BC voters get another chance to vote on a proportional representative system for the province on May 12, 2009.
The Yes group needs the help of every progressive blogger and voter to raise the profile of the issue, involve BC voters, and ensure that enough voters turn out to vote Yes.
What is the BC-STV initiative?
“In 2001, the B.C. Liberals made an election promise to hold a Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform to examine how B.C. elections are run.
The leaders of all major political parties in BC (elected and unelected) agreed to support a non-partisan process by which voters would be randomly chosen from the voters list, given extensive training on political processes and a budget to travel around the province listening to B.C voters' election experiences... 160 members were chosen from across the province, a man and a woman from each electoral district plus two members chosen from aboriginal communities … The Citizens' Assembly narrowed in on two alternatives to replace the current system.
One was the Single Transferable Vote, a system used in Ireland and in the Australian Senate.
The second system was known as MMP (mixed member proportional) in which voters would vote for a local candidate and a system which was used in Germany.
After months of deliberation, the assembly chose to recommend the STV system. They felt it gave more control to the voter than to a political party and was the most flexible system to preserve local representation while achieving fair results.
In 2005, British Columbian's voted on the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly. 58% of voters favored electoral reform, but the government has previously announced that it would only recognize the results if 60% of British Columbian's agreed.
The government did offer a second referendum to occur on May 12, 2009.”
http://stv.ca/node/77
How can you help?
1. Email everyone you know (both inside and outside BC) and give them the website of BC-STV so that they can find out more about the change.
2. Write to the editors of BC and other newspapers, supporting the STV and giving reasons why.
3. Volunteer with BC-STV and they can help you figure out how best your efforts might be directed.
4. Blog blog and blog again about the merits of STV.
5. Contact Liberal Party officers and MPs and ask them to speak out publicly on the issue.
It is time for a change.
