2019 Prince Edward Island electoral reform referendum

A referendum on the issue had been held October 27 to November 7, 2016. That referendum had asked which of five voting systems residents would prefer to use in electing members to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The 2016 referendum, after four instant run-off rounds, had indicated that mixed member proportional representation was the preferred choice with over 52% support on the final ballot. Premier Wade MacLauchlan said after the vote that he was doubtful the result of the referendum "can be said to constitute a clear expression of the will of Prince Edward Islanders" due to the low voter turnout relative to provincial general elections. As the result of political pressure, MacLauchlan's government introduced a motion in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island to hold another referendum on electoral reform at the next provincial general election, stating that the low turnout for the referendum did not provide a mandate to implement the change and the need for a more specific referendum question with two choices. A motion by Green Party leader Peter Bevan-Baker to implement mixed-member proportional representation in line with the referendum results was defeated on November 22, 2016, by a vote of 6–20. On June 12, 2018, legislation governing the new referendum passed in the legislature. ==Referendum question and threshold==

The Electoral System Referendum Act passed by the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island on June 13, 2018, set the referendum question as: Should Prince Edward Island change its voting system to a mixed member proportional voting system? • No • Yes (According to the Act, "No" was required to appear on the referendum ballot above "Yes") In order for the referendum to be legally binding, either side was required to receive a majority of voters in at least 60% (17) of the province's 27 provincial electoral districts. Before the results were announced, Gerard Mitchell, the referendum commissioner, confirmed the 60% threshold saying if the vote was close "whoever is governing will have to make a decision". ==Campaign==

The campaign period for the referendum began on February 1, 2019, and applications opened for Yes and No campaigns to apply for public funding. During the campaign, Premier (and Liberal leader) Wade MacLauchlan did not take a public position on the vote. The leaders of all other parties, however, were on record as supporting a move to MMP. The leaders were also asked about their referendum positions in the CBC Leaders' Debate. The form of MMP proposed would have had 18 district seats and nine island-wide top-up seats filled in compensatory fashion to address disproportionality of the district winners. Open list PR was to be used to fill the top-up seats. The voter's marked preference on the Party Vote part of the ballot "would be used to determine each party's province-wide popular vote, and the number of votes each candidate on the party list receives will determine their ranking." The party share of popular vote would determine the party's share of total seats, and if the party did not win that many district seats, the party would receive top-up seats, if possible, with the party's top-up seats being allocated to the most-popular of the party's top-up candidates. A sample MMP ballot was issued during the campaign. ==Opinion polls==

The referendum was defeated, with 15 districts voting to adopt MMP and 12 voting to maintain the current system. The popular vote was a narrow majority in favour of keeping the current first-past-the-post system. Neither side, however, received a majority in 60% of districts (17/27) and therefore the referendum was not binding on the government. Analysis : = results revised on recount == Aftermath ==

Following the preliminary results, Brenda Oslawsky of Vote Yes P.E.I. said that the result showed there was "significant support" for MMP, and that the group was calling on the government to convene a citizens assembly to study electoral reform. Peter Bevan-Baker, leader of the Green Party, called the results "agonizingly close" and said it is inevitable that proportional representation is coming but that PEI is not going to be the province leading the charge. ==References==