For the third time, British Columbians have voted to keep the current first-past-the-post system for provincial elections.
Elections BC announced the results Thursday, saying 61.3 per cent of ballots had been cast in favour of the status quo.
Premier John Horgan said he was disappointed by the outcome but respected the decision.
“British Columbians have now spoken and chosen to stick with the current voting system. This referendum was held because we believe that this decision needed to be up to people, not politicians,” Horgan said in a news release.
Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson applauded the results, saying they represented “the power of democracy,” but also slammed the referendum as a whole.
“This was a flawed process from the beginning as the NDP stacked the deck to satisfy the Green Party and remain in power. This was never been about improving our democracy, it was always about power and control,” Wilkinson said in a statement.
The referendum was part of the confidence and supply agreement the NDP struck with the Green Party to secure its support of the minority government.
A graphic illustrates the responses to the first question on B.C’s ballot in the electoral reform referendum. (Tamara Baluja/CBC)
For his part, Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver, who campaigned on a platform that included proportional representation, echoed Horgan’s disappointment.
“The B.C. Greens remain committed to the principle of representative democracy,” Weaver said in a written statement. “We will continue to champion policies that will strengthen B.C’s democracy and make it more responsive to and representative of the people of B.C.”
The deadline for all ballots to be received in the mail-in referendum passed on Dec. 7.
Voters were asked whether they would prefer to keep the existing first-past-the-post system or move to one of three forms of proportional representation. Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) received the most support, with 41 per cent of ballots listing it as the first preference.
In the end, 42.6 per cent of eligible voters returned their ballots in time to be counted, according to Elections B.C. A simple majority would have been enough to change the voting system for provincial elections.
A total of 1.39 million ballots were cast in the election; 2,461 were rejected.
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