A referendum will be held in the Canadian province of British Columbia on May 17, 2005 to determine whether or not to adopt the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform. It will be held in conjunction with the British Columbia general election, 2005. A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ... Canada consists of ten provinces and three territories. ... Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Splendour without diminishment) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Area 944,735 km² (5th)  - Land 925,186 km²  - Water 19,549 km² (2. ... May 17 is the 137th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (138th in leap years). ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform is a group created by the government of British Columbia, Canada to investigate changes to the provincial electoral system. ... The 38th British Columbia general election will be held on May 17, 2005, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia (B.C.), Canada. ...

Voters will be given a referendum ballot in addition to a ballot to vote for the candidates for Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA) in their constituency. In order to pass, the referendum will need to receive 60% of the province-wide popular vote and a simple majority in 60% (48 of 79) of the electoral districts. Legislature Building in Victoria, BC The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is located in Victoria. ... A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures, goals or loyalty. ... This article is about the political process. ... A simple majority is the most common requirement in voting for a measure to pass, especially in deliberative bodies and small organizations. ...

Proposed changes to the electoral system

Voting method

The current electoral system is Single Member Plurality, otherwise known as First Past The Post (FPTP). In this system, a voter gives one vote to one candidate in one electoral district. Each political party runs one candidate in each electoral district. The candidate with the most votes in the electoral district wins and is charged with representing all voters in the electoral district. The first-past-the-post electoral system is a voting system for single-member districts, variously called first-past-the-post (FPTP or FPP), winner-take-all, plurality voting, or relative majority. ... The first-past-the-post electoral system is a voting system for single-member districts, variously called first-past-the-post (FPTP or FPP), winner-take-all, plurality voting, or relative majority. ... A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures, goals or loyalty. ...

The proposed electoral system is a customised version of Single Transferable Vote (STV) called BC-STV. In this system, each electoral district will have between 2 and 7 seats depending on its population and geographic size. Political parties may run up to as many candidates as there are available seats in each electoral district; major parties will typically run several candidates (though generally not more than they might expect to be successfully elected) while smaller parties might run only single candidates. The voter ranks their top choices (1,2,3,4, etc.) from the list of candidates and may rank, or vote, for as many or few candidates as they like. A quota for the district is determined based on the number of valid ballots cast and the number of seats available in the district. All the votes are counted and sorted by the voters' first preferences. Those candidates with enough first-preference votes to meet or exceed the quota are elected. A multiple-step vote counting and transfer process (http://citizensassembly.bc.ca/resources/deliberation/BC-STV-counting.pdf) then ensues to determine the winners of the remaining seats in the district. The Single Transferable Vote, or STV, is a preference voting system designed to minimise wasted votes in multi-candidate elections while ensuring that votes are explicitly for candidates rather than party lists. ...

The new electoral districts will be formed by combining several of the current electoral districts. For example, Richmond and Delta's five current electoral districts might be combined into one electoral district which would produce five winners but not necessarily from the same party. An electoral district of that size might have between 10 and 25 candidates, whose names will be grouped by political party on the ballot paper. Richmond is an incorporated city on the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada. ... Delta is a district municipality in British Columbia, Canada. ...

Electoral districts

Under the current FPTP system British Columbians elect members from 79 one-member districts. Elections BC uses census data to maintain a uniform population level across districts so that voters have equal weight. Currently, districts have a mean population of 50,000. However, due to migration between census, consideration of population densities, and other factors there can be great discrepencies between electoral districts. Vancouver-Burrard has the largest population at about 67,000 people and North Coast has the least population at about 27,000 people. Elections BC (formally, the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer of British Columbia) is a non-partisan office of the Legislature responsible for conducting elections in the Canadian province of British Columbia. ... Vancouver-Burrard (provincial electoral district) is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. ... North Coast is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. ...

One of the criticisms of this method of is that in many populous communities, in order to create districts with a population of approximately 50,000, it may be necessary to draw arbitrary boundaries which do not necessarily reflect a community of interest.

If the BC-STV system is approved, an Electoral Boundaries Commission would be charged with drawing up new electoral districts. Much larger districts will be created that will elect multiple members. Proponents argue that this would create districts with a stronger sense of community and common interest. For example, all the electoral districts within the municipality of Vancouver could be combined to form one electoral district with its borders running along the municipal borders. All the electoral districts within the Richmond and Delta could be combined to form one electoral district. The general ratio of one MLA per 50,000 residents would be used to determine the number of MLAs elected by a district. {{Canadian City/Disable Field={{{Disable Motto Link}}}}} Motto: By sea, land and air we prosper City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Location. ... Richmond is an incorporated city on the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada. ... Delta is a district municipality in British Columbia, Canada. ...

