EDITORIAL – Polls, turnout tell us final days could decide referendum

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

THOUGH I’M NOT A MEMBER of any political party, I quite often receive emails from one of them urging me to take action. “Mel,” the message usual begins, “the time to take action is now! We can’t let the bad guys win!”

They don’t actually use the words “bad guys” — they’re talking about the other parties. I mention this because this is a time to take action. After a one-week extension, the referendum on proportional representation comes to a halt at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.

At this writing, the ballots from roughly 39 per cent of eligible voters have been received.

According to polls, the race is a dead heat, and that means ballots returned in these final days could make the difference.

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Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.