So far the return rate on the Electoral Reform balloting is disturbingly small, with less than 1.5 per cent of the ballots that have been mailed out to British Columbians returned, leaving 98.5 percent of the mailings to homes sitting in someones pile of unread mail as perhaps the best case scenario for referendum officials.
The worse case scenario, would be that of residents having treated the mailing the same as the junk mail that arrives at homes across the province, surely the saddest fate for another bold adventure in changing the province's voting process.
Tonight, on the off chance that British Columbians want to be engaged in the discussion, Premier John Horgan and Opposition Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson will debate the referendum themes,.
With Premier Horgan seeking to sway voters towards voting Yes on proportional representation, while Mr. Wilkinson is simply asking that voters just say No.
The roll out of the Referendum process has been one that offers up the opportunity for much in the way of criticism, the opening salvos of the discussion were made back in the Spring, with the summer quickly arriving to smother out what little interest in the topic that there may have been found four months ago.
Add in the recent Municipal elections to provide for a distraction, that vote itself one which didn't seem to generate much enthusiasm and the push to engage British Columbians in another political debate has been a struggle to say the least.
Even with a recent push to raise awareness of the process, there have been some issues raised about the upcoming vote and concerns over lack of information on the way that any change may be implemented, should the Yes side prevail in the mail in voting deadline of the end of this month.
Advocates of the Yes side seem to be calling for a bit of a leap in faith for a new electoral system, while not quite filling in all the blanks that the voter might want to know about before they vote.
The No side is a little more succinct in their approach, simply stating that keeping the current First Past the Post system is a far better alternative to the uknown path ahead for the proportional representation options that are being offered.
Tonight, Mr. Horgan and Mr. Wilkinson will try to deliver the key elements of their respective positions with 23 days to go until the mail in deadline arrives.
While it may not be a topic for the overall theme of revising the electoral system, the poor returns so far may provide for one question that both leaders should address.
That of what benchmark for returns should be considered as a valid endorsement of this process for such an important step as changing the way that the residents of British Columbia vote.
With 1.5 percent returned to this point and the lack of any real energy in the current campaign, should the total returns be alarmingly low, would that really constitute a mandate for change.
More than a few political observers have suggested that the current approach was not the best course of action for the government to follow when it comes to changing the electoral system.
Some suggesting a better focus for change would have been to have the regions of the province send delegates to some form of an election reform review panel, or constituent assembly as process which may have helped to clear up much of the confusion of the current blue print.
Others point to concerns over the mail in concept, observing that the referendum process was one which should have been by way of an actual vote delivered to physical ballot boxes across the province.
As Elections BC keep its eyes on the incoming mail for what they hope will be a surge in returns, those themes may make for more of the narrative in the post referendum debate.
Tonight's thirty minute exchange of ideas between the Premier and the Opposition leader starts at 7PM, you can view it on Global BC and CBC British Columbia, it will also be available on the Global and CBC British Columbia websites and on CKNW Radio.
You can catch up on some of the talking points on the referendum process from our archive of notes available here .
Cross posted from the North Coast Review.
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