What are the three options when it comes to changing the provincial system of voting to proportional representation ?
That was the focus of a public meeting at the Quesnel Rec Centre last night put on by the Stand Up For The North Committee and Fair Vote BC.
The first choice, Dual Member, would see most ridings elect two MLA’s with a few large rural ridings continuing to have one.
In this case the first MLA could be a BC Liberal and the second an NDP or Green representative, unless there was very strong support for any one party.
The second option is called Mixed Member.
Jay Sanders, with Fair Vote BC, explains…
“There would be two types of MLA’s. There would be MLA’s tied to a local riding and then there would be MLA’s who are representing a much larger region. So here in the north, most of the MLA’s are always BC Liberals, so if you are an NDP voter in the north or a Green voter you would ask who’s going to speak for me ?”
60 percent of the MLA’s would represent ridings and 40 percent would be elected from regional candidates, and once again you would have a representative from more than just one party.
Sanders says the final option, rural-urban, varies depending on where you are.
“In large urban areas where the ridings are very small and densely packed you could combine several ridings into a multi-member district, that would use the single transferable vote to elect a number of MLA’s from that riding.”
In the north however, he says it would work the same as mixed member where you would vote for a local representative and regional representatives.
More details can be found on the Elections BC website.
You should have received a ballot by now and they must be sent in by November 30th.