Submission MCDOWELL-1611 (Online)
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| Submission By | J McDowell |
| Address | Tofino, BC, CA |
| Organization | |
| Date | 20040817 |
| Category | Citizens' Assembly process, Electoral system change |
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Abstract
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Before you give undue consideration to STV, you must be sure to
ask yourselves if British Columbians are ready to sacrifice the
simplicity of First Past the Post for STV's complexity and
obscurity. [2 pages]
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Submission Content
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Before you give undue consideration to STV, you must be sure to
ask yourselves if British Columbians are ready to sacrifice the
simplicity of First Past the Post for STV's complexity and
obscurity. Ask yourselves these 8 questions.
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Why do only 2 small countries, Ireland and Malta, use STV?
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Why does Malta have the lowest percentage of women politicians
of any democracy and Ireland have only 12% women in its
assembly?
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Why do only 2 strong political parties hold seats in
Malta?
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Why do so many respondents from BC prefer Mixed Member
Proportional Representation and so few favor STV?
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Can Fair Voting BC demonstrate broad support among BC citizens
for STV or the so-called Proportional Plus? Why have they failed to
do so?
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Can you explain an STV system for BC in a few minutes to a
person on the street? I had a representative send me an outline of
STV that was 25 pages long -- can you expect the average citizen to
wade through that?
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Can you explain how to count STV ballots to a person on the
street in a few minutes? Do they follow you or do their eyes glaze
over?
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Are British Columbians ready to move to such an foreign system
as STV?
I am truly disppointed in the selection of only 2 women out of 9
final presenters to the assembly. Here we are trying to improve an
out-dated voting system and the assembly did not see fit to apply a
positive and fair system of proportional representation at this
point in the proceedings. Don't even try to rationalize the choice
with excuses -- you have let down the process with this poor
decision. I hope you will strive to right this wrong and make a
recommendation for a voting system that offers women a strong voice
in governing our province.
This will be a tough change to take to the people of the province
-- make sure you select a system that is fair, positive, easy for
people to vote and to understand and validate the results.
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