The Editor,
Re. “Referendum ballot biased” (Letters, The Tri-City News, Sept. 21).
The letter writer is obviously a BC Liberal supporter, repeating the talking points of a party that is not campaigning in the run-up to the electoral reform referendum for the voter but for the party itself.
The BC Liberals are deathly afraid that they will lose their stacked deck, their ace in the hole if the referendum is passed.
For most of the past decades, the BC Liberals and their predecessors have relied on their 40% share of the vote to give them 100% of the power.
Mr. Dyrkton’s letter is full of misinformation and obfuscation about proportional representation (PR). Perhaps he genuinely doesn’t understand the process, or perhaps he is deliberate in his intention to instil fear and confusion in the minds of the voters. He talks about the sovereignty of the legislature being overthrown by lowly voters.
What can be more sovereign than the will of the people?
The letter writer suggests the first question will not elicit a majority. But that’s exactly what a two-choice question does. He can pick one or the other. Simple.
He’s concerned that his ballot will be invalid if he only votes on the first question. Rest easy. You don’t have to vote on the second.
He talks about MMP having a closed list where the party chooses the candidates. Not so. Another error on his part.
He talks about the referendum question as not being a transparent process. This is a favourite ploy by the anti-electoral reform people. If you have no real argument against it, make if sound either shrouded in mystery or incredibly confusing.
Ninety countries use a variety of forms of PR. Their citizens don’t seem to have any trouble understanding the system. Are we not as astute as they are? No country, once having adopted PR, has ever changed back. All the major democracies use PR.
In B.C. and in Canada, about 50% of votes do not elect a representative. In the Scandinavian countries under PR, more than 95% of votes go to electing a representative.
If you want your vote to count on election day, which system would you choose?
Daryl Sturdy, Vancouver
