Nearly half of BC voters denied the local MLAs they wanted in 2005
April 29, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BC-STV will make your vote count
Nearly half of BC voters denied the local MLAs they wanted in 2005
Vancouver, B.C. - The numbers tell the story when it comes to choosing a fair way of electing our MLAs. It’s a fact that more than 850,000 voters were denied the representation they wanted when they voted in the 2005 provincial election. That’s nearly half of all the voters who cast a ballot.
“It’s time we had a system that returns fair results and guarantees a majority of voters get the MLA they vote for,” says Bruce Hallsor, past president of Fair Voting BC. “The current first-past-the post system makes no sense because it makes it possible for one party to win 100 per cent of the power with as little as 40 percent of the vote.”
Here’s how the numbers* stack up from the 2005 election.
• votes that elected no one: 858,001 votes cast for candidates not elected (48.7 per cent)
• surplus votes: 266,265 votes cast for winning candidates that were not needed (15.1 per cent)
• total votes that had no impact on who won a seat: 1,124,266 (63.8 per cent)
“It’s shocking that more than half of British Columbian voters have so little say in who represents them in the legislature,” added Hallsor. “If we want voters to be engaged in our democracy, they need to know their vote will mean something. With first past the post the results simply don’t make sense.”
And it gets worse. In the four ridings that made up the Eastern Fraser Valley in 2005 for example, the NDP won 31.3 per cent of popular vote but did not win a single seat. And in the 14 ridings that made up Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, the BC Liberals received 40 per cent of the vote but won just 28.6 per cent of the seats.
“That's why the Citizens’ Assembly chose STV as the best electoral system for British Columbia and why thousands of British Columbians are lining up to support it,” says Shoni Field, former member of the Citizen’s Assembly. “With BC-STV, voters will be able to rank their preferred candidates and know that their vote will go well beyond the antiquated system of one winner takes all.”
Below is a breakdown of votes that elected no one* by riding in the 2005 provincial election under the current first-past-the-post system.
On May 12, in a province wide referendum on electoral reform, voters will have a chance to make history and change the way politicians are elected. British Columbians will choose between the current “first-past-the-post” system and the STV system that was recommended overwhelmingly by the Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform. In the last election, BC-STV received more votes than any political party, nearly 58 per cent. However, the referendum requires 60 per cent approval to be adopted by the government.
British Columbians for BC-STV is the official proponent of the single transferable vote (STV) system, as proposed by the BC Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform in 2004. More information about the STV system and how British Columbians can get involved in the campaign is available at www.stv.ca or by calling 1-866-835-7612. Voters can also join the online discussion about electoral reform through the Facebook group “Yes for BC-STV” and www.twitter.com/BCSTV.
*Voting data obtained from the report of the Chief Electoral Officer of British Columbia on the 2005 provincial general election.
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Listing of the number and percentage of votes that elected no one* by electoral district in the 2005 BC general election
Delta South
15,199
62.5%
Prince George-Mount Robson
8,446
58.9%
Vancouver-Burrard
16,474
57.8%
Okanagan-Vernon
15,210
56.8%
Powell River-Sunshine Coast
14,443
56.5%
Saanich North and the Islands
17,780
56.3%
Burnaby-Willingdon
11,140
56.0%
Maple Ridge-Mission
15,208
55.7%
North Vancouver-Lonsdale
11,690
55.5%
North Island
13,848
54.7%
Burnaby North
12,435
54.4%
Comox Valley
16,696
54.3%
Cariboo South
8,546
54.0%
Vancouver-Point Grey
14,685
54.0%
Malahat-Juan de Fuca
14,574
53.9%
Saanich South
14,989
53.9%
Burquitlam
11,617
53.6%
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows
13,624
53.6%
Vancouver-Fairview
14,911
53.4%
Burnaby-Edmonds
11,791
53.3%
Coquitlam-Maillardville
11,894
53.0%
Shuswap
12,453
53.0%
Cariboo North
8,200
52.7%
Delta North
11,602
52.5%
Oak Bay-Gordon Head
14,849
52.5%
Kamloops
12,406
52.4%
Vancouver-Fraserview
10,807
52.2%
East Kootenay
8,728
52.0%
Port Coquitlam-Burke Mountain
12,761
51.9%
Skeena
6,647
51.9%
Bulkley Valley-Stikine
6,721
51.7%
Kamloops-North Thompson
12,440
51.6%
Yale-Lillooet
8,810
51.1%
Esquimalt-Metchosin
12,731
50.4%
Prince George North
7,718
50.1%
Cowichan-Ladysmith
14,003
50.0%
Vancouver-Kensington
10,587
50.0%
Penticton-Okanagan Valley
13,526
49.8%
West Vancouver-Garibaldi
11,646
49.7%
Kelowna-Lake Country
12,065
49.6%
New Westminster
12,548
48.7%
Nanaimo-Parksville
15,627
48.6%
Surrey-Tynehead
11,410
48.6%
Vancouver-Kingsway
9,475
48.6%
Columbia River-Revelstoke
6,967
48.3%
Prince George-Omineca
8,052
48.3%
Nanaimo
12,257
48.1%
Langley
11,803
47.8%
Alberni-Qualicum
12,602
47.4%
Surrey-Panorama Ridge
10,177
46.8%
Kelowna-Mission
11,911
46.3%
Port Moody-Westwood
12,187
46.3%
North Coast
5,025
46.2%
Okanagan-Westside
10,186
45.6%
Vancouver-Hastings
9,745
45.4%
Surrey-Whalley
7,285
45.0%
Vancouver-Langara
8,591
43.5%
North Vancouver-Seymour
10,989
43.1%
Victoria-Beacon Hill
12,114
43.0%
Victoria-Hillside
10,506
43.0%
Chilliwack-Kent
8,528
42.9%
Chilliwack-Sumas
8,916
42.6%
Abbotsford-Mount Lehman
8,355
42.5%
Richmond East
8,620
42.5%
Peace River South
4,252
42.3%
Surrey-Newton
7,812
42.1%
Surrey-White Rock
11,989
42.1%
Richmond Centre
7,718
41.4%
Nelson-Creston
9,035
41.2%
Fort Langley-Aldergrove
10,683
40.9%
Richmond-Steveston
9,550
40.8%
Peace River North
3,762
40.6%
Abbotsford-Clayburn
7,380
40.0%
West Kootenay-Boundary
8,782
39.7%
Surrey-Green Timbers
6,980
39.2%
Surrey-Cloverdale
10,225
38.4%
Vancouver-Mount Pleasant
7,222
35.8%
Vancouver-Quilchena
8,018
32.8%
West Vancouver-Capilano
6,817
31.7%
*Voting data obtained from the report of the Chief Electoral Officer of British Columbia on the 2005 provincial general election. 5