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. On 25 October 2004, it proposed replacing the province's existing First Past the Post (FPTP) system with a Single Transferable Vote (STV) system: this recommendation was put to the electorate-at-large in a referendum held concurrently with the 2005 provincial election. The referendum required approval by 60% of votes and simple majorities in 60% of the 79 districts in order to pass: final results indicate that the referendum failed with only 57.7% of votes in favour, although it did have majority support in 77 of the 79 electoral districts. Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Official languages English Government - Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo - Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament - House seats 36 - Senate seats 6 Confederation July 20, 1871 (6th province) Area Ranked 4th - Total 944,735 km... October 25 is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The plurality voting system, also known as first past the post, is a voting system used to elect a single winner in a given election. ... This STV ballot for the Australian Senate illustrates group voting tickets. ... 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. ... Popular vote map by riding. ...

History

During the 2001 provincial election, the Liberal Party promised to create a citizens' assembly to consider changes to the provincial electoral system (as opposed to forming a Royal Commission, as New Zealand did). The recommendation of the assembly would then be put as a referendum . In September 2002, Gordon Gibson was appointed to make recommendations on the composition and function of the assembly. The 37th provincial election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada was called on April 18, 2001, and held on May 16, 2001. ... The British Columbia Liberal Party (usually referred to as the BC Liberals) is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. ... In states that are Commonwealth Realms a Royal Commission is a major government public inquiry into an issue. ... The Royal Commission on the Electoral System was formed in New Zealand in 1985, and reported in 1986. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for September, 2002. ... Gordon Gibson (born 1937) is a right of centre political columnist and author based in British Columbia and a former politician. ...

In December 2002, Gibson recommended an assembly composed of randomly selected citizens, two from each of the province's 79 electoral districts. The government adopted Gibson's recommendations in law in April 2003. December 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December - → // Events December 31, 2002 United States troops get into a brief gun battle with paramilitary forces of the Warzirstan Scouts of Pakistan, in a remote tribal area along the undefined Afghan/Pakistani border, in Paktia Province... Sortition is the method of random selection, particularly in relation to the selection of decision makers also known as allotment. ... A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures, goals or loyalty. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December - → A timeline of events in the news for April 2003. ...

In August 2003, a pool of 15,800 names were selected from the voter roll. Selection into the Assembly continued until December. Two additional members, representing First Nations communities, were added after the selection of the original 158. 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for August, 2003. ... First Nations is a term of ethnicity used in Canada. ...

From January to August 2004, the Assembly went through a "Learning Phase", where the Assembly received experts and held public hearings so that the members can understand the different electoral systems in usage around the world and their various effects on the political process. January 2004 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Irelands Roman Catholic and Protestant Boy Scouts organisations merge after nearly a century of division, in spite of efforts by the Roman Catholic bishops to block the merger. ... August 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: August 2004 in sports Deaths in August 2004 • 30 Fred Whipple • 26 Laura Branigan • 24 Elisabeth Kübler-Ross • 18 Elmer Bernstein • 15 Amarsinh Chaudhary • 14 CzesÅ‚aw MiÅ‚osz • 13 Julia Child • 8...

Between September and October 2004, the members deliberated over which electoral system to recommend. On October 23, the Assembly decided that if they were to recommend an alternative system, it would be a STV system, over a Mixed Member Proportional system also under consideration. The next day, the Assembly voted in favour of recommending the change from the FPTP system to STV. September 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: September 2004 in sports Events Deaths in September • 27 Tsai Wan-lin • 24 Françoise Sagan • 20 Brian Clough • 18 Russ Meyer • 15 Johnny Ramone • 12 Fred Ebb • 11 Peter VII of Alexandria • 8... October 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: October 2004 in sports Events Deaths in October • 29 HRH Princess Alice • 25 John Peel • 24 James Cardinal Hickey • 23 Robert Merrill • 19 Paul Nitze • 18 K. M. Veerappan • 16 Pierre Salinger • 10 Christopher... October 23 is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Additional Member System (AMS) is a voting system where some representatives are elected from geographic constituencies and others are elected under proportional representation from party lists. ...

On December 10th, the Final Report on Electoral Change was presented to the B.C. legislature by the Assembly. It recommended changing the electoral system to a localized version of STV called BC-STV. December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

See Also

• Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform (Ontario)

The Government of the Province of Ontario, Canada, established a Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform in March 2006. ...

External links

• Vern Faulkner "Even Democracy Needs an Upgrade Now and Then"
• BC Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform
• BC Citizens' Assembly Alumni Association
• The "Yes for BC-STV" Campaign
• The "Know STV" Campaign (urged 'no' vote) -- Site abandoned.
• Simulation of 2005 Election using STV boundaries
• The Citizens Assembly Blog (covers citizens assembly developments worldwide)