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
4.1. Move up the next level: hold a mock BC-STV election
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.
-
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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.
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.
-
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.
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
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.)
-
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:
-
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.
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