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Newsletter #410th 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:
Altering these elements can influence such factors as:
There are five families of electoral 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:
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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