Help B.C. choose its future voting system

The provincial government is asking the public to help shape an upcoming referendum held in the fall that will determine how residents elect its politicians in the future. Following the outcome, B.C. either gets to keep its current, “first past the post” voting system or move to one of proportional representation.

“This is another step government is taking to give people the power to shape our democracy,” said Attorney General David Eby who launched the imitative last November.

“I encourage everyone to make their voices heard in this engagement, and to help shape a referendum that will determine how B.C. elects its members of the legislative assembly, and how they represent you.”

To give your input, visit engage.gov.bc.ca/howwevote by Feb. 28, 2018 to complete a questionnaire — available in French, both simplified and traditional Chinese as well as Punjabi — touching on topics including the design of 2018 referendum ballots, type of content and whether how public funding should be distributed during the referendum campaign period.

There are several digital resources on the website to help people become more educated on the topic, such as a slideshow explaining the basics of various voting systems around the glob and supplementary links to dive more in-depth into each one.

Once the engagement period ends at the end of this month, the gathered results are key in forming the basis of a report prepared by the Attorney General, which then gets posted publicly before being presented to cabinet. Further details are announced afterward.

More than 11,000 British Columbians have already completed the questionnaire. If a new voting system is approved, legislation will be in effect for any provincial election held after July 1, 2021.