Contact UsSearch
Click for Search Instructions
Home > Get Involved

Submission TAYLOR-0693 (Online)

Submission By Angus Taylor
AddressVictoria, BC,
Organization
Date20040617
CategoryElectoral system change
Abstract
In my opinion the Assembly should recommend a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system, a system that combines the benefit of local representation with a fair overall distribution of seats. [1 page]

Submission Content
I attended a meeting of the Citizens' Assembly in Victoria and was impressed both by the manner in which the forum was conducted and by the interest and even passion displayed by those who turned out.

I believe there is widespread desire in this province for reform of the electoral system. The past two provincial elections have resulted in grossly undemocratic outcomes: in 1996 the NDP got a majority of seats even though it came second in the popular vote, and in 2001 the 42% of the electorate who did not support the Liberals wound up being virtually unrepresented.

In my opinion the Assembly should recommend a Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system, a system that combines the benefit of local representation with a fair overall distribution of seats. Under our present system, most people who vote might better have stayed home, since their votes contribute absolutely nothing to determining the final seat totals. (This is true even of those votes for a winning candidate that are in excess of the total required to win the seat.) Under MMP, all that would change; no vote would be wasted. A threshold of, say, 5% of the total provincial vote for a party to qualify for list seats would guard against the possibility of winding up with a multiplicity of tiny parties in the legislature.

© 2003 Citizens' Assembly on Electoral ReformSite powered by levelCMSSite Map | Privacy Policy