Dear Editor:
Re: This vote should not be simple, Opinion, Burnaby NOW, March 16.
It’s obvious from Mike Klassen’s view that he is perfectly happy keeping the status quo, but as someone who has voted in every election I was able to, since I turned 18 in 1965, I am not satisfied with the status quo, and I think we need to change.
I contend that one of the real reasons that people have become disinterested in voting is that they have become disillusioned over the fact that we are having political parties declared as having a majority with something less than 40 per cent support, from those who have cast ballots. I, as well as many others feel that our voting means nothing, if the political party we supported is not declared the winner, so in effect, we are losers, and our votes counted for nothing, because of our flawed electoral system that creates winners and losers, because the losers are most times not represented by the winning party.
I don’t think that any party should be awarded majority status unless they are able to achieve 50 per cent-plus, either on their own, or in coalition with another party. I continue to vote because I believe that if one doesn’t vote, they have no right to complain about the choices made by the party in charge of government decisions. Therefore I support some form of proportional representation or preferential balloting, where one picks first, second and third choices on the ballot, but I am tired of feeling like my vote doesn’t count.
J. Wayne McQueen, Burnaby
