Fear of Change

Changing our Electoral System is a change to a very fundamental part to our democratic system. It is a change that should not be taken lightly. Such changes can make some profound changes to our social structure.

BC-STV represents such a major change to our system. How we elect our Political Leaders is a major component of our social structure. The Democratic Right to VOTE is our only true power within our system, there is nothing more critical to our FREEDOM.

It is understandable to have some hesitation when making such fundamental changes to our social system. The old issue of - "Better the Devil I know, then then the one I don't.". The question of BC-STV being actually better than our current system (FPTP) is one that some found difficult to answer.

It is this issue of 'Fear of Change' that created the situation when we had a record high of registered voters and a record low of voters that actually voted. Everyone excited about having a better voting system, then a large number of individuals losing their courage at the last moment. They had enough courage not to vote against the change. It is both encouraging and disappointing!

In the 2005 referendum just over 58% of eligible voters voted and of these just over 57% actually voted in favour of BC-STV. This demonstrate the courage and commitment in making this fundamental change to our ELECTORAL SYSTEM. Roughly 42% that DID NOT VOTE, may have lost their courage for the change, but they had the courage not to vote "NO".

It is the 'Fear of Change' that caused the contradiction of a HIGH RATE OF REGISTERED VOTERS and a RECORD LOW IN VOTER TURNOUT. The ones that DID NOT VOTE, wanted BC-STV they just could not bring themselves to cast their vote, if they were not in favour of BC-STV they would have voted 'NO'. It took no courage to vote 'NO'.