VICTORIA - Elections BC has published the Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the 2009 Enumeration.  This report describes the range and scope of voter registration activities Elections BC undertook to improve the quality of the provincial voters list prior to the 39^th Provincial General Election and 2009 Referendum on Electoral Reform. 

The Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the 2009 Enumeration is available on the Elections BC website at: www.elections.bc.ca/index.php/resource-centre/reports/ 

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Contact:
Don Main
Communications Planning Officer
Elections BC
Phone:  250-387-1709
Email:  Don.Main@elections.bc.ca
Website:  www.elections.bc.ca 

Elections BC is a non-partisan Office of the Legislature responsible for the administration of the Election Act, Recall and Initiative Act, and conduct of referenda under the Referendum Act.

VICTORIA - British Columbia’s Chief Electoral Officer, Harry Neufeld, has granted approval in principle on an initiative petition application.  The petition will be issued to proponent William Vander Zalm on Tuesday, April 6, 2010.  The title of the initiative is: An initiative to end the harmonized sales tax (HST). 

“This is the seventh initiative petition application to be approved since the legislation came into force in 1995″, notes Neufeld. 

Any registered voter can apply to have a petition issued to gather support for a legislative proposal.  After the petition is issued, the proponent will have 90 days to canvass and collect signatures of at least 10% of the registered voters in each of the 85 electoral districts. 

Individuals or organizations who intend to oppose the initiative, conduct initiative advertising, or canvass for signatures must be registered with Elections BC.  The deadline to apply for registration as an initiative opponent is March 8, 2010. 

Registered voters as of April 6, 2010 may sign the petition for the electoral district in which they are registered.  Voters may only sign the petition once. 

For more information on the initiative petition, visit the Elections BC website (www.elections.bc.ca/index.php/referenda-recall-initiative/initiative/hst/). 

Attachments:   Backgrounder
                       Summary of legislative proposal 
                       Summary of Initiative Petitions 

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Contact:
Don Main
Communications Planning Officer
Elections BC
Phone: 250-387-1709
Email: Don.Main@elections.bc.ca
Website: www.elections.bc.ca

Elections BC is a non-partisan Office of the Legislature responsible for the administration of the Election Act, Recall and Initiative Act, and conduct of referenda under the Referendum Act.

Backgrounder 
February 4, 2010

FACTS ABOUT INITIATIVE 

The Recall and Initiative Act is administered by the Chief Electoral Officer.  The Act allows registered voters in British Columbia to propose new laws or changes to existing laws. 

Any registered voter can apply to have a petition issued to gather support for a legislative proposal by submitting an application to the Chief Electoral Officer.  A completed application consists of a fully completed and signed application form, a copy of the draft Bill, and a non-refundable $50 processing fee.  The draft Bill must be on a matter within the jurisdiction of the provincial legislature and must be written in a clear and unambiguous manner.  Approval in principle of an application is officially granted at the time a Notice of Petition is published in the British Columbia Gazette. 

Individuals and organizations may register as opponents to an initiative petition or initiative vote. 

Sixty days after the notice is published in the Gazette, the Chief Electoral Officer issues an original petition signature sheet and cover sheet for each electoral district.  An initiative petition must be signed within 90 days from the date on which it is issued.  Signatures may be gathered by volunteer canvassers. 

The petition must be signed within the 90-day canvassing period by at least 10% of the registered voters in each of the electoral districts in the province, who were registered to vote on the date the petition was issued.  The proponent must comply with the initiative financing provisions.  If these requirements are met, the Chief Electoral Officer must send a copy of the verified petition and draft Bill to a Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives. 

The Select Standing Committee must meet within 30 days of receipt of the petition and draft Bill.  From their first meeting, the Committee has 90 days to consider the legislative proposal and either table a report recommending introduction of the draft Bill, or refer the initiative to the Chief Electoral Officer for an initiative vote.  Initiative votes are scheduled every three years.  If required, the next initiative vote will be on September 24, 2011. 

For an initiative vote to be successful, the majority of registered voters in the province must vote in favour of the initiative and more than 50% of registered voters in at least two-thirds of the electoral districts in the province must vote in favour of the initiative.  If successful, government must introduce the initiative Bill at the earliest practical opportunity. 

Seven initiative applications have received approval in principle since the Recall and Initiative Act was brought into force in February of 1995.

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Contact:
Don Main   
Communications Planning Officer
Elections BC
Phone: 250-387-1709
Email: Don.Main@elections.bc.ca
Website: www.elections.bc.ca 

Elections BC is a non-partisan Office of the Legislature responsible for the administration of the Election Act, Recall and Initiative Act, and conduct of referenda under the Referendum Act.

