Stick with the status quo, or pick a different voting system altogether?

A ballot with that question will likely hit British Columbians鈥� mailboxes by the end of the year, after the NDP government recommended four options to consider as part of its electoral reform platform: the current system 鈥� known as first-past-the-post 鈥� or not one, but three versions of proportional representation.

It鈥檚 tough for even seasoned political observers to navigate.

Greg Millard, a political science professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, said people shouldn鈥檛 concentrate so much on the complexities of each system, but on how each one can affect their voice and what matters to them.

鈥淎re you really worried and bothered by the fact you can get a party with 40 per cent of the popular vote that ends up with 60 per cent of the seats in the legislature, and has complete control of the government even though majority of citizens didn鈥檛 vote for it?鈥� Millard said.

鈥淗ow troubled are you by the fact small parties can be way underrepresented in the legislature relative to their popular vote? If you鈥檙e really bothered by that, then you should seriously look at voting for electoral reform.鈥�

Proportional representation equalizes the stake each political party can claim, based on the number of ballots, Millard said.

Under the current first-past-the-post system, you don鈥檛 need a majority number of votes 鈥� or more than 50 per cent 鈥� to win. You just need more votes than the other candidates.

鈥淪o you can win a riding with 30 per cent if all the other candidates divide that support so they have less than 30 per cent,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he result, though, is that 70 per cent of the riding didn鈥檛 vote for you, and that creates some distortions once you start to aggregate all the ridings together in the legislature.鈥�

Under proportional representation, he said, the number of MLAs representing a party with a seat in the legislature would more equally represent the popular vote.

Millard said British Columbians also need to ask themselves how they feel about minority governments.

鈥淧roportional systems will almost always produce minority governments,鈥� he said, which leads to coalitions as different parties cooperate to form government.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a big change, and a change under the current configuration would probably empower certain parties more than others.鈥�

As a result, minority governments may water down their priorities, he said, and take too long to get things done. On the other hand, different parties can be forced to cooperate to create policies and reform.

Either way, he said, when the ballot arrives, it鈥檚 best to take the time and vote.

鈥淭his is a pretty technical question that does tend to discourage people who aren鈥檛 already committed one way or another, but it is important,鈥� Millard said. 鈥淭he electoral system is the mechanism whereby we translate voter preference into seats in the legislature鈥�

鈥淪taying home or failing to mail your ballot simply surrenders your say over the shape of our future elections.鈥�

ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca
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