Study to show how different processes affect B.C. election result

A research project based at UBC and Université Laval is allowing people to find out how individuals voting under different systems can make a difference to the result of B.C.’s election on May 14th.

B.C. voters are being encouraged to participate in the study by voting online (www.votesbc.org) using three different voting systems; First Past The Post (FPTP), Proportional Representation (PR) and Single Transferable Vote (STV). Voting is done anonymously and reflects the current B.C. election, with all candidates in each riding on the ballot.

“Our goal is to get as many B.C. voters to cast their vote in the way many others already do around the world. We’ve chosen systems currently used in the Netherlands, Ireland and Australia as examples so we can assess the results of these different methods of voting,” says Allan Craigie, researcher at UBC and member of the VotesBC.org team.

“B.C. failed to adopt the Single Transferable Vote on two different occasions,” says Craigie. “We never actually got the chance to try it out – so wouldn’t it be interesting to see what effect it would have in 2013, even if there are no electoral consequences? It will give voters an understanding of how all these systems would work.”

The site is live from May 1st until voting day. The results will be released in the days following the May 14 Provincial election on the VotesBC.org website.