Confusion over electoral reform may skew P.E.I. plebiscite: professor
CHARLOTTETOWN — The P.E.I. government has intentionally confused voters ahead of a provincewide plebiscite on electoral reform in a bid to maintain the status quo, a prominent political observer said Friday, as voters prepared to start casting their ballots on the weekend.
Prof. Peter McKenna, chairman of the political science department at the University of Prince Edward Island, said the Island’s Liberal government has placed no less than five options on a ranked ballot, a move he said has left voters so befuddled they are unlikely to abandon the existing first-past-the-post system, which favours traditional parties.
“(Premier) Wade MacLauchlan announced his interest in having a plebiscite on electoral reform and, in my view, essentially torpedoed it,” McKenna said in an interview.
“I admit as a political scientist, I don’t even know the full ramifications of these models. So, you’re expecting the ordinary citizen on the street to know them? I think that’s unrealistic … It’s designed to confirm the status quo.”