How proportional representation would have changed B.C.'s election results

British Columbians are still waiting to find out who their next provincial leader will be, five days after the election, as several tight races make it difficult to project a clear winner.

As it stands, the B.C. NDP has about 44.6 per cent of the vote, the B.C. Conservative Party 43.6 per cent, and the B.C. Green Party 8.2 per cent. Under B.C.'s first-past-the-post electoral system, that translates to a projected 46, 45 and two seats, respectively, out of the 93-seat total. 

But if the province had a different electoral system, the breakdown of representatives in the legislature might have been a little different, according to political science professor Chris Beach. 

"Proportional [representation] means if a party gets 25 per cent of the vote, they get 25 per cent of the seats," he told Daybreak North host Carolina de Ryk. 

That means under proportional representation, the Green Party, with about eight per cent of the vote, would be in line to get seven or eight of the total 93 seats.

B.C. has had three referendums on electoral reform: one in 2005, another in 2009 and the third in 2018, all asking voters if they'd prefer to maintain our current system, which gives a seat to whoever gets the most votes in their riding, or if they wanted to switch. 

Proportional representation effectively divvies up seats based on the percentage of total votes a party gets.

None of the referendums met the threshold of votes that would have led to B.C. changing its electoral system.

But some maintain it's a more democratic system, one that hasn't been explained well enough for voters to make an informed choice. 

The main downfall in our current first-past-the-post system, Beach said, is that a candidate can win a riding with just one vote or one per cent of the vote. 

"There's a sense that all those other votes, some people feel that they're wasted because they get no representation."

It would also benefit smaller parties who don't end up in the legislature at all; for example, if the Communist Party had one per cent of the vote, it might get a seat at the table.

Political science instructor Daniel Reeve said the B.C. Green Party might consider making a switch to proportional representation a bargaining tool when parties are asking them to work together. 

"That seems like a lot to ask about a coalition, because there certainly would be members who would be like, 'This isn't a winning formula.' But maybe that's one of the cards that's on the table."