Why B.C. Voters should reject STV

(The following article is from the April 1-15, 2005 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper.)

By George Gidora, B.C. leader of the Communist Party

The lines are being drawn for British Columbia's May 17 referendum on "Single Transferable Voting-BC". While the BC-STV proposal advanced by the Citizens' Assembly has its supporters, the concept has failed to generate a groundswell of public support.

BC-STV will likely fall well short of the 60% backing (plus majority support in 48 of the 79 provincial ridings) necessary to be implemented for the 2009 B.C. election. The reason is simple: while a majority of British Columbians are unhappy with the undemocratic "first-past-the-post" electoral system, STV is widely seen as an confusing, flawed alternative.

During the Citizens' Assembly hearings last year, there was strong support across the province for some form of mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) system. The Communist Party's BC Committee, for example, called for a system combining the election of 50 MLAs in single-member constituencies, with another 50 to be elected by proportional representation, with a 2% threshold. This system could help broaden the range of political outlooks represented in the Legislature, including parties which advocate working class policies.

The Green Party, which won 12.4% of the total vote in 2001 without electing a single MLA, campaigned hard for MMP. Proportional representation also has broad support within the NDP, and in the labour and democratic movements.

Instead, the Citizens' Assembly recommended a BC-specific form of the Single Transferable Vote system used in a few other countries. Some analysts think that while MMP was the early favourite among Assembly members, differences over the details opened the way for STV, an alternative favoured by some of the electoral reform specialists who lobbied the Assembly intensively. The result was a complex proposal, giving voters the right to rank their favoured candidates in numerical order. The plan would create some 18 large ridings, each electing from two to seven MLAs. The number of MLAs would remain at 79, a condition set by the Campbell government's legislation setting up the Assembly.

No major organization based in the working class, or among environmentalists or other people's movements, has endorsed BC-STV. Many prominent Greens and NDPers are calling for a "NO" vote, and the BC Committee of the Communist Party voted at its March 12-13 meeting to campaign against STV and in favour of a renewed push for MMP as a far more advanced and democratic electoral reform.
The advocates of STV put forward several arguments: that any change away from "first-past-the-post" represents democratic progress; that STV would move influence away from political parties, towards voters and independent candidates; that STV would inject a degree of proportionality into the electoral system.

But there is nothing clear or straightforward about this proposed system.
Far from opening the door to further democratic reforms, adoption of STV would probably mean an indefinite delay in moving towards proportional representation. In fact, if STV proved unpopular in practice, it could result in a return to first-past-the-post. British Columbians could be looking at several provincial elections before PR gets back on the agenda.

As for enhancing the role of candidates, this seems doubtful. It is already difficult and expensive for independents and candidates of "non-major" parties to get their message out in ridings with an average of over 30,000 voters. That difficulty will be compounded in ridings several times larger.

Already, the debate over STV has turned into a war of competing forecasts over the likely behaviour of parties, candidates and voters. Far from building the struggle for genuine electoral reform, this debate is mired on details such as ballot length - i.e. the numbers of candidates which might or might not be nominated by various parties in a seven-member riding. Then there is the problem of mass confusion over vote-counting. STV supporters say that "it's as easy as 1-2-3," but find it difficult to answer questions about which ballots would be discarded after the first few rounds of transferring votes from less-popular candidates.

On May 17, voters should reject this flawed STV proposal, and send the Legislature back to the drawing board. Let's renew the demand for an MMP system that allows voters to elect a local MLA, combined with a strong element of proportional representation. That's the best way to ensure that the views of British Columbians are fairly reflected in the Legislature, and to encourage working class voters to cast more ballots for Communists and other progressives.

Dividing bar graphic
HOME • ABOUT • PRIVACY • LEGAL • JOIN