Post BC Election Single Transferable Vote STV Poll Results



June 13, 2005 --
¡ The "yes" side: support for STV mainly a protest vote HE ¡YES¡¯
¡ The "no" side: would more knowledge have changed their vote
¡ Plurality of voters say STV should not be implemented

Vancouver, BC, June 13, 2005 C NRG Nordic Research Group has this week finished a comprehensive post-election poll asking voters why they voted for or against the proposed Single Transferable Vote system.

Among those who voted for STV, 45% said they voted the way they did because of a general desire for change in the government and politics of the province, many saying that it was ¡time for a change¡¯. A total of 27% said they voted for STV because they feel it would foster better representation through small parties while 16% said the STV system would be more fair.

According to NRG Senior Vice President Adam Di Paula, ¡Voters seem to have been driven by a general appetite for change as opposed to the specific merits of the proposed STV system. Some of this could be explained by the desire for a stronger opposition in Victoria.¡

This view is reinforced, said Di Paula, by the fact that only 15% of voters said they felt ¡very informed¡¯ about STV (see below); 38% said they felt ¡somewhat informed¡¯. ¡If only 15% of voters are very informed about STV, and if the largest percentage of STV supporters voted for it only as a kind of general protest vote, then it is safe to say that STV is neither understood clearly nor supported on its own merits by most British Columbia voters¡, said Di Paula. ¡While 57% of voters supported STV, our results show that in casting their ballots many were simply expressing a general discontent and not necessarily supporting STV.¡

Di Paula noted that this was the fourth comprehensive survey conducted on STV by NRG. ¡We have been closely monitoring this issue since March and have an in-depth understanding of voter awareness about STV,¡ he said.

Of those who voted against STV in the May 17th referendum, 53% said they did so because they didn¡¯t know enough about STV. ¡Whether greater knowledge of STV on the part of these voters would have persuaded them to vote for or against is uncertain,¡ said Di Paula.

Other reasons cited by those who voted voting against the proposal included: contentment with the current voting system (19%) and fear that STV would create minority governments in BC (8%).

Voters Say STV Should Not Be Implemented

In order for the referendum to pass, it had to receive 60% support among valid votes cast in the referendum and at least 50% approval in 48 of the 79 constituencies. STV passed the second threshold by obtaining 50% or more support in 77 of 79 constituencies, but it did not meet the first threshold, falling short with 57.69% of the votes cast.

Di Paula noted that ¡some have argued in the media that since STV came close to meeting both thresholds, it should be adopted. But this does not appear to be the view of British Columbians. In our most recent poll the largest group of respondents, 47%, said despite STV¡¯s strong showing, it should not be implemented.

The following are some comments made by British Columbians in our survey¡­

Against STV

¡It¡¯s too complicated.¡

¡It would be hard to get a working government because there would be so many parties.¡

¡I didn¡¯t think there was any need for change.¡

For STV

¡I think it gives us more candidates, but I don¡¯t think it was explained very well C but I got the idea.¡

¡It was supported by people that I consider to be honest and intelligent, like David Suzuki.¡

¡I don¡¯t like the fact that a party in this province can be the party in power without having the majority of the votes.¡

About the poll
806 British Columbians were surveyed between May 31 and June 5, 2005. This study was part of NRG Nordic Research Group¡¯s monthly omnibus C Ask BC. Overall results have a margin of error of +/- 3.5%, 19 times out of 20. Respondents were asked whether they voted yes or no in the referendum and asked why they voted the way the did

About NRG Nordic Research Group
Based in Vancouver, NRG Nordic Research Group is one of Canada¡¯s leading market and public opinion research firms. Nordic provides both quantitative and qualitative research services through its Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto offices to clients throughout North America and worldwide. Core services include research design, data collection and advanced analytics.

Contact Information:
Adam Di Paula, PhD
Senior Vice President
NRG Nordic Research Group
Tel: (604) 676-5641
Email: e-mail protected from spam bots
Web: http://www.nordicresearch.net





Post BC Election Single Transferable Vote STV Poll Results