BC-STV – Question 3: Can the BC-STV be gamed?
By Brad Brooks, on May 3rd, 2009 |
Can the system be gamed? In Question 2, I asked if this will just concentrate the votes for a single party. Here, I’m asking if voters will vote for a weak choice as their second option and thus skew the results.
For example, will a voter who is a staunch NDP supporter select what might be an easier opposition party to deal with in the legislature (such as an independent candidate)?
Don’t think the strategy you suggest makes much sense. Parties will want their supporters to vote for all the candidates from the party and then for parties with similar policies. Parties will also court later preferences from third parties. The Green vote may be the deciding vote for the last seat in a district if the Greens do not have enough votes to get elected themselves so the major parties will try to play nice with the Greens to get this vote.
DAvid Wills
Member of the Citizens Assembly