Here are my suggestions for a new electoral system for British
Columbia.
I would like to see BC move to some kind of proportional voting
system in order to prevent the kind of dramatic swings in
government that we have seen over the past few decades. This would
also allow more parties to win seats in the legislature, so that
the political views of British Columbians would be more fairly
represented.
Four key issues would be important to me in choosing a new
system. The first would be to increase proportionality and voter
choice while at the same time keeping a stable government. The
second would be to increase the power of the voters (and decrease
the power of the political parties). The third would be to increase
the power of the MLAs (and decrease the power of the government).
The final key issue would be to allow for local representation.
Other issues, such as maintaining an easily understandable
electoral system or increasing the representation of minority
groups in the legislature, are of less importance to me. No system
is perfect. I would accept a system in which compromises were made
in these areas in order to achieve gains in the four areas that I
feel are the most important.
In order to address my four key issues we would need a mixed
system. I would suggest a double mixed system of single-member
rural districts and multi-member urban districts that was also a
mixed member proportional system. The single-member rural districts
would allow for local representation and the MMP aspect would
restore the proportionality.
I see two possibilities. My first choice would be a
Majority/PR-STV // PR-Closed List system with each voter allowed
one vote. Rural districts would be Majority and urban districts
would be PR-STV. The seats would be topped-up using PR-Closed List.
This latter function could be done using the province as one big
district, which would provide the most proportionality, or by
dividing the province into 6-8 large areas, which would increase
local representation. My second choice would be a Plurality/PR-Open
List // PR-Closed List system with each voter allowed two votes,
one for the MLA and one for the party.
The downsides of both of these systems are that they are
extremely complex and they create two kinds of MLAs. To reduce the
complexity while keeping the most proportionality (but less local
represenation) I would suggest an MMP system. My first choice would
be a Majority // PR-Closed List system with one vote. My second
choice would be a Plurality // PR - Closed List system with two
votes.
To reduce the complexity and eliminate the problem of two kinds
of MLAs, while keeping the most local representation (but less
proportionality), I would suggest a system that is simply mixed in
different parts of the province. My first choice would be
PR-STV/Majority system. My second choice would be a PR-Open
List/Plurality system.
All of the systems discussed above are complex and all of them
would be new to BC, but I believe that any of them would be a vast
improvement over the current system. Details such as the number of
districts, the boundaries of districts, and the number of seats per
multi-member district could be fine-tuned over time, while keeping
the basic structure.
Thank you for your time.
levelCMS