The ballots have been mailed out and in the coming weeks, British Columbians will decide whether to keep our existing voting system for provincial elections or switch to a proportional representation model.
The electoral reform referendum is an important decision and one that has already generated considerable discussion, in this community and throughout the province.
In this issue of the Summerland Review, the majority of the letters are on this topic. Over the past two weeks, we have also run opinion pieces presenting reasons for rejecting or accepting a proportional representation system.
There are some good arguments for keeping the existing voting system — a system which has been in place throughout most of our province’s history and one which proponents say has served us well in the past.
Or, put another way, those supporting the existing system would say there is no need to scrap a model which works perfectly well.
There are also some good arguments for a reform or overhaul of the electoral system, since the makeup of the provincial legislature does not often reflect the choices voters have made in the past.
Those calling for electoral reform say it is unfair for a party with support of only 40 per cent of voters to have full control of the legislature.
If voters choose to change the system, the decision will be revisited after the second provincial election using proportional representation. This lets us test proportional representation before making a final decision.
Even so, a decision on voting reform should be made carefully and thoughtfully.
Take the time to consider the arguments for and against proportional representation.
Look at stable democracies where a system of proportional representation has been in place, and look at stable democracies which use our existing first past the post system.
The decision we make, whether to keep our existing voting structure or to go to a model of proportional representation, will affect us all.