A better system
The Vancouver Province
Thu 12 Mar 2009
Page: A19
Section: Letters
Byline: Shoni Field
http://www.theprovince.com
Opposing sides face off on proposed voting system
Westender
12 March 2009
posted by Jackie Wong
http://www.westender.com/a
STV best method for voting
Kelowna Daily Courier
Thu 12 Mar 2009
Page: A9
Section: Letters
Byline: Andy Thomsen
Regarding the article: STV question back on the ballot May 12 (Okanagan Sunday, Feb. 15)
While Bill Tieleman's concerns about the counting of the ballot and how the proposed electoral system will change our political landscape may be valid, some of them are also grossly misplaced.
Tieleman is not alone in his preoccupation with lack of regional representation. After all, it was only in 2001 that one provincial party received only two seats in our provincial legislature with 42 per cent of the popular vote, while the other party received the remaining 77 seats with only 56 per cent.
What he does not recognize is the fact it was our current 'first-past-the-post' electoral system that produced those bizarre results, not the proposed electoral process we will be voting on in May.
Tieleman also suggests our current smaller ridings ensure more accountable local representation, when the reality is quite the opposite.
Party discipline has changed the power structure of our governments, and our MLAs have become accountable to the premier, not the people they were elected to represent.
His concerns regarding the counting of the votes, however, are completely without foundation. While he is referring to the computers counting our ballots as blenders turning our votes into chop suey, those computers are a proven technology that took us to the moon and back a long time ago, not to mention that we successfully have used computers for years, to make sure every vote counts.
We should also be reminded that while some will refer to Ireland and Malta as examples of how STV does not work, it would probably be fair to suggest the difficulties those societies are experiencing probably are the result of a longer standing and deeply rooted nature than their electoral systems.
The reality is that many countries around the world, including most of Europe, have been using proportional types of electoral systems for many years, including STV, and they have consistently produced stable, responsible and productive governments.
Andy Thomsen,
Kelowna
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