Why have Elections?

This seems to be a silly question to ask - 'we have elections to elect are representatives in Government' - obviously. There is a lot more to elections than just this simple outcome.

ELECTIONS are when the CITIZENS add their VOICE to how our SOCIETY IS TO BE GOVERNED! The POWER OF THE BALLOT BOX IS SUBSTANTIAL, look at how the many different POLITICAL PARTIES scrabble among themselves to get your VOTE.

Our problem is that our ELECTIONS ARE CORRUPTED with our current FPTP ELECTORAL SYSTEM. FPTP only LISTENS to the VOICES of the LARGEST MINORITY OF VOTES, the much LARGER MAJORITY IS NOT HEARD. This SELECTIVE HEARING greatly CORRUPTS our VOICE IN HOW OUR SOCIETY IS TO BE GOVERNED. It is this CORRUPTED ELECTORAL SYSTEM that has discouraged the CITIZENS in expressing their VOICE AT ELECTIONS. In the last 30 years the VOTER TURNOUT has steadily declined from a high in 1983 of 70.50% of Eligible Voters to a record low in 2009 of 50.99% of Eligible Voters.

If we want to CLEANUP OUR CORRUPT SYSTEM we need to start with our ELECTORAL SYSTEM. We need an ELECTORAL SYSTEM where EVERY VOICE IS HEARD.  It is only when we have our FULL VOICE BEING HEARD can we start the process of CLEANING UP OUR CORRUPT POLITICAL SYSTEM.

As a SOCIETY we are so narrowly focused on WINNING, that we see nothing else. ELECTIONS is the time when the CITIZENSHIP participates in how we are GOVERNED. We have Elections every 4 to 5 years and it is the opportunity for the CITIZENSHIP to formulate our GOVERNMENT.

In a Election we find how the CITIZENSHIP sees its GOVERNING SYSTEM. If we look back at the last few BC Elections we find that the 1996 Election was the first time that the PERCENTAGE OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS that VOTED was BELOW THE 60% MARK, at 59.11%. In the 2001 Election, the Liberal party WIPED-OUT the NDP with ONLY 55.44% of ELIGIBLE VOTERS. It is surprising that their was such a lopped sided WIN for the Liberal party with such a marked reduction in the VOTER TURNOUT. In the 2005 Election (the election with the first STV referendum) it jumped a little to 58.19% of ELIGIBLE VOTERS. The STV referendum seems to have sparked some added interest from the VOTERS. In the 2009 Election it dropped to 50.99%, close to only HALF THE ELIGIBLE VOTERS ACTUALLY VOTED.

What does these statistics tell us? What this pattern of DECLINING VOTER TURNOUT tells us is that the CITIZENSHIP IN BC is becoming more and more DISCOURAGED with our GOVERNING SYSTEM, to the point of NOT VOTING. The way the ELECTIONS have unfolded and how the RESULTS have been reached in these ELECTIONS also tell us a lot about how the CITIZENSHIP sees our GOVERNING SYSTEM.

• In 1996 the NDP won 39 of the 75 seats in the Legislature and actually won the majority of seats with a minority of the Popular Vote - NDP 39.45% PV. The Liberals won 33 of the 75 seats with 41.82% PV. This goes a long way to discouraging the CITIZENS in VOTING at ALL and begins to explain why the next Election in 2001 had such a large drop in VOTER TURNOUT (55.44%). The fact that the Liberal Party received more VOTES than the NDP, however, the NDP still maintained a MAJORITY IN THE HOUSE, shows how our SYSTEM DOES NOT WORK.
• In 2001 the NDP won 2 of the 79 seats in the Legislature with 21.56% PV. The Liberals won 77 of the 79 seats with 57.62% PV. What made this Landslide victory for the Liberals so SURPRISING was the fact that only 55.44% of the Eligible Voters actually VOTED. Such a one-sided win would not be so surprising, if there was a large increase in VOTER TURNOUT for the Election.
• In 2005 the Liberals won 46 of the 79 seats with 45.80% PV and the NDP won 33 seats with 41.52% PV. The STV referendum won 57.69% PV and 77 of the 79 Districts. There was a slight increase in VOTER TURNOUT of 58.19% of ELIGIBLE VOTERS. The STV referendum needed to reach the 60% mark that is a super-majority to PASS. The Liberal party recognized the large majority of the STV referendum and promised a SECOND referendum, 4 years later in 2009. Putting the second referendum off for another 4 years was a total slap-in-the-face to the MAJORITY OF VOTERS. This total disregard for the WISHES OF THE MAJORITY again showed the MAJORITY OF THE CITIZENS THAT OUR SYSTEM DOES NOT WORK.
• In 2009 the Liberal Party put into affect a 'STV-gag law' that forbid any discussion concerning the STV referendum (February 2009) until after the election. The result was BARELY HALF OF THE ELIGIBLE VOTERS ACTUALLY VOTED - 50.99%.   The Majority of the CITIZENSHIP IN BC are totally fed-up with our CURRENT GOVERNING SYSTEM.
• In 2013 ?

The issue of WHO WINS is NOT as important as HOW ONE WINS. It is the PROCESS that is just as important as the RESULT; the current PROCESS supports the MINORITY RULING THE MAJORITY. EVERY CITIZEN SEES THIS, as is demonstrated with the steady decline in VOTER TURNOUT. The only ones who DO NOT, are the POWERS THAT BE - Politicians, Media, Political Parties, Unions, Big Business, etc.