High School Curriculum Materials for
Conducting Mock BC-STV Elections


using pizza-order ballots for in-class practice (go to now),
then real-candidate, real-ridings mock ballots for public demonstrations (go to now),
with instructions for counting by hand (for pizza election) or (for realistic election),
or using an on-line computer program (for pizza election) or (for realistic election)

by
Jennie Milligan and Eli Walker - University of Victoria law students
Wendy Bergerud and David Wills - B.C. Citizens' Assembly for Electoral Reform alumni
Nick Loenen - former politician, co-founder Fair Voting BC, pizza poll contributor
Brenda Guiled - M.Ed., coordinating editor

This is a program for teaching high school students about:

  •  the made-for-British-Columbia form of electing provincial politicians by the Single Transferable Vote system, or BC-STV;
  •  in comparison to the current First Past the Post, or FPTP, system; and
  •  how to conduct these kinds of elections as an in-class pizza-ordering exercise and at public gatherings using realistic mock ballots.

This package contains:

  •  a one-page curriculum overview;
  •  background materials and references from public sources; 

  •  introduction to British Columbia electoral reform;

  •  introduction to BC-STV election basics;
  •  in-class practice election instruction and materials;
  •  realistic mock election instructions and materials for a public gathering;
  •  templates for making mock ballots and for tallying the vote for the above;
  •  instructions for conducting two levels of mock BC-STV elections and matching FPTP exercises;
  •  instructions for doing these entirely by hand and/or by using a website and its programs;
  •  troubleshooting advice and sources.

Time requirements:

  •  one class for background information, introduction of terms and concepts, outline of B.C.'s present electoral system and how the BC-STV referendum came about;
  •  one class to conduct an in-class mock BC-STV election;
  •  one class to conduct a more realistic in-class mock BC-STV election;
  •   several classes or extracurricular hours to plan and conduct a region-specific, real-candidate, mock BC-STV election for public participation.


This is the "You Are Here" page for teachers and students, to keep track of where you are in the program. Ideally, print it and pin it up in the classroom, so there's no mystery about where to start and what to do next, each step of the way.

1. Learn a bit about British Columbia referendums on electoral reform:
  •  who started these referendums and why
  •  who recommended the BC-STV electoral system
  •  why B.C. is having a second referendum on the BC-STV electoral system
2. Learn a bit about British Columbia electoral reform
  •  beginning basics
  •  how we elect politicians
  •  how we run elections
3. Check out some websites for background information and further references
  •  history of the Citizens’ Assembly for Electoral Reform
  •  results of the 2005 BC-STV referendum
  •  others provinces’ referendums on electoral reform
  •  pro BC-STV advocates
  •  anti BC-STV advocates

4. Conduct a mock FPTP and BC-STV election

4.1. Practice a simplified mock BC-STV election
  •  make 100 ballots
  •  take the vote
  •  count the vote, using the tallying template
  •  check the answer key
  •  discuss the result
4.1. Move up the next level: hold a mock BC-STV election
  •  make the ballots
  •  take the vote
  •  count the vote, using the tallying template
  •  check the answer guidelines
  •  discuss the results

4.3. Run a community event featuring a student-run mock BC-STV election

  •  do either 4.1 or 4.2, or
  •  use real local ridings and declared candidates
  •  find or call an appropriate event, as per these instructions
  •  find or call an appropriate event, as per these instructions
  •  make the ballots
  •  conduct the vote with the gathered crowd
  •  while tallying, give a public presentation
  •  report the results and how they tallied
  •  hold Q & A discussion of the method, results, and coming May 12th referendum
5. Troubleshooting
  •  ties, unusual splits, etc.
  •  sources of help


1. Learn a bit about British Columbia referendums on electoral reform:

  •  who started these referendums and why
In the 1996 B.C. provincial election, Gordon Campbell's Liberal Party won 41.8% of the popular vote, but only 33 seats. Glen Clark's New Democratic Party won 39.5% of the popular vote, which translated into 39 seats, hence a majority government for nearly five years.
Gordon Campbell vowed to reform the system if he was ever elected premier

Gordon Campbell's Liberal Party won the next provincial election in 2001. Premier Campbell made good his promise within two years.
  •  who recommended the BC-STV electoral system
Premier Campbell called on Gordon Gibson to oversee a process for studying and recommending electoral reform for British Columbia. Gibson recommended the formation of a Citizens' Assembly for Electoral Reform - a world first. 160 men and women (a man and a woman from each riding) were randomly chosen for the assembly, which was chaired by Jack Blaney. Two aboriginal members were added as well. It did its work from January to November of 2004.


