Over Half of British Columbians Dont Know if BC Should Change to Single Transferable Vote (STV) Electoral System

Less than one-third of British Columbians think that BC should adopt the BC-STV electoral system according to a poll conducted by Nordic Research Group.

Vancouver, BC, Canada (PRWEB) April 16, 2005 -- Less than one-third of British Columbians think that BC should adopt the BC-STV electoral system according to a poll conducted by Nordic Research Group.

When asked Should British Columbia change to the BC-STV electoral system as recommended by the Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform? over half (57%) were undecided. 26% of all respondents said 'yes to STV and 17% said 'no, " said Adam Di Paula, Senior Vice President of Nordic Research Group. With less than a month before the vote, British Columbians do not feel informed enough to decide whether the province should change to a Single Transferable Vote electoral system."

While 64% of respondents said they were aware of a proposal to change the BC electoral system, only 9% of all respondents could name 'STV or 'Single Transferable Vote as the system being proposed. Awareness of the specifics of STV is not high," said Di Paula. This will likely change once the election campaigns get underway, but those on both sides of the issue have a big job ahead of them to explain STV to the electorate with only about a month remaining before the vote on May 17."

73% of respondents were either not very informed or not at all informed about the proposed new voting system," said Di Paula.

About the survey
801 randomly selected BC residents, proportionate to the provinces population, were interviewed on the issue of the Single Transferable Vote referendum as part of Nordic Research Groups monthly omnibus -- Ask BC, BCs leading omnibus. Results are reported at a 95% confidence level, with a margin of error of +/- 3.5%, 19 times out of 20 and were collected from March 28 to April 6, 2005.

Full poll results and graphs available at http://www.nordicresearch.net.

About Nordic Research Group   
Based in Vancouver, Nordic Research Group is one of Canadas 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.

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