Over the weekend, we may see polls showing BC-STV to be well below the 60 percent mark. Some polls may even have it under 40 percent. But consider the following:
a) The polls were wrong last time, and they're wrong again. The pundits told us in 2005 that BC-STV could never win - that it would take a "miracle" to get to 60%. The polls said it was going to lose badly. And we all know what happened. The majority voted YES to change. YES to fairness.
b) The BC-STV team is winning this campaign. Any way you look at it. Any way you measure it. Visibility, signs, volunteers, donors, endorsers, momentum, facebook groups, online videos, twitter, T shirts, letter-writing, canvassing, etc. We've got the pro business-as-usual camp beaten on every single measure.
c) Referendums are different than elections. Huge swings can happen in the final days. There is no equivalent to party allegiance in a referendum. The proportion of undecided or swing voters is huge. Most voters have probably made up their mind about the parties. But over the next three days, they'll talk to their friends and family about STV. And those discussions will be informed by the fact they saw a sign that we put up. They'll read a doorhanger that we left at their home. They'll read the pamphlet that we put in their hand, on the street.
d) These polls are out-of-date as soon as they're published. Any poll published this weekend was probably taken before the Christy Clark endorsement, before the 2nd BC-STV TV ad hit the air, before Andrew Coyne's two-page endorsement in Macleans and before BC-STV boosted its radio ad presence across the province.
e) The only poll that matters is the province-wide poll on May 12. There is a lot of misinformation out there. Proponents for BC-STV must not let up. Let's show the pundits, once again, that British Columbians won't fall for these tricks. Let's spread our positive message, and push this vote up to where it belongs: 60%+.
I've been out the past three days delivering flyers door to door, in addition to writing letters to newspapers, commenting online and blogging. My already bad hips and back are aching. BUT IT'S WORTH IT. People respond to me on the streets. They thank me for the information on BC-STV; they'd been wanting it; they'd been looking for it.
If you support BC-STV and are in BC now, download and print this flyer. Then get out, get some exercise, meet the neighbours and hand them the information they need to have to make an informed decision on May 12th.
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