Based on the B.C. Citizens' Assembly's recommendation, Premier Campbell added the following referendum question to the May 12, 2005 provincial election:



He changed the referendum act to raise the threshhold by which the results would become binding. From a simple 50% majority required by all previous referendums and accepted as a democratic majority worldwide, Campbell required a double-60 majority: i.e. 60% majority of voters had to approve, as well as 60% of all ridings at the usual 50% level.
The results were: 57.7% overall, and 97% of ridings (77 out of 79) approving at the 50+% level. The latter results were tossed. The no side, a minority of 42.3% of voters, held sway.
  •  why B.C. is having a second referendum on the BC-STV electoral system
Gordon Campbell was re-elected as premier of British Columbia in May, 2005. In September, he promised in the Speech from the Throne, to hold another referendum on BC-STV, since the last one was so close to his required super 'majority'.
Thus, in the May 12, 2009 provincial election, British Columbia voters also face the following ballot:



2. Learn a bit about British Columbia electoral reform

    •  beginning basics

      Elections in the new province of British Columbia, in 1871, were by a show of hands. Only white male citizens who owned land were allowed to vote. No other system was considered. There were no secret ballots and no political parties. These eventually were adopted. Gradually, over long decades, disenfranchised citizens won the right to vote. Now, all British Columbians reaching the age of majority - 18 years old, for electoral purpose; 19 to drink. - may vote.
    •  how we elect politicians
      The current system of electing MLAs in British Columbia is single member plurality (SMP), better known as, "first past the post" (FPTP). Each riding elects one MLA. Of all candidates listed on a ballot, the one with the most votes wins. Students are familiar with this system, which is used in many different voting situations, from a show of hands to formal ballots.

      •  how we run elections

      The Chief Electoral Officer of British Columbia oversees the electoral process, through the office of Elections B.C. They set up and run the entire electoral apparatus. They provide ballots, maps of electoral boundaries, each ridings' elections officials who administer the ballots and count them, release of election night results, recourts, final reports, and more. They make sure that all requisite procedures are followed.

      The Attorney General's office provides legal expertise regarding electoral requirements and proceedings.

      For example, Elections B.C. can tell you that a double-60% majority is required for the BC-STV referendums to pass. They have no responsibility beyond this. The Attorney General's office can direct you to the legislative acts required to make this legal and binding
      .


3. Check out some websites for background information and further references

    •  history of the Citizens’ Assembly for Electoral Reform
    •  results of the 2005 BC-STV referendum
    •  others provinces’ referendums on electoral reform
    •  pro BC-STV advocates
    •  anti BC-STV advocates
This information and much more can be found on the following website resources sheet:
resources-sheet.pdf



 

4 . Conduct a mock FPTP and BC-STV election

4.1 In-class practice, ordering pizza, counting the ballots by hand

Supplies needed: photocopier, 8.5"x11" copy paper, scissors to cut the ballots, pencils or pens for voters, calculator.

In this exercise, the students will make the ballots and counting sheets, distribute and fill them out, then count and tally the ballots by hand, using a calculator for sums and percentages.
  •  Explain the ballots.

    - On the first-past-the-post (FPTP) ballot, students vote for one pizza only.

    - On the single transferable vote (BC-STV) ballot, instruct the students to rank by number as many of the nine pizzas as they wish, according to their preferences. They will put a (1) beside their first choice, a (2) beside their second choice, etc.
    (Please emphasize that students may vote as many or as few pizzas as they'd like. The more they rank, however, the more useful the ballot, as they'll see during the count.)

  •  Distribute the ballots.

    - Give each person two ballots: (1) BC-STV ballot and (1) FPTP ballot.

