Our electoral system has failed the people of BC. The 1996
election allowed a party that came in second place in the voting to
form a majority government! The 2001 election produced an
opposition of just two members! These skewed results cannot be
allowed to continue. Our democracy must allow for the voices of the
people to be heard. This requires an electoral system that allows
for proportional representation.
The electoral system that can best accomplish this is the mixed
member proportional system (MMP) that is used successfully in
countries such as Germany and New Zealand. This system works very
well in parliamentary democracies throughout the world. It balances
the strengths of our current first past the post system (FPTP) with
the advantages of proportional representation.
The MMP system has many advantages. A major advantage of the MMP
system is that it encourages representation from many groups not
currently represented in the legislature. Another major advantage
of the MMP system is that it would reduce the extreme polarization
of politics that has plagued BC.
Also, MLA's representing single member constituencies should
receive the majority of votes cast from their respective
constituencies. The alternative vote would be the best method to
accomplish this.
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