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Newsletter #4

10th February, 2004 : Vancouver (Internal)
 

Assembly to meet in Prince George

Assembly members voted by an overwhelming majority to hold a special meeting immediately following the 49 public hearings (to be held throughout the province during May and June) to review and discuss what they had heard from British Columbians. This meeting will be held in Prince George, June 26-27.

Public hearing schedule

The public hearing schedule is now posted on the website. There will be 49 public hearings in communities throughout BC during May and June, beginning in Vancouver on May 3 and ending in Kelowna and Sechelt on June 24.

If you’d like to present at one of these hearings, you can complete a presentation request form. The Assembly needs to receive your presentation request at least two weeks prior to the public hearing.

Presentations to the Assembly

After a lively debate, the Assembly decided to allow one day for presentations to the entire Assembly. The details of this decision are yet to be worked out.

Assembly completes its third session

On February 7-8, members of the Citizens’ Assembly began to delve more deeply into the five families of electoral systems. They began by considering the basic interconnected elements, or dimensions, of various electoral systems:

  • District magnitude, or the number of representatives to be elected in a given area. This number can range from one to the entire legislature.
  • Ballot structure, or the types of choices voters have at the polling station. This can include a single selection, multiple selections or a set of preferences.
  • Electoral formula, or the mathematics of turning votes into seats. Elements of such formulas can include: quotas for deciding how many votes are needed to win a seat and thresholds (the minimum number of votes required for a party to win seats).
Altering these elements can influence such factors as:

  • The balance of power between voters and parties in determining who gets elected.
  • The proportionality of the electoral system.
There are five families of electoral systems:

  • Plurality systems, such as we currently have in BC
  • Majority systems
  • Proportional representation systems
  • Single transferable vote systems
  • Mixed systems
While some electoral systems see elections as contests between individuals in each riding, others see them as contests between parties.

The Assembly learned that while early electoral systems were mainly based on the plurality principle, during the 19th century, majority systems became more popular. Proportional representation systems were widely adopted in the early part of the 20th century – often at the time the right to vote was being expanded. In the 1990s, there was a sudden revival of interest in electoral system change – with much of the focus on proportional and mixed systems.

In evaluating electoral systems, suggested UBC political science professor Ken Carty, the Assembly should consider the impact of each system on the working of government, how political parties would function andhow voters would respond. "We need to think about what kind of politics we want in BC. It’s the answers to these kinds of questions that should drive the decisions regarding what kind of electoral system we want."

After this overview, the Assembly moved on to examine in detail two of the five families of electoral systems: plurality and majority systems.

Majority systems

The fundamental principle of majority systems is that the winning candidate must obtain over 50% of the vote. This may mean, when there are more than two candidates, some process is required for eliminating the least popular candidates and redistributing their votes to the remaining candidates. This could be either through a second round of voting or through a system where voters rank candidates on the ballot in order of preference.

Plurality systems

British Columbia’s current electoral system is a plurality system – the system now in use throughout Canada, both federally and provincially.

In plurality systems, individual candidates seek election in their electoral district and the winning candidate in each district is the one with the most votes – even if they get less than 50 per cent of voter support. This can result in such anomalies as a party achieving sufficient seats to form a majority government with less of the popular vote than the opposition party – as happened in BC in 1996. Generally speaking, plurality systems, produce more stable (or longer lasting) governments, electoral accountability and constituency representation.

Why voters vote – or not

Guest speaker and renowned expert on voter behaviour, André Blais from the University of Montreal, told the Assembly that the decline in voter turnout is a world-wide phenomenon. Research has led Blais to conclude that the major cause of this decline is the weakening sense that voting is not just a right but a civic duty. "Older adults, even if they are cynical and uninterested in politics, feel it is their duty to vote. That sentiment is weakening in younger generations."

Countries with proportional representation systems seem to have slightly higher voter turnout. But Blais cautioned the Assembly, "Don’t be too confident, that electoral reform will be the cure for declining voter turnout."

Blais also noted that research points to the effectiveness of old-style door-to-door campaigning in increasing voter turnout. And, of course, compulsory voting laws significantly improve voter turnout.

Members peppered Blais with questions, such as:

  • Has the growing focus on "infotainment" in major media affected voter turnout?
  • Is there a difference in voter turnout between urban and rural communities? Between men and women? Between educated and less educated individuals?
  • Why does declining voter turnout matter?
Web resources

BC isn't the only province looking at electoral reform. We now have links to the agencies handling electoral reform initiatives in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario and the Yukon.

Next meetings – February 21-22

On February 21-22, the Assembly reconvenes for its fourth session of meetings during which members will continue a detailed study of electoral systems. The focus this weekend will be on proportional representation systems, mixed systems and single transferable vote systems.

These meetings are open to the public, however, because of space restrictions, seating is on a "first-come, first-seated" basis. Generally, meetings start at 9am. Saturday’s meetings conclude around 5pm and Sunday’s around 12:30 pm.

Meetings are at the Wosk Centre at 580 West Hastings in downtown Vancouver.

Spread the word

Do you know of others who might like to follow the progress of the Assembly by signing up for this newsletter? They can do so simply by going to our website, selecting News & Events, then CA Newsletter.
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