    - Fill these out and set aside as done.

    - Continue this until all 99 ballots are marked, then collect all of them (This isn't a one person-one ballot democracy, obviously, but the point is simply to get all the ballots filled out and ready for the count.)


  •  Separate the BC-STV ballots from the FPTP ballots.

  •  Count the FPTP ballots.

    - Use FPTP count table to record the number of ballots each candidate received.

    - The pizza with the most ballots from each order is declared the winner.
    •  Count the BC-STV ballots - Note: you'll need a calculator to do this.
      1. Separate the ballots according to which name is marked as the first preference. You will have a pile with Pepperoni marked number (1), a pile with Ham, Bacon, & Pineapple marked number (1), and so on. Set aside spoiled ballots, if any. These will not be any part of the counting or totals.

      2. Record these totals on the BC-STV count table.

      3. Add the total number of ballots, then determine and record the Droop quota necessary to be elected. Remember, the Droop quota is:
Total votes
-------------------     + 1 = Droop Quota
Total seats + 1


In this case, where total number of votes is 99 and three orders are to be placed:

99 + 1
--------- + 1 = 25.75*, or 25 votes required to win
3 + 1
* Drop any decimal points so you have a whole number as the quota.

4. Does anybody have enough votes to meet the Droop quota?

YES. For each pizza that's reached quota, draw a line from its name down all the count columns to the bottom final row and write "selected".

Check through the first-choice winning ballots for second choices. Note each on the count sheet, in the first transfer row, using a single short line thus "|". After a second-choice pizza has received four such lines, ||||, do the fifth line across these four, to make an easily countable bundle of five. Continue this way of counting until all second-choices have been recorded.

Now, add up these transferred votes for each second-choice pizza, and weight them according to the total number of votes the winning pizza received:

the total number of votes transferred
divided by
the total number of votes the winning pizza received

Thus, if Pepperoni got 36 votes, then the number of votes over quota is 11. Its transfer value is 11/36 or about 0.31. Each vote, therefore, is multiplied by 0.31 to get its weighted transfer value.
Use the calculator to get this weighting value. Multiply each second-choice candidates' vote total by this amount, then record this percentage in the transfer row.
NO. Eliminate the last-place pizza choice by drawing a vertical line from its name down to the final row, then fill the rectangle with a big X, for eliminated.

Go through the ballots marked with the eliminated pizza as first choice, and cross out that pizza's name. (This isn't necessary but crossing out the eliminated choices on each count helps when reading that ballot again for the voters' next and next choice of pizzas.)

Place each second-choice pizza into its own pile. Note these votes on the count sheet in the second transfer column, using the bundles-of-five method. Count them up after and write down the full value of those votes - no weighting required.
5. Repeat the above steps, transferring weighted votes down from winning pizzas and full-value votes up from eliminated pizzas, adding the votes from one transfer column to the next until all the seats to be elected are filled.

6. The ballots of voters who don't rank all the pizzas will run out of next choices, hence will become exhausted during the count. Note these in the appropriate row.

7. Go to Troubleshooting for ties, fractions of fractions, etc.
  •  Calculate the popular vote

    - Use the copy of the statistics sheet for this.

    - For FPTP, divide the number of votes each pizza received by the total number of votes.

    - For BC-STV, do this for the first count only, for the pizza from each of the three types that received the most votes.

  •  Compare FPTP to BC-STV

    Discuss procedural differences and difficulties.

    Discuss pros and cons regarding voter choices, fairness, and democracy, both in the electoral process and in the result.

    Read further media and other reports and opinions for more information and ideas.

Using a website and its programs for the pizza-poll mock BC-STV election

Now that students understand how the votes transfer, by counting and calculating them by hand, they can use the ballots to become familiar with a wonderful website that does much of this for them. In a real election, with paper ballots (the Citizens' Assembly has strong recommended that paper ballots be used, so there's a paper trail for accountability), computers with very sophisticated programs will be used for the tallying.

To see what a 2005 mock BC-STV election looks like, go to: http://bc.demochoice.org/. Look at the table results, in particular, since that's how students recorded their count in the pizza vote. Check out the bar charts, another way of interpreting the count.

