2005
A referendum was held in the Canadian province of British Columbia on May 17, 2005, to determine whether or not to adopt the recommendation of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform to replace the existing first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP) with a single transferable vote system (BC-STV). It was held in conjunction with the BC Legislative Assembly election of 2005. Voters were given two ballots at that time: a ballot to vote for a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (MLA) in their constituency and a referendum ballot. The referendum received considerable support from the electorate but failed in meeting the demanding threshold that had been set.
Here was the question:
Should British Columbia change to the BC-STV electoral system as recommended by the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform? Yes/No
Result: 58 percent in favour of change, a majority of voters in 77 ridings out of 79.
But the government had set the threshold at 60 percent (even though it itself was re-elected to majority government with only 46 percent of the vote).
2009
Following the 2005 electoral reform referendum, British Columbia held another referendum on electoral reform. Sixty-one percent voted against changing to proportional representation; only 39 percent voted for the change
2018
A referendum on electoral reform took place by mail-in ballot between October 22 and December 7, 2018, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. A majority of British Columbians voted in favour of maintaining the first-past-the-post voting system rather than switching to a proportional representation voting system.
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