Poll finds small majority of British Columbians support proportional representation

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A new poll shows a slim majority of British Columbians are in favour of proportional representation in the province, but most believe any change to the electoral system needs to be approved in a referendum.

The Ipsos online poll comes in the same week the BC election results confirmed the Liberals hold 43 seats in the legislature to the NDP’s 41 and the Greens’ three.

The Greens and NDP support a system of proportional representation that accounts for the number of seats each party gets in the legislature based on their percentage of the popular vote. NDP Leader John Horgan has said he wouldn’t want to change the electoral system without a referendum.

An Ipsos poll has found 54 per cent of the 801 British Columbians surveyed want to see a change from BC’s first-past-the-post system to some sort of proportional representation. Close to 70 per cent of those surveyed say any change should be subject to a referendum.

Kyle Braid with Ipsos says people who took the survey are showing support for proportional representation for different reasons, including wanting to see more small parties in the Legislature.

“Some folks who live in ridings that are always decided one way or another feel like their vote doesn’t count and they want their vote to count more. They want a reason to come out to vote,” he says.

“Even though there’s interest in proportional representation, people want to say have an opportunity to vote on whatever idea is put forth before it’s implemented in the next election.”

The same survey found only 10 per cent of British Columbians say they are ‘very familiar’ with how proportional representation voting systems work.

Support for a referendum cut across all parties.

“I think there’s an element of fairness to proportional representation that appeals to voters across the spectrum, regardless of how they voted in the last election,” says Braid.