Now, click here to create your own poll at the demochoice.org website. Using the information you've got for your three local ridings and candidates for them, it'll only take a few minutes. Follow instructions, noting the following:

- Input an 'owners' e-mail address, so you can edit your poll as needed. Also type in one token e-mail address in the voters' box. You'll need this later, when inputting all the ballot results at one sitting.

- Name your poll BCSTVxxxx, (use only numbers and letters, no other symbols; the 'x's are your choice of letters and numbers, as many as you like.)

- You'll receive a password via your 'owners' e-mail address after creating your poll.

- To input all the votes at one sitting, paste this password in the "Email" box on the first ballot, then you can go back and vote as many times as you want without restriction. Just vote, click the "back" button, vote again, etc. until all ballots have been input.



4.2 Realistic mock FPTP and BC-STV election at a public gathering

Find or call a public gathering - summary

- Check local media and other sources for BC-STV talks and presentations, then offer to incorporate this realistic mock FPTP and BC-STV election into it. If there's nothing going on, or if nothing connects, then make it happen, as follows:

- For the STV mock election, contact Fair Vote Canada for names of people in your area who can assist with seting up and tallying the ballots. British Columbia, in particular, has people well trained in this, and some may travel to help with presentations.

- Locate and book an appropriate venue - ideally, a large room in the school, and ideally, for free. For evening and weekend use of schools, you may need to have a sponsor such as your local teachers association for insurance purposes. For other facilities, you'll likely need to pay rental and possibly insurance costs, hence will have to find funding or collect money at the door.

- Appoint a moderator or master of ceremonies to do introductions, thank yous, and chair the discussion. Appoint a second person to oversee the voting, counting, and presenting the results, with several other students to help.

- To report results, you'll need to present the FPTP, BC-STV, and statistics tables large enough for the audience to see. Draw these onto large sheets of paper (at least 1m x 1.5 m each) OR draw on chalkboards/whiteboards Or use an overhead projector to show acetate-sheet copies of the results.

- You'll need set-up and clean-up volunteers.

- Let all parents and extended family know. Advertise the event in local media. Submit a letter to the editor; get a mention in free "Community Notes" or "What's On" sort of listings in print and broadcast media; post notices on public notice boards and other places where allowed.

- At the event, have the moderator briefly thank those who made the event possible, introduce the speaker(s), then the person overseeing the election. Have this spokesperson distribute the prepared ballots. While the speakers talk, this person and helpers tally the votes.

- After, have the spokesperson present the results and answer any questions strictly about the vote and count, not general pro and con considerations.

- Have the moderator lead a brief Q & A period, if speaker(s) are comfortable with this. If it gets too political, remind the audience that the purpose is to inform and educate, not to get political or polemical.

- Thank appropriately all contributors and conclude.


 Prepare for the realistic mock FPTP and BC-STV election

  • For three local ridings, find the current, declared candidates for the main parties:

    - go to the map of B.C.'s current electoral boundaries
    - find note the names of candidates and their political parties in your own riding
    - in two adjoining ridings, find the names of candidates and their parties.

***

You'll have to make the FPTP and BC-STV ballots, then count the FPTP ones by hand. For counting the BC-STV ballots, you have a choice: you can count them by hand, or you can count them using the www.demochoice.org website.

To create the ballots and count both types by hand, see Section 4.2.1. To do the BC-STV ballot count by Internet, read and follow Section 4.2.1 up to the BC-STV count, then jump to Section 4.2.2 for this.

Please note: The Internet method is easy to set up, and it ensures an accurate count.

***


4.2.1 Preparing ballots and counting them by hand


Supplies needed: printer; 8.5"x11" paper; scissors to cut the ballots; pencils or pens for voters; calculator; 3 large recording sheets (at least 1m x 1.5 m), long straight edge, dark felt marker; OR chalkboard and chalk; OR overhead projector and 8.5"x11" acetate printout sheets.

  •  Print and fill in the blank forms:
    (Note: if they don't open as a web page, save them as a file, then open them from there. If you don't have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, download now.)

