of crooks”.

It would appear then that you must devise an electoral system that makes the MLAs responsible to the electorate, rather than responsible to the party. (One might add, good luck). Having said that, it should be recognized that the majority of the electorate vote for a party rather than a person: despite any denials we might get.

From what I have read, and from what I heard at the Holiday Inn, May 15, there appears to be a consensus coming down on the side of the Mixed Member Proportional system.  It was worthy of note that five of the fourteen presenters at the Holiday Inn were from the Green Party, six if you include Joan Russow, all of whom supported this system. More power to them for turning out.  As an aside, I was not aware of any rationale for supporting this system, other than it would have given the Green Party a voice in the House. Perhaps it was this that encouraged Ms Martin’s request than any submissions to the Assembly carry supporting rationale.

As I understand it, the Mixed Member Proportional system would, using the last Election in British Columbia, have given the Green Party a voice in the legislature, without having elected one member of the House. It is conceivable, that the Green Party would have wielded the casting votes in the House with a Minority government; I reiterate, without having elected a single member to the House.

Part of the complaint from the Green Party seems to be the difficulty of forming and keeping a Party without representation. The Canadian Communist Part (CCF), which is now the New Democratic Party, faced the same problem. They did not let this difficulty defeat them and we have to thank them for our Universal Health Care.
Another argument put forward is that the Mixed Member Proportional system would ensure more women and minorities in government. I feel this is a spurious argument; the one way of ensuring more women and minorities in government is for them to run for office.

The Mixed Member Proportional system would require either an increase in the number of seats in the House (do we want even more Politicians?) –- which is not within the mandate of the Assembly –- or increasing the sizes of the electoral districts.

This leads us to lists.  In either case, closed or open list, the political party compiles the list. This makes those persons on the list even more answerable to the party: particularly in respect of a closed list, since if given a seat, they owe that seat to the party, not to any electoral district. If they do not toe the line, they are off the list next time round. The open list has a little more going for it, but the order of the names on the list, decided by the party, would be of paramount importance. Don’t we all tend to read only the top items or names on any list?

In theory our present First Past the Post system makes the MLA answerable to the electorate in her/his District, I say in theory since we all know that it is not the case. Toe the Party Line or leave the Caucus and see what chance you have in the next Election.

By instituting the Alternative Vote system, minority parties could run in elections, making their vote count by making a second choice who might well get elected even though not having had a majority of the votes the first time around. You can see that it would be necessary to institute a majority vote system at the same time as the Alternative Vote system, so that to be elected the person running would need 50% plus 1, minimum, of those voting to get elected.

The minority parties could then have a voice in the House, albeit by osmosis. Other parties would have, by necessity, to be aware and considerate of the opinions of the minority parties – looking for their second time around support. It would also give the minority parties the opportunity of regularly putting their case before the electorate, and thereby, perhaps, eventually forming a major party.

I also suggest that one half of the House come before the electorate every two years.  This would be fairly easy to establish. This would surely make the parties if not the members more susceptible to public opinion. The electorate would be less likely to forget the misdemeanors committed in the previous two years, four years is a long time. This would be a bit more expensive than our present system, not mush, but I would say well worth the money, if we can make these Politicians listen to the electorate.

Other things I would like to see:

Mandatory Voting: with a $50 fine for not Voting. How to collect? Simply add a $50 line to the Provincial Income Tax Form, which line can be ignored on presentation of a “Free Get Out of Jail” slip handed out at the Voting Station.

A Line “None of the Above” on the voting slip. If this line garners the largest number of votes, then the Lieutenant Governor prorogues the House and governs until the political parties have got their houses in order to the satisfaction of 50% plus 1 of the electorate.

I thank you for accepting this presentation. I believe I have covered all eventualities, but if the Assembly would like me to appear before them, I would be happy to accept their invitation.

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