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Submission BANCROFT-0161 (Online)

Submission By David Bancroft
AddressVancouver, BC, Canada
Organization
Date20040411
CategoryElectoral system change
Abstract
Proportionality is the most important electoral principle. With the help of MMP, our public representatives can represent the will of the public in as accurate a way as possible while retaining local representation.  [2 pages]

Submission Content
I favour mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) as an electoral system for British Columbia, as it is about as close to the ideal as we are likely to see.

As a teenager, I was utterly confused by the outcome of the 1996 provincial election, where the party with only the second greatest share of votes managed to form a majority government. After the 2001 election--the first in which I could vote--I was again disillusioned by seeing a party with 58 percent of the vote capture 97 percent of the seats. It is beyond doubt for me that proportionality is the most important electoral principle, and I hope that this Assembly will demonstrate this. With the help of MMP, our public representatives can represent the will of the public in as accurate a way as possible.

Another virtue of MMP is its preservation of one of the few advantages of our current system: local representation. Making sure that people in every part of the province have access to at least one MLA will ensure great responsiveness when coupled with proportionality.

And finally, when compared with other systems, MMP is relatively easy to understand. This benefit, among others, should put it ahead of the Single Transferable Vote (STV)--which I must admit I still do not entirely understand, in spite of a personal interest in electoral reform. In addition, from what I have read, it appears that STV is not as proportional as other forms of proportional representation, and is no better than our current system (and is certainly worse than MMP) at representing women and minorities.

So all things considered, MMP seems to combine the best of all worlds, and I sincerely hope to see it on the ballot in 2005.

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