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Learn more about proportional ranked choice voting
(also known as Single Transferable Vote - PR-STV)

British Columbia Citizens' Assembly 

Powerpoint on STV used by BC Citizens' Assembly

BC STV Final Report of the Citizens' Assembly

BC STV Fact Sheet: Assessing Electoral Systems

BC STV Fact Sheet: STV

BC STV Videos

Why BC STV? Series with Professor Dennis Pilon

Fair Vote Canada - proportional ranked choice

 

Electoral Reform Society: Single Transferable Vote

 

STV Videos (Mechanics)

Video: An Ordinary Election - STV in Edinburgh

Independents and STV in Ireland

History of STV in the U.S.

2013 Irish Constitutional Convention Reaffirms STV

 

Opa vote: run an STV election for your board

Try STV

 

Proportional Representation in General

 

Fair Vote Canada: Canada's national citizens' campaign for PR.
Please sign the Declaration.

Fair Vote Canada graphics on facebook: Between Sept 2013 and present
a ton of great graphics. 

Fair Vote Canada's research summary on proportional representation

 

Other PR systems:

 

ACE Electoral Knowledge Network: Information on all voting systems.

Law Commission of Canada Report "Voting Counts: Electoral Reform for Canada" (2004), recommended Mixed Member Proportional with an open list

Wilf Day's Blog: MMP for Canada

 

 

Important background information on the BC Citizens' Assembly that Recommended STV

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the Citizens' Assembly website

 

The Assembly was an independent, non-partisan assembly of 160 British Columbians randomly selected from groups of volunteeers who looked at how votes cast in provincial elections translate into seats in the Legislature. This was their mandate.

 

They began on the weekend of January 10-11, 2004, to examine the province’s electoral system — that is, how our votes determine who gets elected to sit in the provincial legislature. And they looked at other electoral systems in use around the world.

 

This initiative was unique. Nowhere else in the world had randomly selected citizens been so empowered to shape the electoral process.  The Assembly was unanimously endorsed by the parties in the legislature, and parties and community leaders outside it.

 

The Citizens’ Assembly had 160 members, 80 women and 80 men, from all of the province's 79 electoral electoral districts. Chair Jack Blaney was also a member.

 

Their year was divided into three phases:  Learning about electoral systems, January-March 2004; public hearings, May-June; and deliberation, September-November. Their final report and recommendation was delivered on 10 December 2004.

 

Irish Constitutional Convention

 

In 2013 the Irish brought together 100 people, representative of Irish society and parliamentarians from the island of Ireland, with an independent Chairman for 12 months of intensive learning and discussion, similar to the Ontario and BC Citizens' Assemblies. 

One of the key questions was whether to replace or amend the STV electoral system, and if so, with what? The main option was MMP. At the end the convention voted overwhelmingly to keep STV (79% yes, 20% for MMP and 1 no opinion) with the recommendation that the constituency sizes be increased to elect a minimum of 5 representatives (each currently elects 3-5), therefore increasing proportionality. This same goal in Canada can be achieved with STV+. 

 

BC Citizens' Assembly

"No criteria imposed by the political elite"

 

- David Farrell, political scientist and electoral system expert describing what made the BC Citizens' Assembly unique 

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