British Columbia electoral reform referendum, 2005

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. It will be held in conjunction with the British Columbia general election, 2005.

Voters will be given a referendum ballot in addition to a ballot to vote for the candidates for Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA) in their constituency. In order to pass, the referendum will need to receive 60% of the province-wide popular vote and a simple majority in 60% (48 of 79) of the electoral districts.

Contents

1 Changes to the Electoral System 2 Timeline 3 Results 4 References

Changes to the Electoral System

If approved, the current electoral system will be replaced by a Single transferable vote ("BC-STV") system with the following properties:

• voters will not be required to rank all candidates, unlike in the Australian electoral system in which each candidate must be ranked; and
• if votes are transferred because a candidate has exceeded the quota required to win, all of that candidate's ballots are examined for transfer votes, unlike the method used in Ireland in which, after a candidate has reached the quota, only remaining ballots are examined for further preferences.

Timeline

• September 20, 2002 - The government appoints former British Columbia Liberal Party leader Gordon Gibson to recommend the structure of the Citizens' Assembly.

• April 28, 2003 - The Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform is created by motion of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

• December 10, 2004 - The final report of the Assembly, recommending BC-STV, is presented to the government.

• January 15, 2005 - The Democratic Reform British Columbia party is created out of a merger of the British Columbia Democratic Coalition and the All Nations Party of British Columbia. The party also boasts the support of key elements of the Reform Party of British Columbia. One of this party's main goals is the support of BC-STV.

Results

The question to be asked is: Should British Columbia change to the BC-STV electoral system as recommended by the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform?

Option	Popular Vote		Districts carried
	#	%	#	%
Yes*
No
Total		100.0	79	100.0

* BC-STV will be implemented only if the "yes" option receives 60% of the province-wide popular vote, and at least 50% of the vote in 60% of the province's electoral districts.

References

• Irish Proportional Representation System

• A website providing an online poll comparing the STV to the FPTP system with real B.C. political candidates can be seen here