News release - Surrey public hearing

Diversity and simplicity key

The need for BC’s electoral system to reflect the diversity of its population while being simple and easy to understand were among key goals outlined during a packed public meeting of the Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform in Surrey Monday night.

"Keep it simple" was a message repeated by more than one speaker to members. Penny Leclair, who is deaf-blind, spoke of the need for greater proportionality in the voting system. Fielding questions with the aid of an interpreter, she advocated Assembly members consider alternative voting formats in polling stations – such as providing information in large print and in Braille. Leclair said this would allow thousands of blind and partially sighted voters to vote in privacy and "with dignity".

Close to 100 people heard a total of 12 speakers offer their views.

Surrey resident Alan Webster also requested a simple change: to a preferential, or alternative, voting system where candidates would be ranked by the voter on the ballot. He said it would be a simple change that would be easy for voters to understand.

James Proctor also addressed a desire for voters to understand a reformed electoral process. He recommended that each registered voter receive a "voter’s guide" prior to an election to help them select a party and the candidates in their riding and find information on the new voting system. He spoke in favour of a system in which voters would first cast a ballot for a political party using a proportional voting system, and then choose their preferred candidate using a single transferable vote.

Wayne Taylor, of Coquitlam, spoke out strongly against both the current first-past-the-post system and the concept of single member ridings. He said that while BC’s electoral system was superior to many other countries, "we have lulled ourselves into a false sense of security in this province and country with regard to the kind of democracy that we live in".

In calling for greater proportionality between the popular vote won by parties and their share of seats in the Legislature, he said that single-member ridings were "incapable of providing adequate representation for the diverse interests found within geographic communities that comprise BC today".

Political analyst Graham Evan MacDonell examined the history of election results in BC. While evoking the past, he urged Assembly members "do not go backwards, please go forwards".

In order to "keep the best of the past while evolving into the future", Nikolas Jeffrey favoured a regional mixed member plurality system where each voter casts two ballots, one for a candidate in a riding and one for the party of their choice. He said the province would be divided into four regions, with two-thirds of seats in each region made up of standard electoral districts and the remaining third made up of regional seats decided using proportional representation.

Greater transparency over policy plans and the elimination of public campaign advertising for political parties were two of the suggestions made by student Robert Evans, in his desire to usher in a "new era of democracy based upon reason".

And Robert Stone, of Cloverdale, suggested staggering polling day in different communities in BC over a number of years, to avoid one party enjoying a "clean sweep" of seats on one day.

The idea of adding a ‘None of the above’ selection to the ballot box was floated by John Allan West. This, he said, would offer voters an alternative when they want to avoid spoiling their ballot but do not want to vote for any of the candidates on it. Tom Ashley also discussed such a change.