Foreign comparisons

The proposed BC-STV system was chosen by the members of the Citizens' Assembly to best suit B.C. However, it has specific similarities to and distinctions from STV electoral systems currently being used in other countries.

• unlike the Australian electoral system, voters will not be required to rank every candidate;
• if votes are transferred because a candidate has exceeded the quota required to win, all of that candidate's ballots are examined for transfer votes, unlike the method used in Ireland in which, after a candidate has reached the quota, only remaining ballots are examined for further preferences;

Australian electoral system has evolved over nearly 150 years of continuous democratic government, and has a number of distinctive features including compulsory voting, the widespread use of instant runoff voting (known in Australia as preferential voting) and the use of proportional voting to elect the upper house. ...

Timeline

• September 20, 2002 - The government appoints former British Columbia Liberal Party leader Gordon Gibson to recommend the structure of the Citizens' Assembly.

• April 28, 2003 - The Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform is created by motion of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

• December 10, 2004 - The final report of the Assembly, recommending BC-STV, is presented to the government.

• January 15, 2005 - The Democratic Reform British Columbia party is created out of a merger of the British Columbia Democratic Coalition and the All Nations Party of British Columbia. The party also boasts the support of key elements of the Reform Party of British Columbia. One of this party's main goals is the support of BC-STV.

September 20 is the 263rd day of the year (264th in leap years). ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The British Columbia Liberal Party is a right_of_centre provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada, differing from some other right-of-centre parties in being fiscally conservative and socially moderate (or neoliberal). ... Gordon Gibson (born 1937) is a right of centre political columnist and author based in British Columbia and a former politician. ... The Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform is a group created by the government of British Columbia, Canada to investigate changes to the provincial electoral system. ... April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 247 days remaining. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January January 1 - Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ... December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 15 is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Democratic Reform British Columbia (Democratic Reform BC or DRBC) is a progressive/centrist political party in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. ... The British Columbia Democratic Coalition (BCDC) was a short-lived coalition of minor political parties in British Columbia, Canada. ... The All Nations Party was a minor political party in British Columbia, Canada. ... The Reform Party of British Columbia (Reform BC) is a populist political party in British Columbia, Canada, which for much of its history was associated with the right wing. ...

Opinion polls

• Ipsos-Reid(Commisioned by the Victoria_Times-Colonist): May 14, 2005 - Yes 47%, No 35%, Undecided 13%, Will Not Vote 3%
• Ipsos-Reid: April 30, 2005 - Yes 42%, No 38%
• Nordic Research Group: April 28, 2005 - Yes 32%, No 16%, Undecided 52% [1] (http://www.nordicresearch.net/nordic_media.html#press)

Ipsos-Reid is a research company founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot, a Paris-based communications specialist. ... The Victoria Times-Colonist is a current daily newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia. ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (135th in leap years). ... Ipsos-Reid is a research company founded in 1975 by Didier Truchot, a Paris-based communications specialist. ... April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in leap years), with 245 days remaining, as the last day in April. ... Nordic Research Group is a market research and public opinion research company based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. ... April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 247 days remaining. ...

Results

The question to be asked is: Should British Columbia change to the BC-STV electoral system as recommended by the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform?

External links

• BC Referendum Office (http://www.gov.bc.ca/referendum_info/default.htm)

• Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform (http://www.citizensassembly.bc.ca/public)

• Elections BC (http://www.elections.bc.ca/)

• CBC BC Votes 2005 (http://www.cbc.ca/bcvotes2005/features/stv.html)

• Simulations
  • DemoChoice (UBC) 2005 STV Simulation (http://bc.demochoice.org)
  • Poll comparing the STV to the FPTP system (http://members.lycos.co.uk/bcstv/vote.php)
  • Several animations comparing the electoral systems (http://www.citizensassembly.bc.ca/public/extra/animations.xml)

References

• Review of STV systems used Austalia, Ireland, North Ireland, Estonia, Malta and the Isle of Man (http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/research/briefings-03/sb03-85.pdf)

• Ireland: The Archetypal STV System (http://www.aceproject.org/main/english/es/esy_ie.htm)

• Irish Proportional Representation System (http://www.oasis.gov.ie/government_in_ireland/elections/proportional_representation.html?PHPSESSID=fe117d4bb6373eea8e4bf359999978c5)