Submission WHEATLEY-0752 (Online)
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Submission By | Michael Wheatley |
Address | Victoria, BC, Canada |
Organization | |
Date | 20040626 |
Category | Citizens' Assembly process, Electoral system change |
Abstract
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A request that the Assembly exceed its mandate by recommending
the use of Alternative Vote for the 2005 provincial election. [2
pages]
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Submission Content
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Abstract
A request that the Assembly exceed its mandate by recommending the
use of Alternative Vote for the 2005 provincial election.
Submission
I hope that a majority of Assembly members will agree that the
present First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system should be
replaced as soon as possible.
Alternative Vote (AV) is an improvement that can be adopted without
further public consultation or referendum by any government that
has any true interest in electoral reform. We have precedent for
this in BC where AV was adopted for the 1952 election without
significant public consultation or complaint.
Following the election in 1953, AV was replaced by FPTP and again
there was no significant public consultation or complaint. As a
result, FPTP has no more democratic legitimacy than AV and can be
replaced by AV as the Government wishes without further public
consultation.
The adoption of AV would not be a substantial change to the
electoral process as it does no more than provide a better process
for selecting a winner in the existing single member electoral
districts. It would be a simple and generally popular
improvement.
The Liberal Government used a reference to the substantial and
fundamental nature of electoral reform as justification for their
double 60% majority adoption formula following referendum. As AV
would not be a substantial or fundamental reform, the adoption of
AV should not require a public referendum before adoption.
I suggest that after the Assembly has met its mandate it should go
on to exceed its mandate by recommending that Alternative Vote be
adopted immediatly for use in the 2005 BC election. If the Assembly
cannot effectively exceed its mandate in this way then I ask that
the members of the Assembly re-group as individuals outside the
Assembly and make whatever recommendations they see fit to make for
the benefit of the people of BC.
Thank you for considering this.
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