With two weeks left to cast a ballot the Premier has added a wrinkle in the electoral reform referendum saying closed lists are officially out.
Under the MMP Proportional representation option closed lists would mean a portion of MLAs would be selected from party lists and not by voters.
John Horgan says that does not sit well with anyone so closed lists are off the table.
Horgan was asked if this move will embolden the ‘No’ side.
“No I don’t think so. The question was an honest question from a local reporter and I said it was my understanding that certainly the NDP caucus does not support closed lists. The Liberal caucus does not support closed lists. The Green caucus does not support closed lists so it seemed to me we could give that one a pass. There is no one in the legislature that thinks it is a good idea so why would we proceed with it?”
He says should P-R win the referendum a legislative committee deciding details of how the winning Pro-Rep system would work would be instructed to avoid closed lists.
With the November 30th deadline looming to mail back electoral reform referendum ballots the return rate is so far less than 10-percent.
With just over 243,000 votes in, out of over 3.2 million eligible voters, Premier John Horgan was asked if he was worried about the participation rate.
“Certainly I want to see as much participation as possible. We have had mail in referenda in the past that have seen in the neighbourhood 40 to 50% response. We had some Canada Post issues, as you know, at the beginning. Now that the debate is over I am confident that the ballots will be flooding in.”
Horgan says he firmly believes people are weighing their options and will cast their ballots in numbers.