Some highlights of Proportional Representation

Proportional representation is associated with higher economic growth, longer life expectancy and higher life satisfaction.

 

What IS proportional representation anyway?

Graph showing pro rep means the share of seats a party gets equals its share of votes.
It just means voters reliably get what they voted. For example, if half the voters in a region support one political party, those voters will get half the representatives sent to Victoria. Not far fewer or far more, as often happens with our old voting system, “First-Past-The-Post”. (For definitions of Proportional Representation and First-Past-The-Post see Questions and Answers.)

 

95% of voters help elect an MLA with proportional representation, compared to only half with First Past The Post.
With Pro Rep, you needn’t worry about your vote getting wasted. Virtually every vote counts toward electing an MLA so you’ll almost certainly have an MLA you helped elect, accountable to you.

PR-simple-stable-successful-government

 

Unlike our old voting system, Pro Rep assures true majority support, leading to better decision-making.

 

This graphic shows a dozen of the many practical benefits from Pro Rep that researchers have found.

Featured Video (277,000 FB+YT views Oct.22nd-29th):

 

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Chair of VotingBC

 

Welcome!

I hope you’ll enjoy checking out these web pages – most are based on colorful graphic images except “About VotingBC”, and “Questions and Answers”, which has definitions of “First-Past-The-Post” and “Proportional Representation” among other things. On smartphones you’ll notice some of the graphics here are better viewed in landscape mode 

In simple terms, proportional representation gives a legislature closer to the province-wide sentiment. It does this in a way that respects and includes almost every voter’s contribution. The democratic result is that almost every voter will have an MLA a bit closer to their own views.

But what is the practical result? In practice, it turns out that modern voting attracts better candidates, including significantly more women. Pro Rep gives more stable government policy and higher economic growth, by bringing in more consistent true-majority rule. There’s a bigger pie to share.

Congratulations to the winners of our first video contest about the BC Referendum! Please tell any filmmakers you know about our second video contest and prizes.

Thanks for visiting.

-Maxwell Anderson, Chair, VotingBC
Oct. 22, 2018