wow, might want to redo this thread.

thats a heck of allot better.

Shows political experience makes all the difference with both the Liberals and NDP incumbents taking the lead. No surprises here at all.

Now, if all the people that stuck up signs, would be kind enough to take them down–specially the wire ones!!!!

Way to go Shirley….you topped the interior polls..and most others in the province I suspect, Big Congrats

I believe Rich Coleman topped the polls @ over 11000 votes but yes definitely a huge win for Shirley Bond. She has proven to be one of the hardest working MLA’s in the province and highly respected. Congratulations Shirley!

What was the % of eligible voters this time around compared to the last election? Anyone know?

I heard 52%, 1% more than the last election.

Well I guess no new government money into infrastructure to Terrace, Kitimat and Rupert. When will they ever learn.

even with a 52% voter turnout that still leaves the clear winner of this election the ‘non-voters’ with a whopping 48% share compared to the liberals at less than half that, 23% of those who voted.
will the overwhelming majority get proper recognition in this legislature?

The NDP now know how the Maple Leafs feel. No “Green” running in this riding so had to hold my nose while I voted for another party. Democracy isn’t perfect but its the best we got and the 52% of elgible voters who did not vote -shame- you have no right to bitch.

“even with a 52% voter turnout that still leaves the clear winner of this election the ‘non-voters’ with a whopping 48% share compared to the liberals at less than half that, 23% of those who voted. will the overwhelming majority get proper recognition in this legislature”

Yes. I’m no statistician, but I would hazard a guess that the relative level of support for a particular ideology would be similar amongst those that didn’t vote as compared to those that did.

I don’t believe that 48% of the people in BC would be completely unrepresented by those sitting in Victoria. If that were the case, there would almost certainly be the demand for a new party. I think the BC Conservatives made that assumption about the 48% and sort of guessed wrong, LOL.

ah! strech is one of those!
myself and roughly half the elegible voters in the province exercised our RIGHT not to vote.
strech and alike now say we have “no right to bitch”!
how would you like it if my majority decided you have no right exist? a hostile takeover say, deleting a system we don’t believe in and maybe a few people that oppose us along the way?

I never understood why there couldn’t be a “none of the above” box on the ballot. At least then we would get a sense of who truly didn’t feel as though they were represented by the candidates as opposed to those who didn’t realize there was an election, or just didn’t feel that voting was important enough as to waste their time doing.

I don’t see any real downside. The upside is that it could help our political system formally identify the number of people dissatisfied by it. That in and of itself could possibly impact change if a party was savvy enough to take advantage of the opportunity to represent the demographic that felt unrepresented.

“I never understood why there couldn’t be a “none of the above” box on the ballot”

Spoil your ballot. Vote for all of them. If the 48% who didn’t vote were to do that then there might be some meaning to it.

NMG: “The upside is that it could help our political system formally identify the number of people dissatisfied by it.”

Lots of people are dissatisfied about a lot of things. Very few people have any solutions.

That wouldn’t be good enough axman, because you wouldn’t know which were spoiled by choice as opposed to those that were spoiled by mistake. It wouldn’t give you the information I was suggesting.

That’s nonsense JohnnyBelt, there are solutions for virtually everything. You just need to find people who are able and willing to identify and implement them. The issue is that what may be seen as a solution to you, may not be seen as a solution to me. That’s where that whole 52% vs. 48% comes in. If you want “solutions” that are supported by the bulk of the population, the first logical step would be to engage the bulk of the population into the discussion.

i looked on bcliberals.com unsuccessfully for their constitution.
funny people would vote for a party that doesn’t make their constitution readily available to the public.
i thought i might find something stating that they would represent all british columbians, not just those that voted for the libs.

My point was, many people complain, but very few do anything about it.

When the polls first started reporting the Liberals were leading in 48 seats and the NDP in 35. That was with some as low as 5/120 polls reporting, so less than 5% of the votes counted. As the night went on the number fluctuated one or two seats at best and then finished right in the same area. Why would the results change if we managed to get 100% of the eligible people to vote?

“Why would the results change if we managed to get 100% of the eligible people to vote?”
i believe the results would change because large blocks of like minded people choose not to vote, jehovah’s witness’ for example. maybe they would vote christian heritage party if they chose to vote.
we cannot assume the reasons though, for the largest segment to choose not to vote, but still we must be represented. if the non voter group continues to be ignored i suspect the reaction will be eventual failure of our so called democracy.

Yeah, all the pundits are a little red faced today.

Even some of the regular vocal posters on this board are unusually silent.

In shock Johnny…;-)

Many of the voters are visible minorities and had no interest in voting at least in the Vancouver area. Many were working and did not get off work. perhaps the election day should be held on a weekend and not a work day….

Imorge that is a cop out at best. Advanced polls were open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday (and maybe even the weekend) before May 14. From 8am to 8pm. Anyone who wanted to vote could have made it. To not vote just means it wasn’t a priority. I was going to be out of the country on Voting day so I voted last Wednesday.

I quit voting after STV was voted down and vote with my feet and wallet. When the libs are in I check who the main finacers are. Ppl in the the business know BC gave away grade 3 timber until the US squacked; mills were the primary contributors so I invested in them. We leased a railroad in a secret non-competitive process, giving one company an inside track (another good investment). I also thank the NDP, since business punishes them, I got a house for very cheap & since miners flee the ndp, I sell BC miners. I learnt if u can’t beat them, join them. Now I’m in Alberta and understand why people work so hard; they can afford private schools & healthcare. These ppl went outside the system. We live in an extremely rich country; why do we have deficits & EI? Most Canadians want to work as hard as the Greece and get governments that reflect that. So if you’re not going to give me real choice in voting I will not make time. I’m too busy working and making a difference for my family.

You are quite right bespoke. Never fails to amaze me how many lefties there are in Skeena / Stikine. Every taxpayer out there (even the teachers and BCGE types) get a paycheque due to investment in resource
based industries, yet they still vote NDP.

“for the largest segment to choose not to vote, but still we must be represented. if the non voter group continues to be ignored i suspect the reaction will be eventual failure of our so called democracy.”

Wait – whaaat? So the people who refuse to vote are going to rise up because they dont have representation? This makes sense to you how?

I will never understand spoiling a ballot or refusing to vote to send a message. Isn’t that message “I’m going to make my mark in this world by doing nothing”?

If you don’t feel properly represented, then run for office! The more candidates in a democracy the better!

Except for California… Those people are nuts.

“I will never understand spoiling a ballot or refusing to vote to send a message.”

You got that right. It’s just a big cop-out.

How about 3 sections on a ballot card.
1-a section who you want to represent your riding
2-which if any party you decide is right to run the province
3-actually vote for which premier you want

That would be what I call democratic reform.

While we are dreaming of improvements why not incorporate say 10 referendum type questions on the ballot card.