Related links

Administration and Cost of Elections (ACE) Project:  This website is a large compendium of information on elections and electoral systems around the world www.aceproject.org/main/english/index.htm

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association's Module on Parliamentary Democracy:  Study guide offering information, learning objectives, study questions, and resources for gaining knowledge about Parliamentary Democracy.  Includes units on the Westminster Model, branches of government, Role of Parties and electoral systems. www.athabascau.ca/govn/parliamentary_democracy/index1.html

Election Resources on the Internet: links to websites around the world which provide complete and detailed national and local election statistics, as well as other election resources. www.electionresources.org/

Electoral Systems: Essay by Brian O'Neal, Political and Social Affairs Division of the Parliamentary Research Branch. Covers the importance of electoral systems, the mechanics of a variety of electoral systems, relative strengths and weaknesses of electoral systems and referendums on change to electoral systems.   www.parl.gc.ca/information/library/PRBpubs/bp334-e.htm

International Foundation for Election Systems: A non-profit NGO, IFES provides expert technical assistance in all areas of election administration and election management. Involved in interesting projects and offers a well organized links page. www.ifes.org/

Nelson Thompson - Electoral Systems: Online resources that explain different electoral systems as well as links to election results in many countries. polisci.nelson.com/electsys.html

South Australia State Electoral Office: "How Your Vote Counts" is an animated presentation which explains the history of voting, the various voting methods and their advantages and disadvantages. Flash plug-in required (version 3 or later). http://www.seo.sa.gov.au/flash.htm

The Keele Guide To Elections And Electoral Systems On The Internet: Keele University’s School Of Politics, International Relations & The Environment. Focus on Electoral Systems, Elections and Electoral Data.  www.keele.ac.uk/depts/por/elections.htm

Elections BC:  This is the official website for Elections BC with excellent current and historical information on elections in the Province since 1870. www.elections.bc.ca/elections/elections-results.htm

Electoral Change Coalition of British Columbia:  This body in interested in changing the electoral system for BC and attempts to show what the results of elections in BC would have been if past elections had been run under different systems.  www.mala.bc.ca/~westj/ECCO/survey.htm

Vancouver Electoral Reform Commission: The Commissioner's report recommended that the City should let citizens have a say. OnOctober 16, 2004 a vote will be held will be held about whether there should be a change from the at-large system to a ward system, and whether to increase the number of Councillors from 10 to 14. City Council would then consider the results of the vote and decide whether or not to change the system. www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/erc/

For a look at Canadian electoral reform initiatives, you might like to check out a report, First Past the Post? Progress Report on Electoral Reform Initiatives in Canadian Provinces, (September 2004) from Henry Milner, a researcher at the Institute for Research in Public Policy and chair of Canadian studies at the University of Paris.  

New Brunswick has a commission at work with a mandate to work towards proportionality and proportional representation. www.gnb.ca/0100/index-e.asp

Prince Edward Island is considering recommendations from a judge and a form of citizens' assembly in its electoral reform initiative. www.gov.pe.ca/electoralreform/index.php3

Quebec has a Secretariat for the Reform of Democratic Institutions in progress. www.mce.gouv.qc.ca/srid/index_en.htm

Ontario is looking at electoral reform, and is considering B.C.'s Citizens' Assembly model as a tool.   www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/drs/

The Yukon has appointed a special adviser, who is monitoring the B.C. Citizens' Assembly. www.gov.yk.ca/news/2004/jan/04-007.pdf

Citizen Engagement in Voting System Reform: a plan for 21st century democratic renewal in Canada. Written by Larry Gordon in July 2002 for the Law Commission of Canada. www.lcc.gc.ca/en/themes/gr/er/Gordon/toc_main.asp

Law Commission of Canada - Voting Counts: Electoral Reform for Canada. This is the final report of the Law Commission of Canada on the Canadian electoral system: it recommends a mixed member proportional electoral system for Canadian elections. www.lcc.gc.ca/en/themes/gr/er/er_report/er_report_toc.asp

MapleLeafWeb - Electoral Reform:  A guide to electoral systems in general and Canadian electoral reform.  www.mapleleafweb.com/features/electoral/electoral.htm

A CBC News mini-documentary on electoral systems (including a brief look at the Citizens' Assembly) can be found here.  (You'll need Real Player to view the 11-minute video. You can get a free download of Real Player, for Windows, Mac and other systems.)