- Print one copy of the blank realistic FPTP ballot provided, then carefully, by hand, fill in the candidate and party names.

- Print one copy of the blank realistic BC-STV ballot provided, then carefully, by hand, fill in the candidate and party names.

- Print one copy of the realistic FPTP count table provided.

- Print one copy of the realistic BC-STV count table provided

- Print one copy of the realistic statistics sheet.

  •  Prepare for the vote and count:

- Make as many copies of the ballot as you estimate will attend the gathering - at least 50. If fewer show up, have people vote twice, to avoid ties that often happen with too few votes.

- Make as many copies, in total, of the FPTP ballots as the BC-STV ballots.

- Cut and bundle them.

- Mark chits of paper with each candidate's last name. You'll use them for separating the ballots when counting the votes.

- If you are going to report your results on large sheets of paper, copy the blank FPTP and BC-STV count tables onto your 1 x 1.5m sheets using a straight edge and dark felt marker. If you're using chalkboards or whiteboards, copy these tables on the boards before the gathering starts.

  •  Conduct the vote:

    - Welcome the audience, then briefly introduce the speakers and planned sequence of events.

    - Hand out two ballots to each voter: one FPTP ballot and one BC-STV. Gve pencils or pens to those who need them.

    - Explain that the STV voting system works best when all candidates are ranked, although it's voters' right to rank only as many as they choose - one only, if that's their choice. If, however, their first choice doesn't win, their ballots is then "exhausted", or "wasted".

    - Ask voters to raise a hand when done, so their ballots can be collected.

    - Allow about 10 minutes total to fill out the ballots, while students collect completed ones.
  •  Count and record the votes, as follows:

    - While tallying, give one hour or more of public presentations, as suggested above.

    -
    Count the BC-STV ballots - Note: you'll need a calculator to do this.
    1. Place the chits of paper with each candidate's last name spaced out on the counting table. Separate the ballots, putting each #1 ranking of candidates under his/her heading. Set aside spoiled ballots, if any. These will not be any part of the counting or totals.

    2. Record these totals on the BC-STV count table.

    3. Add the total number of ballots, then determine and record the Droop quota necessary to be elected. Remember, the Droop quota is:
    Total votes
    -------------------     + 1 = Droop Quota
    Total seats + 1


    Drop any decimal points so you have a whole number as the quota.
    Record this number on the statistics sheet.
    4. Does anybody have enough votes to meet the Droop quota?

    YES. For each candidate who has reached quota, draw a line from his/her name down all the count columns to the bottom final row and write "selected".

    Check through the first-choice winning ballots for second choices. Note each on the count sheet, in the first transfer row, using a single short line thus "|". After a second-choice candidate has received four such lines, ||||, do the fifth line across these four, to make an easily countable bundle of five. Continue this way of counting until all second-choices have been recorded.

    Now, add up these transferred votes for each second-choice candidate, and weight them as follows, so every second-choice candidate receives a fair share of the transferred votes:

    the total number of votes transferred
    divided by
    the total number of votes the winning candidate received

    Thus, if J. Blogs got 36 votes, then the number of votes over quota is 11. Its transfer value is 11/36 or about 0.31. Each vote, therefore, is multiplied by 0.31 to get its weighted transfer value.

    Use the calculator to get this weighting value. Multiply each second-choice candidates' vote total by this amount, then record this percentage in the transfer row.

    NO. Eliminate the last-place candidate by drawing a vertical line from his/her name down to the final row, then fill the rectangle with a big X, for eliminated.

    Go through the ballots marked with the eliminated candidate as first choice, and cross out that person's name. (This isn't necessary but crossing out the eliminated choices on each count helps when reading that ballot again for the voters' next and next choices.)

    Place each second-choice candidate in piles under the correct heading. Note these votes on the count sheet in the second transfer column, using the bundles-of-five method. Count them up after and write down the full value of those votes - no weighting required.

    5. Repeat the above steps, transferring weighted votes down from winning candidates and full-value votes up from eliminated candidates, adding the votes from one transfer column to the next until all the seats to be elected are filled.

    6. The ballots of voters who don't rank all the candidates will run out of next choices, hence will become exhausted during the count. Note these in the appropriate row.