VICTORIA - Elections BC has published the Statement of Votes, 39^th Provincial General Election and the Statement of Votes, Referendum on Electoral Reform.  These publications provide an overview of the preparations Elections BC undertook to administer the 2009 General Election and Referendum on Electoral Reform, summary voting results, voting results by voting area and the Location Index. 

The Statements of Votes are available on the Elections BC website at: www.elections.bc.ca/index.php/resource-centre/reports/ 

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Contact:
Don Main
Communications Planning Officer
Elections BC
Phone:  250-387-1709
Email:  Don.Main@elections.bc.ca
Website:  www.elections.bc.ca 

Elections BC is a non-partisan Office of the Legislature responsible for the administration of the Election Act, Recall and Initiative Act, and conduct of referenda under the Referendum Act.

VICTORIA -    The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Honourable Bill Barisoff, and the Chief Electoral Officer, Harry Neufeld have named Sophia Chen and fellow Burnaby North Secondary School students, Aleem Dhanji, Kate Gao and Javed Siddoo as the winners of the “Democracy on Location” video contest for their video “Why Should Youth Care About Democracy?“  

The four students will be traveling to Victoria to be interviewed for a television audience, learn about parliamentary democracy, tour the Parliament buildings and learn about professional video production and broadcasting.  The winning video will be featured on the Legislative Assembly’s website (www.leg.bc.ca/index.htm) and the Elections BC website (www.elections.bc.ca). 

The “Democracy on Location” video contest has been a joint initiative between the Legislative Assembly of B.C. and Elections BC.  It was launched on September 15, 2009 in recognition and celebration of the second annual United Nations International Day of Democracy.  

To encourage youth participation and engagement in democracy, British Columbia’s middle and high school students were asked to create a short video about democracy in their lives at school, home or with their friends.  Student videos were to encourage youth participation in democracy and illustrate the values and principles of democracy. 

The contest ran from September 15 to November 15, 2009 and 10 submissions were received by the deadline.  All of the contest submissions can be viewed on the Elections BC Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Elections-BC/67197771286. 

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Contact:
Don Main
Communications Planning Officer
Elections BC
Phone:  250-387-1709
Email:  Don.Main@elections.bc.ca
Website:  www.elections.bc.ca 

Elections BC is a non-partisan Office of the Legislature responsible for the administration of the Election Act, Recall and Initiative Act, and conduct of referenda under the Referendum Act.

VICTORIA - Elections BC has published the Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the 2008 Electoral Boundary Redistribution.  This report describes the activities Elections BC undertook to support the Electoral Boundaries Commission and to implement the electoral districts established in the 2008 Electoral Districts Act and used in the 2009 General Election and Referendum on Electoral Reform.

The report is available on the Elections BC website at:
www.elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/2008RedistributionReport-20091019.pdf

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Contact:
Peter Gzowski
Director, Voter Registration and Boundaries
Phone: 250-387-7258
Email: Peter.Gzowski@elections.bc.ca  
Website: www.elections.bc.ca

Elections BC is a non-partisan Office of the Legislature responsible for the administration of the Election Act, Recall and Initiative Act, and conduct of referenda under the Referendum Act.

VICTORIA - B.C.’s middle and secondary students are celebrating the second annual United Nations International Day of Democracy, September 15, 2009, by creating a YouTube video about democracy. 

Co-sponsored by Elections BC and the Public Education and Outreach office of the Legislative Assembly, the “Democracy on Location” contest invites students to create a two-minute video about democracy in their lives at school, home or with their friends.  Student videos are to encourage youth participation in democracy and illustrate the values and principles of democracy. 

The winning video will be chosen by Chief Electoral Officer Harry Neufeld and the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the Honourable Bill Barisoff.  The creator(s) of the winning video will travel to Victoria to be interviewed for Hansard TV, tour the Parliament Buildings and learn more about professional video production and broadcasting. 

The contest runs from September 15 - November 15, 2009 and submissions can be viewed on YouTube and Elections BC’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elections-BC/67197771286. 

For more information, visit the Elections BC website - www.elections.bc.ca. 

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Contact:
Don Main
Communications Planning Officer
Elections BC
Phone: 250-387-1709
Email: Don.Main@elections.bc.ca

Victoria - Elections BC commissioned the services of BC Stats to conduct two surveys of British Columbia voters before and after the 2009 General Election and Referendum on Electoral Reform.  

The Voter and Non-Voter Satisfaction Survey asked 750 voters and 750 non-voters their reasons for participating or not participating in the May 2009 events. 

The two executive summary reports are available on the Elections BC website at:

• www.elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/2009-Pre-Election-Voter-Awareness-Survey-20090826.pdf, and
• www.elections.bc.ca/docs/rpt/2009-Voter-Non-Voter-Satisfaction-Survey-20090826.pdf 

The BC Stats methodology reports and data files for the two surveys can be accessed through the Elections BC website. 

