The Ballot
What Would the Ballot Look Like Under BC-STV?
Under our current system, candidates appear alphabetically by name, with their party affiliations listed if they are representing a party.
Under BC-STV, there would still be a single ballot paper for each voter, but it would be longer than our current ballots because there would be more candidates competing in multi-member electoral districts.
A BC-STV ballot would group candidates by party. Independent candidates and parties who have only one candidate on that ballot would each be listed separately. The order of candidates’ names within a group would be rotated at random, and the order of groups would also be rotated at random to ensure that no party or group of candidates gained an advantage by being consistently first on the ballot.
Marking the Ballot
Under First Past the Post, voters choose their preference by marking a single “X” beside their first choice candidate.
Under BC-STV, voters would rank their preferences by number – 1, 2, 3, etc. – to as many choices as they wish to make. To be a valid ballot, voters must indicate at least a first preference, but are not required to record a preference for every candidate.
If a ballot has gaps or repetitions in the sequence of numbers beyond a first preference, the ballot would be valid up to the break in the sequence. For example, if a voter indicated preferences 1, 2, then skipped to 4 without indicating a third preference, the ballot would be valid up to and including the second preference.
See examples of sample BC-STV ballots (PDF, 95KB).
Number of Candidates
In the last election in BC there were five or six candidates on the ballot in most electoral districts. Each political party can nominate one candidate per electoral district.
Under BC-STV, the number of candidates on a single ballot would become greater. This is because electoral districts would become multi-member districts, with between 2 and 7 elected members each. Political parties could nominate as many candidates as there are seats in each district.
It is difficult to predict exactly how many candidates might run in elections under BC-STV. The total number of candidates in each district would depend upon whether political parties decided to run the maximum number of candidates possible, and how many independent candidates run.
Based on other STV jurisdictions, in a four- or five-member district we might expect between 12 and 18 candidates to be running, and in a seven-member district there may be 15 to 25 candidates. Political parties might choose to nominate fewer than the maximum number in order to concentrate voter support for those candidates. This would reduce the total number of candidates on the ballot. On the other hand, because the Single Transferable Vote model generally gives independents a greater chance of success, there may be more independents who choose to run, which would increase the number of candidates.
Questions? Check out some Frequently Asked Questions or contact us directly.
