02 May 2009

Harper Government Supports STV for Senate Elections

On 13 November 2007, Peter Van Loan introduced Bill C-20, the Senate Appointment Consultations Act. Part 5 of the Bill detailed the rules for counting the votes.

As with BC-STV, a preferential ballot was to be used to elect candidates (senators) to multi-member (multi-senator) constituencies.
Part 5 of Bill C-20 sets out the rules for counting votes pursuant to the single transferable vote system. This system takes into account the first and subsequent preferences indicated by electors on their ballots.... The Chief Electoral Officer establishes a list of selected nominees for each province.... There shall be as many successive counts of the votes as are necessary to equal the number of places for which the consultation [election] is being conducted.

Part 5 goes on to explain the count, which is conducted in the same manner as described for elections under BC-STV.

H/t Dan Grice, who made the notation on Facebook. (See? Facebook can be useful sometimes!)

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