    7. Go to Troubleshooting for ties and other anomalies. In real elections, the large number of votes - tens of thousands - aren't likely to have many of the glitches that small ones do.

  •  Calculate the popular vote


    - Use the copy of the statistics sheet for this.

    - For FPTP, divide the number of votes each winning candidate received by the total number of votes.

    - For BC-STV, do this for the first count only, for the candidate from each of the parties that received the most votes.

  •  Report the results:

    - Copy the results onto the large sheets of paper OR the chalkboard(s)/whiteboard(s) OR print them onto overhead projector acetate sheets.

    - When presenting them, have the spokesperson walk the audience through each count.

    - Where anomalies arose that obviously need explaining, do so. Assure the crowd that in real STV elections, all anomalies are known and solvable. Elections B.C. will have complete guidelines for dealing with them efficiently and fairly, just as they do for close calls, recounts, and the occasional oddball situation in the current electoral system. In general, anomalies are just that, and there's no percentage in dwelling on them in a mock situation.


  •  Discuss the results:

    - Have the moderator lead a discussion of the outcome, comparing the voting methods and candidates elected. It's important to keep this to intent and spirit of the exercise, which is to inform and educate.

    - Passionate opinions pro or con should be saved for another gathering, which the students or participants may wish to organize. This, however, is outside of the scope of this program.


    4.2.2 Counting the realistic mock BC-STV ballots by demochoice.com poll

    Supplies needed: computer with Internet connection, printer, photocopier, 8.5"x11" paper, scissors to cut the ballots, pencils or pens for voters. Note: results will be reported as per instructions above, on large sheets with the count tables, on chalkboards or whiteboards, or by overhead projector.

  • Create an on-line BC-STV poll for your realistic mock BC-STV election:

- go to http://www.demochoice.org/. Click "create your own poll" and follow instructions, noting the following:

- Input an 'owners' e-mail address, so you can edit your poll as needed. Also type in one, and only one, token e-mail address in the voters' box. You'll need this later, when inputting all the ballot results at one sitting.

- Name your poll BCSTVxxxx, (use only numbers and letters, no other symbols; the 'x's are your choice of letters and numbers, as many as you like.)

- You'll receive a password via your 'owners' e-mail address after creating your poll, which you'll need to input the ballot info' at one sitting. Write it down; keep it handy.

- Paste this password in the "Email" box on the ballot, then you can vote as many times as you want without restriction. Just vote, click the "back" button, vote again, etc. until all ballots have been input.

- Print out the table results. You'll use these figures to report to the gathering, either on large sheets of paper, chalk or whiteboards, or by overhead projector.


· Troubleshooting the BC-STV vote count

Ties

Ties will probably be your biggest problem, because you're dealing with very small numbers compared to real elections. The chance of tens of thousands of voters creating ties is very unlikely, and there are prescribed ways of dealing with those rare circumstances. If eliminated candidates are dissatisfied, recounts can be taken. This is why the Citizens' Assembly strong recommended always using paper ballots, although computers will be used as high-speed calculators to tally the input results.

If, in the first count, two or more winning candidates tie, transfer their weighted votes down in alphabetical order. If no one gets quota, but two or more candidates tie for last place, toss a coin and transfer their votes up in accordingly.

On second and subsequent counts, transfer first the votes of the candidate who had the most votes to start with or in the previous count.

Other puzzlements:

For mock elections, keep it simple. Round up fractions. For confusions that clearly don't effect the outcome, take the most direct, expedient route to the next step in the count. Most puzzlements will be over details that will make no difference to winning candidates reaching quota. There are rare times in real BC-STV elections where a coin is tossed to decide who goes next, but these are rare in the real world.

If asked about oddball vote-transfer details, explain your decisions, but don't get stuck on the details. Assure your voters that Elections BC will be ready for every possibility, with satisfactory procedures and solutions all worked out beforehand.

For help from a Citizens' Assembly spokesperson, contact Wendy Bergerud, President of the Greater Victoria Chapter of Fair Vote Canada in B.C.: wendy.bergerud@fairvote.ca.