QUOTA    NOTES

 

 

Newsletter of the Proportional Representation Society of Australia

 

 

QN2005B                       June 2005                                                            www.prsa.org.au

 

 

British Columbia Referendum: Over 57% Vote for ‘BC-STV’ - One 60% Hurdle Met

 

The voters of British Columbia gave their verdict on the proposal for a Hare-Clark proportional representation (PR) electoral system to replace the province’s existing system of single-member electoral districts, where first-past-the-post counting applies, at a referendum held in conjunction with the election for the 79-member unicameral Parliament of British Columbia on 17th May 2005.

 

The Liberal Government of the province had initiated the process that led to the referendum in response to widespread criticism of and disaffection with the existing electoral system. The New Democratic Party had remained in majority government at the 1996 election after obtaining 39.5% support compared with 41.8% for the Liberals, but was virtually wiped out at the 2001 election, the Liberal Party winning 77 of the 79 electoral districts, after gaining 57.6% of the vote.

 

The wording of the referendum proposal, and the type of PR system it proposed, which was termed BC-STV (British Columbia - Single Transferable Vote), had been decided by a “Citizens’ Assembly”. The Assembly was established under a quite novel, and enlightened law (See QN2004D). However, for the first time in the province’s history, a special majority of 60% overall, and majorities in at least 60% of the 79 electoral districts, were made requirements for a positive referendum result to become binding.

 

Some Australians - among them our longest-serving Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies - have remarked on the difficulty of altering Australia’s Constitution, where a proposed alteration must be approved by both a simple majority (just over 50%) of voters overall, and a simple majority of voters in a simple majority of States to succeed. That double majority is child’s play compared with the difficulty of gaining a 60% double majority!

 

The table that follows summarizes the percentage of votes at the 2005 referendum in favour of the single-member system being replaced by the BC-STV system, and the percentages of votes for the three largest parties at the concurrent 2005 elections and the previous 2001 elections.

 


Option in the Ballots

Year

Provincial Vote (%)

EFFECT OF VOTE

YES in Referendum

2005

57.69

short of 60%, but won in nearly all seats

LiberalParty

2005

45.80

58.23% of seats

2001

57.62

97.47% of seats

New Democratic Party

2005

41.52

41.77% of seats

2001

21.56

2.53% of seats

GreensParty

2005

9.18

0.00% of seats

2001

12.39

0.00% of seats

Others

2005

3.50

0.00% of seats

2001

8.43

0.00% of seats

 

A most impressive feature of the referendum result was the extent to which the other demanding proviso for the referendum to become binding was exceeded. A majority was required in at least 47 of British Columbia’s 79 electoral districts. That was one more electoral district than the incoming Liberal Government won after attracting 45.8% support. The final outcome was that 77 of the 79 electoral districts recorded a YES vote.

 

The table overleaf details the referendum and the 2005 election results in each electoral district. It shows that, of the 16 districts where the YES vote exceeded 60% and is shown in bold type, the Liberal Government won 7. The remaining 9 were won by the New Democratic Party. Support levels between 57% and 60% were achieved in a further 23 districts. The two electoral districts where the NO vote won a slim majority appear with a bold border. In 61 of the 79 electoral districts (77%) the representative elected obtained less support (see the asterisks in the table below) than the YES referendum option in that district.

 

The Liberal Government had made clear the legal reality that if re-elected it would not be prevented from introducing BC-STV if the result of the referendum fell slightly short of one or other of the two special majority percentages of 60% that it had imposed.

 




Electoral District

2005

Referendum

2005

Elections

Yes

No

LIB

NDP

GREEN

Abbotsford-Clayburn

52.48

47.52

59.95

30.15

7.75

Abbotsford-Mount Lehman

50.90

49.10

57.55

31.16

6.91

Alberni-Qualicum

59.99

40.01

36.81

52.61*

7.19

Bulkley Valley-Stikine

55.80

44.20

48.30*

39.82

5.92

Burnaby-Edmonds

58.38

41.62

43.38

46.7*

9.91

Burnaby North

56.11

43.89

45.59*

45.31

7.71

Burnaby-Willingdon

57.08

42.92

44.00*

42.00

7.45

Burquitlam

58.82

41.18

46.39*

44.68

7.47

Cariboo North

58.57

41.43

45.55

47.28*

5.37

Cariboo South

53.13

46.87

45.27

45.99*

5.38

Chilliwack-Kent

54.96

45.04

57.14

32.84

8.30

Chilliwack-Sumas

55.12

44.88

57.36

30.97

8.28

Columbia River-Revelstoke

58.03

41.97

39.86

51.71*

8.44

Comox Valley

60.96

39.04

45.73*

43.11

9.21

Coquitlam-Maillardville

58.07

41.93

44.60

46.96*

6.31

Cowichan-Ladysmith

58.26

41.74

40.78

50.02*

6.96

Delta North

57.42

42.58

42.93

47.46*

7.75

Delta South

57.68

42.32

37.48*

23.97

4.65

East Kootenay

54.64

45.36

48.01*

43.72

8.27

Esquimalt-Metchosin

59.17

40.83

38.18

49.63*

10.57