Australian Government and Politics: A database of parties, elections, governments and representation for Australian state and federal parliaments since 1890. Excellent searchability and glossary. elections.uwa.edu.au/

Changing Democracy: A website built by Ed Watson, CTV's bureau chief in Victoria, after a special tour of New Zealand to examine the Kiwi experience with electoral reform, and the lessons learned. www.jackwebster.com/vote/index.htm

Changed Voting Changed Politics: Lessons of Britain's Experience of PR since 1997: A report by Britians' Independent Commission on Proportional Representation that reviews Britain's experience of PR voting systems, released March 2004. www.prcommission.org/index.htm

Elections And Electoral Systems Around the World: This is an index of electoral websites from a large number of the world’s countries.  Updated often. www.psr.keele.ac.uk/election.htm

Elections around the world: Statistics and detailed information about parliaments around the world, electoral calendar and parties on the web. www.electionworld.org/

Irish Online Electoral Database:  This site has a very nifty way of showing how the single transferable vote system works in Ireland. election.polarbears.com/online/da2002.htm

New Zealand Election: 27 July 2002 (report from the Australian Parliamentary Research Service):  This is a handy two page summary of the last election and the effects of a mixed member proportional system on the governmental system in New Zealand. www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rn/2002-03/03rn09.pdf

The Jenkins Report:  More officially, The Report of the Independent Commission on the Voting System, established by the British government in 1997. Its terms of reference included: "The Commission shall observe the requirement for broad proportionality, the need for stable Government, an extension of voter choice and the maintenance of a link between MPs and geographical constituencies." www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm40/4090/contents.htm

Many of the submissions to the Citizens' Assembly offer insightful links and articles to download. View the Submissions.

The Electoral Reform Society in Britain is a membership organisation that campaigns for improvements in democracy, particularly through the use of better voting systems. The Society openly has a preference: the Single Transferable Vote (STV). www.electoral-reform.org.uk/

Fair Voting BC is a society seeking to change BC’s voting system to include proportionality. FVBC is somewhat "on hold" pending the outcome of the Citizens' Assembly.  www.fairvotingbc.com

Fair Vote Canada is a multi-partisan campaign for a "fair" voting system. It held its first national conference in March 2001. www.fairvotecanada.org/fvc/

Get Your Vote On is a province-wide, non-partisan project that is focused on getting youth out to vote in the upcoming British Columbia election. Their message is one of youth engagement, voter empowerment and issues education. The project will educate and encourage young people that their voice matters and that voting is an essential part of being a citizen.

Student Vote 2004 is a Canada-wide initiative working to build a habit of electoral and community participation among students through the operation of student elections that parallel the federal election. 

Democracy Project Check Your Head is encouraging youth to get involved in their democracy

Rush the Vote is a national organization dedicated to increasing youth voter turnout and political awareness through music and education.

Elections Canada: Young Voters Encourages young adults to speak their mind through the ballot and get their voice heard.

The 20 000 project An online petition for young women: “As one of the 2.5 million young women in Canada between the ages of 18 and 30, I pledge to make my voice heard by excercising my right to vote in the next federal election.”

YOUCAN (Youth Canada Association) hosted Ready, Set, Vote in September 2003 to discuss barriers youth face in the area of democratic participation. Get the report online.

Kids Voting Canada: A non-partisan, educational initiative building a habit of electoral and community participation among students in Grades 9-12 through the operation of parallel student elections during official election periods.

STVforBC, a "community" site promoting the BC-STV system in the referendum vote on May 17, 2005