Confused and furious

The referendum on electoral reform is confusing, complicated, rigged, and unfair.

First, only 92,000 people were consulted on whether we should even consider electoral reform and, if so, what form it should take. Why did the government not consult with every voter in the province with, oh, a referendum of some sort?

The first question on the ballot asks whether you prefer first past the post or a system of proportional representation. Aha! Two options, but only one choice. Confused yet?

Question 2: Rank your preferred electoral methods from the three presented to determine which we should adopt if the majority of voters support PR in the first question.

That’s right – the NDP and Greens won’t tell us in advance under which system we will elect our local and regional MLAs. They refuse to reveal the results of the referendum before all the votes have been counted! The whole process is clearly rigged to favour the majority’s preferences.

Finally, if 51 per cent or more of citizens vote for PR, we'll have to try it out for two whole elections before choosing whether to keep it or return to the current FPTP. And you can bet that during those two terms, extremist fringe parties will try every dirty, sneaky trick possible – co-operating, consulting, etc. – to make it appear as though PR is working well. 

Why can’t we just stick with a system in which 35-45 per cent of eligible citizens who vote (about 20-30 per cent of registered voters) determine who runs the show for everyone each term? 

Are you confused and furious yet?

Sera Kirk, Vancouver