NewWest News Leader: The real beneficiaries with BC-STV will be the voters

The real beneficiaries with BC-STV will be the voters
Updated: May 06, 2009 3:56 PM

When I speak to people about BC-STV, a common question is “who will benefit?”

People want to know if there are vested interests behind this change. Will it make it easier for one party or another to gain control of the legislature?

Some critics suggest BC-STV will make it easier for fringe parties to get elected, but this is untrue. It takes a significant number of votes to get elected with BC-STV, and fringe parties will stay on the fringe.

The Greens will get a direct benefit because they will likely be able to elect some members and they have not been able to do that under the current system. That’s a good reason for the Green Party to give their support to the proposal, which they do.

As for the major parties, BC-STV will both hurt and help them.

It will hurt because it will be harder for them to get the majority governments they have enjoyed in the past. That’s because those majorities have nearly always been awarded with a minority of the popular vote, and with BC-STV a minority of the popular vote is unlikely to result in a majority in the legislature.

On the other hand, BC-STV will help both the major parties because they will get the seats they deserve. In recent elections, both parties have suffered disproportional seat losses caused by the vagaries of first-past-the-post, and this will happen much less with BC-STV.

As a result, both the NDP and the BC Liberals have taken a “neutral” stance on STV.

And the answer to the question is that the parties will win some and lose some.

The real beneficiaries of the change will be us, the voters. BC-STV will result in a legislature that is a better representation of our overall opinions, and that means a legislature that is more likely to make decisions that more of us are happy with.

Iain Macanulty

Fair Voting Burnaby/New Westminster