In yesterday's election the people of British Columbia were asked to choose between the old first-past-the post electoral system and a new single transferable vote system. The referendum question was ...Which electoral system should British Columbia use to elect members to the provincial Legislative Assembly? The existing electoral system (First-Past-the-Post) or the single transferable vote electoral system (BC-STV) proposed by the Citizen's Assembly on Electoral Reform.Up until the beginning of May, it was widely anticipated that more than 60% would vote for STV, thus ensuring that a fair electoral system would become law in British Columbia.
The actual result was a disaster for electoral reform. Only 39% of the voters favored STV while 61% voted to retain the old unfair first-past-the-post system [Elections BC].
This is a major defeat. It will make it much more difficult to get electoral reform passed in Ontario or any other province. As usual, North Americans are much more conservative than the civilized world.
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