Electoral Reform in BC

[Keith]

British Columbia is going through the process of deciding on a new electoral system. I support Approval Voting (at least as a first step before something more complicated) and would like to make some connections.

https://engage.gov.bc.ca/howwevote/

There is a call for proposals and I have submitted one proposing Approval Voting. In the next stage the administrators are trying to assess the level of credibility and public support for each proposal. As such, I have been collecting endorsements from local public groups and international mathematical organization. Would the center for election science be interested in either endorsing my proposal of Approval Voting or allowing me to set up a British Columbian chapter?

All the Best,
Keith

[Warren D Smith]

Well, I think given the size of the CES, it is kind of ridiculous to "set
up a BC chapter" per se...

But they I daresay would be happy to have you -- or
anybody else from either BC or anyplace else in the world -- join.
Especially if you do useful things.

[I'm not part of CES governance anymore, I'm just saying what I think.]

--
Warren D. Smith
http://RangeVoting.org <-- add your endorsement (by clicking
"endorse" as 1st step)

[Jameson Quinn]

The CES ran a symposium in Vancouver on February 16-18. Here are our public comments. Note that this is a consensus document of over a dozen experts and activists, and as such does not reflect everything that the CES would have said if we could have written a statement by ourselves.

Keith, if you can organize a group of BC'ers to support this referendum, I expect (though I don't have the authority to promise) that the CES would be happy to provide our umbrella. You can talk to me about this on the details. Of course, for anything concrete, I'd have to run it by Aaron, our executive director.

Jameson

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[Keith]

Hi Jameson,

I can definitely organize a group of BC'ers but it may not be to "support this referendum". Given the list on the government web page it may be against it. It really depends on if we are given an option to make the system better or not. People do not like Single Member Plurality and want it out but the only option for change seems to be Proportional Representation. This is a false dichotomy. Proportional Representation is not a bad thing at all but is way down the average persons priority lists. Furthermore, methods like partisan voting or multi-member districts sacrifice more important things to achieve a partisan goal. There are systems which satisfy what is democratically important which would also give a good deal of proportional representation to keep the partisans happy. Local PR is the only one I would consider passable which is getting any attention. Simple Approval (or score) Voting would fix more issues than nearly all other suggestions since they add new issues while fixing others.

Why did CES not give their own proposal?

All the best,
Keith

Jameson

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[Jameson Quinn]

Let's take this discussion back up when the government has set the format for the referendum; until then, we're just speculating on what the issues may be.

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