2005 Referendum Question

Charge: The referendum question was biased in favour of STV.

By Antony Hodgson (1)

The referendum question was designed by the BC Citizens' Assembly members themselves (without partisan political interference) to ensure that it contained the key information they felt British Columbians needed to make an informed decision. The question was:

"Should British Columbia change to the BC-STV electoral system as recommended by the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform?"

In the view of the assembly members, it was important for British Columbians to understand both what the proposal was (STV) and where it came from (ie, from ordinary citizens looking out for the best interests of the province as a whole, rather than for any special or partisan interests). [Some] opponent[s] [say] that it "was worded like a confidence vote in the process that proposed the new system" and impl[y] that this produced a disproportionately high result.

However, a similarly worded question in Prince Edward Island,

"Should Prince Edward Island change to the Mixed Member Proportional System as presented by the Commission of PEI's Electoral Future?",

was supported by only 36% of the voters. Voters there clearly did not feel comfortable with the proposal itself, and the additional information about the source of proposal did not have a decisive impact on the result.

In any case, the central question here is surely whether or not the information is relevant. The BC Citizens' Assembly process is historically significant because it was the first time that a government had willingly given control of the electoral process directly to citizens. The assembly members felt that it would be a disservice to voters not to make them aware of this and that's why they phrased the question the way they did.

Indeed, BC voters understand and appreciate this information. According to detailed polling studies by Prof. Fred Cutler (UBC Political Science), over 70% of voters who were familiar both with the process and the proposal voted 'Yes'. We have faith in the wisdom and sense of civic responsibility of our fellow citizens who were called to this task of public service.

We therefore believe that the referendum question is perfectly justified as it highlights the two major characteristics of the process that voters need and deserve to be made aware of in order to make an informed decision.

(1) Charge: The referendum question was biased in favour of STV by Antony Hodgson, https://stv.ca/node/155