When 麻豆社国产residents go to the polls to elect a new MLA on May 17, they'll also be voting on whether to change the way they pick the next MLA.
A provincewide referendum will ask British Columbians if they want to adopt the Single Transferable Vote (STV) electoral system or keep the current "first past the post" (FPTP) system of electing members of the Legislative Assembly.
Currently, voters elect one MLA in each of 79 ridings, with the candidate who receives the most votes elected. Under that system, the total percentage of votes received by a party often does not correspond to the percentage of seats it wins. In 1996, FPTP saw the New Democratic Party win a majority of seats in the legislature despite getting fewer votes provincewide than the B.C. Liberals. In 2001, it swung the other way, with the Liberals winning 77 of 79 seats (97.5 per cent) with 58 per cent of the vote and the NDP winning only two seats (2.5 per cent) with 22 per cent of the popular vote.
The provincial government created the British Columbia Citizen's Assembly on Electoral Reform in May 2003 to examine options for a new electoral system. A total of 161 citizens - one man and one woman from each of B.C.'s 79 ridings selected at random from the voters' list, plus two First Nations representatives and chair Jack Blaney - deliberated through 2004, holding 50 public hearings and reviewing more than 1,600 submissions.
In December, the Assembly submitted its final report to the B.C. Legislature, recommending that B.C. adopt a STV system.
Under the proposed STV system, there would be fewer ridings with multiple MLAs representing each riding - between two and seven depending on the riding's population. Voters would rank candidates based on their preference and voters' second, third, fourth and subsequent choices would count towards electing MLAs after first-choice ballots are counted according to a formula.
Advocates of the STV system say that it awards political parties seats in the legislature in a manner more reflective of their popular support and gives voters greater power by letting them vote for multiple candidates, including independents.Critics say that the system is too complicated to be clearly understood and does not allow for proper representation in rural areas.
The referendum must be adopted by at least 60 per cent of voters provincewide and by 50 per cent of the voters in at least 48 of the 79 ridings in the province - a simple majority in 60 per cent of the ridings.
If adopted, the new system would come into effect for the 2009 provincial election.
One 麻豆社国产resident who took part in the electoral reform discussions says while STV wasn't his first choice, it's a better option than the current system.
Retired teacher Doug Morrison made a presentation to the Citizens' Assembly in Whistler - its only visit to the Sea to Sky corridor during its deliberations - last June.
Morrison made a presentation in favour of a mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) system, where some of the members of the legislature would be elected based on the percentage of the popular vote received by each party, while the rest would be elected the way they are now in fewer, larger ridings.
But Morrison is still endorsing the STV system.
"It's not actually what I believe is best, but it's so much better than first-past-the-post and it's the only choice," he said.
"This referendum isn't about other systems; it's about moving away from first past the post."
Morrison doesn't dispute the fact that the system is more complicated than FPTP, but says that the results are much more reflective of the popular will.
"If someone came to you and explained our present system, I think you'd say 'I don't see how you can elect a majority with 35 per cent of the vote'," said Morrison.
"We've just gotten used to this system."
