British Columbia electoral reform referendum, 2009.html



This article or section contains information about a forthcoming election. Content may change dramatically as the election approaches.

A second referendum on electoral reform will be held in conjunction with the provincial election scheduled for May 12, 2009.

The BC-single transferrable vote (BC-STV) electoral system will again be voted on by the BC electorate. To succeed, it will again require 60 per cent overall approval and 50 per cent approval in at least 60 per cent of the province's electoral districts.

Scheduling

The government of British Columbia initially scheduled the second referendum to be conducted alongside the 2008 municipal elections. On April 26, 2007, Premier Gordon Campbell announced that the referendum date would be shifted to May 12, 2009. Conducting a referendum alongside the May provincial election was estimated to cost between $1 million and $2 million. The chief electoral officer had warned that a referendum in tandem with the municipal election would have cost up to $30 million. The chief electoral officer had also raised concerns regarding to adequacy of facilities, a shortage of trained voting officials, and differing voter eligibility requirements for local and provincial voters’ lists.¹

Proposed electoral boundaries

In the 2005 referendum, voters cast ballots for or against BC-STV without knowing how the new system would affect their electoral ridings. This uncertainty led to voter concerns that, to create ridings large enough to support the multiple representatives preferred under BC-STV, ridings would be merged into unmanageably-large districts, particularly in the less densely-populated north and interior of the province.

The post-election Speech from the Throne identified this as a critical piece to be addressed for the second referendum: "One task that was never assigned to the Citizens' Assembly was to show precisely how its proposed STV model might apply on an electoral map. This was arguably a design flaw in its terms of reference that in retrospect may have impacted how people voted in the referendum. Your government believes that establishing STV constituency boundaries may provide the public with a critical piece of information that was missing at the time of the referendum."²

The ensuing electoral boundaries redistribution prompted significant controversy for reasons largely unrelated to the BC-STV system, and on several occasions it seemed possible that the commission's work, including its STV recommendations, might be rejected altogether. Ultimately, a bipartisan agreement between the governing Liberals and opposition New Democrats saw the passage of the Electoral Districts Act, 2008 on April 10, 2008, which implemented, with modification, the report of the Electoral Boundaries Commission. 20 STV electoral districts returning a total of 85 MLAs were accordingly established.

Campaigns

Legislation to allow a second referendum on an alternative electoral system, the Electoral Reform Referendum 2009 Act, was introduced in the provincial legislature on March 8, 2008 by Attorney-General Wally Oppal.³

Public funding will be available to groups who are supporters or detractors of both the single transferable vote (STV) and the current first-past-the-post election systems. Through the chief electoral officer, registered groups will be given funds to provide information and educational material about their positions.³ Each side will have access to a total of $500,000 in public funding and an equivalent amount will fund a neutral public information campaign.

The topic while part of the vernacular political discourse in the province is infrequently discussed. STV opponents and proponents come from all ends of the political spectrum. These individuals do not appear to group under any one banner. As well, information sources are asymmetric with more independent and organized groups on the yes side.⁴⁵ Fewer public statements have been made on the no side standout exceptions.⁶⁷ Information as to the operation of BC-STV is available from Elections BC. Analysis of BC-STV nearly consistently lacking with a few exceptions.^{vague 89}

Results

If the referendum vote is in favour of STV, the new electoral system will be in place for B.C.’s 2013 election.³

References

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