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Voting in B.C.’s electoral reform referendum
By Carol Gordon
In preparation for the B.C. Referendum on Electoral Reform, which is being held from October 22 to November 30, here is some important information.
Voter’s Guide
A Referendum Voter’s guide was mailed out by Elections BC to every household in B.C. between October 15 and 26. The guide provides information on voting in the referendum, some of which is included below, as well as information on all four proportional representation voting systems that appear on the referendum ballot.
Here are links to copies of the guide in the following languages:
Arabic, Chinese (Simplified Mandarin), Chinese (Traditional – Cantonese), Filipino (Tagalog), French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Persian (Farsi), Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese
To be eligible to vote in the referendum you must be:
A Canadian citizen,
18 or older as of November 30, 2018, and
A resident of B.C. for at least six months immediately before November 30, 2018.
Those who are eligible to vote must be registered. Registered voters will get a voting package in the mail from Elections BC between October 22 and November 2, 2018.
If you do not receive your voting package by November 2, to request a voting package or to register to vote:
Go to the Service BC office near you
Visit the Elections BC website elections.bc.ca/ovr,
Call Elections BC toll free at 1-800-661-8683 (Mon-Fri, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
Deadline for submitting ballots:
“Elections BC must receive your completed voting package by 4:30 p.m. November 30. We encourage voters to complete and return their packages soon after receiving them. Completed voting packages can be mailed or returned to a Service BC office or Referendum Service Office (find locations and hours at elections.bc.ca/rso). Be sure to mail it early enough for Canada Post to deliver it by the deadline.” Rebecca Penz, Manager of Communications, Elections BC
Voters who are temporarily away and meet the eligibility requirements, can also vote in the referendum.
Rotating Strikes at Canada Post
“The Canadian Union of Postal Workers has announced rotating strikes. Rotating strikes have not impacted the delivery schedule for referendum voting packages at this time. The referendum voting period is October 22 to November 30 and this has not changed as a result of the rotating strikes.
Elections BC is monitoring the situation closely, and the Chief Electoral Officer has the authority to extend the voting period for the referendum if necessary, should job action at Canada Post materially impact the referendum process. Any changes will be communicated with the public.” https://elections.bc.ca/referendum/
To learn more about BC’s 2018 Referendum on Electoral Reform read:
Part I- Putting a Face on Electoral Reform,
Part II – A Closer Look at First-Past-The-Post
Part III – First-Past-the-Post or Proportional Representation?
The next in the series will appear soon, covering the basics of the proportional representation options on the referendum ballot: Dual Member, DMP, Mixed Member, MMP and Rural-Urban, RUP.
e-KNOW
