I am writing to express my support for a Mixed Member
Proportional [MMP] electoral system for British Columbia.
I have read with interest your Preliminary Statement to the
People of BC and would like to thank the Citizens Assembly for
taking your mandate so seriously and putting such effort into your
deliberations. As someone who has studied background
information on different electoral systems I strongly support
changing our current voting system. The problems inherent in our
current system of "first past the post" outnumber the benefits. I
have often been frustrated by having my vote not count, when I vote
for a party that does not receive representation in the
legislature.
A Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system, which
combines single member electoral districts with a party vote list
system, is a better option. By giving each voter two votes (1 for
their local electoral district representative and the other for the
political party of their choice) this system retains the important
local representation of our current system while allowing greater
proportional representation. MMP encourages fairness by ensuring
that the number of votes a party receives relates directly to their
number of seats.
I would like to see more women, more people of colour and a
wider range of people from different social classes making up our
legislature. Making public the party lists of candidates prior to
elections will encourage greater gender, cultural and geographic
diversity in all parties and promote governments that are more
representative of BC's great diversity.
The current dramatic swings in policy from one government to the
next lead to frustration, burnout and ultimately reduced levels of
citizen involvement. A MMP system will lead to more effective
governments: coalition governments that need to cooperate and
negotiate, resulting in legislation that is more representative of
wider interests and therefore more likely to last beyond the
mandate of a single government. This in turn will facilitate more
effective implementation of policy by civil servants.
Finally, a MMP electoral system will encourage young voters to
be more interested and involved in the politics of this province.
The thought of greater voter turnout and more involved citizens
gives me hope for democracy in BC.
Please recommend changing BC's current electoral system to a
Mixed Member Proportional system.
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