LETTER: Keep current voting system in place

In reference to the voting system in B.C. First we have to rectify grave errors by the media and those advocating a different system for elections. Using the term “first past the post” is ludicrous.

An election is not a horse race. There is no “post.” And there is no one first past this illusory “post.”

If we want to use horse activity terms, let’s use “getting the most votes.” In a horse show in Hollywood’s award system, the one that gets the most votes is declared the winner.

In an honest election, the person that gets the most votes, and rightly so, is declared the winner.

It is not required that she/he gets more than 50 per cent of the vote. If we had a two-party system as the U.S. and Canada originally had, one candidate is bound to get more than half the votes. But as the number of interest groups (parties) multiplied, it became less likely that any one candidate would get 50 per cent of the votes.

Related: Electoral reform vote in B.C. includes $500,000 each for pro and con groups

This brings us to why the “fringe” parties want proportional representation. They know they will never form government. But with PR, they can often control a legislature by forming a coalition. Then, if things don’t go their way, they threaten to walk out and that often forces unprincipled larger parties to succumb to their demands. So we have the tail wagging the dog.

This is exactly what we have in B.C. right now. We are governed by a party that has three members in the legislature.

Other examples of the flaws of the system are Germany where it took six months for Angela Merkel to cobble together a coalition that incidentally is on the verge of breaking up.

Another example is the small country of Israel where the government is in perpetual election mode.

Finally, it appeas from the presentation that Dr. Bell gave, that a committee, which he says will be equally represented by all parties, will come up with a final system.

We know of course that the committee and the system will be skewed to the benefit of the “fringe” parties because it was they that forced Horgan to do this in the first place.

Please, please, let’s stay with a voting system that is simple, understandable and has served us well for over a century. And everyone has a local MLA to whom they can bring their concerns.

Al Schalm