Kootenay West – Referendum – Anomaly
Posted June 1, 2009 by Sacha Peter - Link
Category: Analysis
Comments (1)
Kootenay West (an NDP stronghold – 66.8% voted NDP) was the only electoral district to have more valid votes cast in the referendum than in the general election. 18,153 valid votes were cast in the election vs. 18,174 cast in the referendum.
No other electoral district comes close – Peace River North is second with 143 votes less cast in the referendum than in the general election. Peace River North is also a special riding because so few people voted there. Adjusted for voting numbers, Abbotsford-Mission is the next electoral district that had the most people voting in the referendum relative to the general election – with 244 less referendum votes cast validly than in the general election.
Was the Kootenay West result tabulated correctly? The referendum vote total looks very anomalous.
There is no requirement that the voter submit both the referendum ballot and the candidates ballot.
So the numbers can be widely divergent either way.
There are 2 ballots. One can hold either one back and cast the other one.