To: 171 reporters and commentators; plus 170 folks who are generally interested in good governance including members of the Social Mavrik Federation .

From: Bob Bray, President, Social Mavrik Federation

Disclaimer: If you want your email address removed from my list, please reply to this email with "No more" in the subject line.

This copy of my 4th message about the One Day Voting Initiative Petition

is sent to the email inbox of:

CAMPBELL RIVER: Bob Bray describes his research about turnout in 10 recent elections that shows a return to One Day Voting could get voter turnout back to the 75% level.

Turnout of registered voters was declining in the 1980s and 1990s. In the 1983 election turnout was 77.66%. This stat is from an Elections BC summary.

In 1986 turnout was 77.19. In the next election, 1991, it was 75.07%.

Legislation was passed to correct this decline by augmenting the voting process with 4 early voting days to make it more convenient to cast a ballot.

The change was implemented in the 5 elections from 1996 to 2013. In the next election (2017) early voting opportunities were increased to 6 days and to 7 days for the snap election in 2020.

In these 7 elections the turnout continued to generally decline, or recover only to 62%, reaching its lowest level in 2020 of 54.50%.

We voters in British Columbia have tested the theory "early voting increases turnout" in 7 elections from 1996 to 2020. Voter turnout did not ever return to the 75% level achieved on the single Election Day in 1991. It is now an historical fact that early voting does not increase voter turnout to the level achieved by one day voting.

Early voting was and still is an easy solution. All it takes is a change in the procedures. It's too good to be true.

The hard solution is based on voter engagement in the political process. And a consequential way to engage voters is when everyone in the community votes in-person on a single Election Day.

It's the way we used to hold elections. Election Day got all of the attention back then. It was necessary since there was only one day to vote. Yes, it was inconvenient. Yes some employees who got 4 hours off with pay didn't need that much time to vote. And yes the media hyped it up big time. But it worked then and it can work again.

I prepared the schematic below based on our 10-election experience over 37 years to demonstrate the 7-election failure of early voting to increase turnout back to 75%.

Click here to see a larger version of the above image.

For you history buffs, I include a link to the Electoral History of BC prepared by Elections BC.

The name of this legislative petition is: Initiative to change the voting opportunities in provincial elections.

The petition is described on the Current Initiative Petitions page of the Elections BC website along with the Public Notice which can be seen here as a PDF document.

It's great for couples!

Both register as canvassers by mail or email. Both receive a signature sheet by mail or email. Each witnesses the other's signature. Both return the signature sheets by mail or email. And collecting a single signature is appreciated. It's a way to participate in the political process from the comfort of your home.

A canvasser experiences British Columbia's direct democracy process - it's unique in Canada. .

A registered canvasser will see his or her name on two lists, one with names in alphabetical order and one with names in geographical order by riding.

The alphabetical list is maintained on the Elections BC website.

The geographical list will be maintained on the Social Mavrik website. It shows each canvasser's home riding. This list is currently under development.

If you are thinking of registering as a canvasser, of course there is an Elections BC application form. When a completed form is approved by the proponent (that's me) it is submitted to Elections BC. An identification card is issued and sent to the proponent who forwards it to the newly registered canvasser. The application form is here. Please send the completed form to this email address or mail it to the contact address shown below.

As I write this there are 0 canvassers registered for signature gathering after August 9th from folks who wish to push back.

One Day Voting canvassers will be invited to occasional half-hour group Zoom calls hosted by me for training and strategizing plus question and answer conversations.

The name of the second legislative petition in 2021 is: Initiative to conduct a Surrey policing binding referendum.

The petition is described on the Current Initiative Petitions page of the Elections BC website.

At the time of writing 0 canvassers are registered for signature gathering after August 16th from folks who prefer national policing over local policing.

You are welcome to forward this email message but it is better if you click on the link below, copy the URL that appears and paste the URL into your email message.

If you forward this email message using the "forward" button in your email program the forwarded message remains linked to your email address. If your chosen recipient unsubscribes, it is your email address that is unsubscribed from my distribution list.

Bob Bray, President, Social Mavrik Federation

Phone: 250-504-0052

Mail: 784 Bowen Drive, Campbell River, British Columbia V9H 1S2

Email: bob.bray@socialmavrikbc.ca

Website: socialmavrikbc.ca

I posted the image below on facebook.com/bob.bray.334

and on mewe.com/i/bobbray1.

Click here to see a larger version of the above image.

Click here to see a larger version of the above image.

As of June 28th the above tweet was seen 83 times with 2 engagements.