Electoral Reform Options in British Columbia: Proportional Representation,

BEFORE CHRIST. Prime Minister John Horgan revealed his preference for electoral reform in this month's referendum on the British Columbia electoral system: he voted for the only option to change the ballot currently used in other elections. country of the world.

But in a referendum where dozens of details will not be settled before votes are counted, it is unclear to what extent his preferred system – Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) – would meet the basic promise of proportionality. representation.

Mr. Horgan told the press in Victoria that he had sent his referendum ballot to vote in favor of changing the current first-past-the-post electoral system in British Columbia. for MMP, "because it is the most widely used internationally," he told reporters. Germany, New Zealand and Scotland are among the countries using this system.

Under the proposed system, at least 60% of BC's elected representatives would continue to be selected in the electoral districts by a single-round preferential ballot, but how many will be chosen later by a committee? multipartite system of the legislature, if this system is adopted; adopted. The other deputies will represent regions, chosen from the party lists and allocated according to the part of the popular vote of their party.

The postal vote will determine whether British Columbians retain their current voting system or apply to one of the three proportional representation systems. In addition to mixed proportional voting, the ballot proposes a proportional two-member (DMP) and proportional rural-urban (OR) ballot. ), which are not used anywhere.

The ballots must be returned before the end of November and should be counted by mid-December.

Until now, the referendum debate has been sharply partisan, with opposition Liberals and their supporters urging voters to reject the changes. The NDP formed a minority government last year on the basis of an agreement with the Greens, calling for a joint campaign to advocate for the transformation of the province's electoral system into a form of proportional representation.

In the context of proportional representation, Mr. Horgan said, "If you get 40% of the votes, you get 40% of the seats."

This is only partially true, said parliamentary expert Ron Cheffins, professor emeritus in the Departments of Political Science and Law at the University of Victoria. Mr. Cheffins, who gave lectures on electoral systems to Commonwealth parliamentarians, said Mr. Horgan's choice would be the closest option to the proportional system.

"It's genuinely, partially proportional," he said in an interview.

Green MP Sonia Furstenau, leader of her party's electoral reform, agreed with Mr. Cheffins that none of the three systems proposed for change would yield a purely proportional result.

"I do not think there is an appetite for that. What's great about these three systems is that they maintain this connection with your local representative and that the change in voter election mode is not dramatic, but that the result is much more proportional than that that we're getting now, "she said, and she and Green Party leader Andrew Weaver would not have revealed the option they voted for, but she said one option was better than the current system "We try to avoid that 40% of the vote will be converted into 100% of the votes cast – the power – it is a real distortion of the voter's intention".

Typically, B.C. There is a two-party system in which a political party forms a majority government with 40 to 45 percent of the votes cast, often a few percentage points ahead of its major rivals. (Sometimes the results are even more biased because of the concentration of votes: in 1996, the NDP was a majority, although more British Columbians voted for the Liberals in this poll.)

But in the May 2017 elections, New Democrats and Liberals emerged on election day in a virtual heat wave, each with 40% of the vote, while the Greens won three of the 87 seats with close to 17 % of voters. & # 39; support. It was just enough to give them the balance of power and, after weeks of negotiations, the Greens signed an agreement with the NDP, overthrowing the ruling Liberals.

Horgan and Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson will face a Nov. 8 debate on electoral reform. Wilkinson and his Liberals argue that the current system is better for preserving local representation and warns that proportional representation will concentrate power in urban centers.

Critics of electoral reform also say that proportional representation means that politicians will be selected on the basis of party lists established at party headquarters, and Mr. Cheffins noted that this was generally what was happening. "The party is preparing lists, the problem is that you put the same people at the top of the list, time and time again."

Mr. Horgan said it was not his preference: "I do not support closed lists, I support citizens who vote for people and elect them to our legislature." The Greens also support open lists. However, this decision – if B.C. will use open lists chosen by voters, rather than closed lists chosen by the parties – will not be made before the referendum. This is one of the details that will be referred to a multipartite committee of the legislature, if voters reject the current system in this month's referendum.