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Accountable vote system subject of forum
By FRED DAVIES
News Reporter
September 18th, 2007
If you've ever felt your vote was wasted because the party you support never gets elected you'll want to attend a Parksville forum next Tuesday. Proportional representation will be the subject at 7:30 p.m. in Parksville's Civic and Technology Centre, hosted by Fair Vote Canada, Fair Voting B.C and the Green Party. "Now is the time to learn about this system of voting and how to make your vote count,"said Jordan Ellis, a former Green candidate in the federal riding of Nanaimo-Alberni. "As citizens we need to know how we can make our political system more democratic and accountable." Recently the Electoral Boundaries Commission released a plan for the new riding boundaries proposed under the single transferable vote system that B.C residents will be voting on in a referendum to be held during the next provincial election in 2009. "Two elections ago,"said Ellis, "the government was formed by a party that lost the popular vote." That's the problem with a first past the post system that disregards the wishes of many voters, said Ellis. He noted oftentimes people will find themselves supporting second choice candidates simply because their preferred candidate is unlikely to get elected. Split votes among prospective politicians can mean a majority in any given riding may be against the inauguration of whoever is utlimateley selected, thereby tainting the democratic process, he said. Under the single transferable vote candidates are selected in order of preference with seats doled out in rough proportion to the actual popular vote. It will be the second try for proponents of the system who reached a milestone of 58 per cent general support in a similar referendum during the last provincial election - just shy of a 60 per cent benchmark needed to adopt STV. In May of 2009 citizens will have another chance to have their say on a more proportional voting system. "We were very encouraged the last time,' said Ellis. "It's quite hard to understand." Thus the forums, also set for Port Alberni and Nanaimo, aimed at providing more information on what proportional representation really means and how it's carried out. "Fair Voting B.C. is doing a lot of work getting the word out,"said Ellis. A featured speaker will be Janet Scotland, note taker for the B.C. Citizens' Assembly during the province wide consultations that chose STV as the preferred system for B.C. to take to a vote.
Original Source:
http://www.pqbnews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=50&cat=23&id=1066130&more=1
By FRED DAVIES
News Reporter
September 18th, 2007
If you've ever felt your vote was wasted because the party you support never gets elected you'll want to attend a Parksville forum next Tuesday. Proportional representation will be the subject at 7:30 p.m. in Parksville's Civic and Technology Centre, hosted by Fair Vote Canada, Fair Voting B.C and the Green Party. "Now is the time to learn about this system of voting and how to make your vote count,"said Jordan Ellis, a former Green candidate in the federal riding of Nanaimo-Alberni. "As citizens we need to know how we can make our political system more democratic and accountable." Recently the Electoral Boundaries Commission released a plan for the new riding boundaries proposed under the single transferable vote system that B.C residents will be voting on in a referendum to be held during the next provincial election in 2009. "Two elections ago,"said Ellis, "the government was formed by a party that lost the popular vote." That's the problem with a first past the post system that disregards the wishes of many voters, said Ellis. He noted oftentimes people will find themselves supporting second choice candidates simply because their preferred candidate is unlikely to get elected. Split votes among prospective politicians can mean a majority in any given riding may be against the inauguration of whoever is utlimateley selected, thereby tainting the democratic process, he said. Under the single transferable vote candidates are selected in order of preference with seats doled out in rough proportion to the actual popular vote. It will be the second try for proponents of the system who reached a milestone of 58 per cent general support in a similar referendum during the last provincial election - just shy of a 60 per cent benchmark needed to adopt STV. In May of 2009 citizens will have another chance to have their say on a more proportional voting system. "We were very encouraged the last time,' said Ellis. "It's quite hard to understand." Thus the forums, also set for Port Alberni and Nanaimo, aimed at providing more information on what proportional representation really means and how it's carried out. "Fair Voting B.C. is doing a lot of work getting the word out,"said Ellis. A featured speaker will be Janet Scotland, note taker for the B.C. Citizens' Assembly during the province wide consultations that chose STV as the preferred system for B.C. to take to a vote.
Original Source:
http://www.pqbnews.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=50&cat=23&id=1066130&more=1
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