Surveys allow Elections BC to evaluate the coverage and the currency of the voters list, judge public satisfaction with its work, obtain data about public awareness of the electoral process and identify opportunities for improving its administration of electoral events. 

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Contact:
Linda M. Johnson
Deputy Chief Electoral Officer
Elections BC
Phone: 250-387-5305
Email: electionsbc@elections.bc.ca
Website: www.elections.bc.ca

Victoria - The 2009 General Election and Referendum on Electoral Reform financing reports of candidates, registered political parties, registered constituency associations, referendum opponent and proponent groups and election and referendum advertising sponsors are available for public inspection at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, 2^nd Floor, 1117 Wharf Street, Victoria, as of today at 9 a.m.  Scanned images of the reports are also available in the Electoral Finance area of the Elections BC website (www.elections.bc.ca). 

Financing reports must be filed with the Chief Electoral Officer within 90 days after a provincial election.  The filing deadline for the 2009 reports was 4:30 p.m. on August 10, 2009.  The reports include expenses of each filer and information regarding contributions they received. 

On Monday, August 24, 2009, names of contributors who gave political contributions of more than $250 to registered political parties, registered constituency associations or candidates can be searched using Elections BC’s online Political Contributions System. 

Elections BC will review all the reports over the next several months. 

Financing reports for the following candidates were not filed by the deadline established by the Election Act.  The reports may be filed by September 9, 2009 with a late filing fee of $500. 

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Contact:
M. Nola Western, C.A.
Executive Director, Electoral Finance and Corporate Administration
Elections BC
Phone: 250-387-4141
Email: Nola.Western@elections.bc.ca
Website: www.elections.bc.ca

VICTORIA - A judgment by the Supreme Court of British Columbia today upheld the results of Election BC’s final count in Delta South. 

Independent candidate Vicki Huntington’s 32-vote lead over Liberal candidate Wally Oppal was confirmed by Madam Justice Catherine Wedge, who conducted the judicial recount. 

Huntington led Liberal candidate Wally Oppal 9,977 votes to 9,945 votes after final count and the judicial recount. 

Because the difference in votes between the top two candidates was less than 1/500 or .2% of the total ballots considered, the final count was automatically subject to the judicial recount. 

Under the Election Act, there is a 48-hour appeal period before the judge can issue a court certificate confirming the result to the District Electoral Officer for Delta South. 

Counsel for Wally Oppal indicated today he does not intend to seek an appeal. 

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Contact:
Kenn Faris
Manager, Event Communications
Phone: 250-387-2949
Email: Kenn.Faris@elections.bc.ca

VICTORIA - Fifty-one percent of eligible voters in British Columbia voted in the 2009 General Election, Elections BC announced today. 

At the end of final count completed today, 1.65 million ballots were counted, 120,000 fewer than in the 2005 election. 

The current seat count is 49 for the BC Liberal Party, 35 for the BC NDP and one independent. The final vote count is 751,791 Liberal, 691,342 NDP, 134,570 Green, 34,465 Conservative and 28,284 votes for independent candidates and other parties. 

The seat and vote counts are pending a judicial recount in Delta South. 

The final election count includes 94,209 absentee ballots counted this week and 10,961 rejected ballots. 

Two recounts plus absentee ballots counted this week reversed the results in Delta South and Cariboo-Chilcotin, the two closest races in the province. In Delta South, independent candidate Vicki Huntington leads Liberal candidate Wally Oppal 9,977 votes to 9,945 votes. In Cariboo-Chilcotin, Liberal candidate Donna Barnett was declared elected with 6,259 votes to 6,171 for NDP candidate Charlie Wyse. 

In all other 83 electoral districts, candidates who were leading on election night maintained their positions and were declared elected after final count. 

In the referendum on electoral reform, there were 971,722 votes or 60.9% for the existing First-Past-the-Post system, 623,366 votes or 39.1% for the proposed BC-STV system and 56,246 rejected ballots. BC-STV was supported by 50% or more of voters in seven of 85 electoral districts. The proposed new electoral system did not meet either of the two thresholds required for approval by the electorate. 

The 51% turnout of 3.24 million eligible voters compares with 58% in the 2005 general election and 55% in the 2001 general election. 

“Fifty-one per cent is lower than we had hoped,” said Chief Electoral Officer Harry Neufeld. “But we feel British Columbians were given the information about the election and referendum and provided opportunities they needed to vote. In the end, the decision was theirs and we must respect their right to abstain if that’s their choice.” 

Elections BC is conducting a survey of 1,500 voters and non-voters to help guide the organization in developing plans for engaging eligible voters in future elections. 

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Contact:
Kenn Faris
Manager, Event Communications
Phone: 250-387-2949
Email: Kenn.Faris@elections.bc.ca

Reference:  BC Voter Participation - Historical Trendlines and Voting Turnout - 2009 General Election