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Thanks for taking the time to learn about how BC-STV aims to fix problems found in our First Past the Post elections and to ensure that all British Columbians have the representatives that they vote for.
Across the province, many British Columbians are aware of the problems that occur. In the past few years, we have witnessed elections where the party with the most votes received less seats, or where government has been so stacked with legislators from one party, that the BC Government did not even have an official opposition.
Every election, thousands of British Columbians vote for smaller political parties, including the Green Party and the BC Conservatives, and yet the current first past the post system does not reflect this.
In 2004, the Provincial Government kept an election promise and commissioned the BC Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform.
160 men and women from across the province listened to British Columbians and determined that we needed an electoral system that granted voters better choices, fairer results, and more effective local voices.
They looked at electoral systems around the world and decided that for our provincial elections we should adopt a Single Transferable Vote (STV) as currently used for many governmental elections within Australia, Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.