I am very much in favor of some sort of proportional
representation in British Columbia. I see the MMP system as being a
fair compromise between local representation and proportional
representation.
I was surprised that only 20% of young voters exercised their
franchise. This cannot be good for democracy and can most likely be
traced to a lack of faith in the major parties.
Although I agree with the concept of proportional representation,
there must be a minimum percentage (5% sounds fine) of the popular
vote needed to grant a seat in the legislature.
When redistributing seats, some thought must be given to the size
and geography of rural ridings. It is unreasonable for rural MLAs
to represent the same population as urban ridings because of the
distances involved. Perhaps some consideration should be given to
the times involved to reach all of a riding instead of only
population or area.
I have no problem with a party establishing their party list
through democratic means within that party. The lists must be
published (on the Web, I am sure) far in advance of the election.
The contents of the list would be another factor to consider, along
with policy, as to where a persons' party vote would go. I would
suggest that the party prioritize their list when published. Those
high on the list and not elected in the local ridings would be the
first to be chosen in the popular vote. Voters can easily see how
important gender equity, racial diversity, and other issues are on
the parties agenda by where they place the appropriate candidates
on their list.
Thanks for allowing me to have input into this important part of
our democracy.
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