G'morning David,

 -> What are the key features of the Ontario campaigns for and against
 -> - NZ detailed experience in them might be illuminating.

 DW> Most people still haven't heard of the referendum, and those that have
 DW> are ignorant of what it means. It's being held on the same day as a
 DW> provincial general election. Plenty of people have strong views as to
 DW> which party should form the next government, and will vote accordingly.
 DW> But whan they see this other question, I suspect most will ignore it.

Mmmm ... the linking of an election with a constitutional 
referundum here in NZ was not wise - the loathing for politicians 
not merely kept people from voting in the election in record 
numbers;  it also offered a cane to use on politics for those who 
did vote and joined in the referundum.

What level of support is required in your referundum to change 
voting systems ? The proponents of MMP here talked in an temporary 
waiving of the 75% or better level that usually applies to such 
referenda.

And is the proposal viewed as a constitutional reform ?  
Proponents tried hard here to write it off as a minor tweak, but 
NZ politics moved from leading the country to institutionalised 
`political correctness' overnight - and voters's support for 
specific policies became a game of blind chance and subterfuge.

In our first MMP election,  parties promoted their policies and 
voting ranked the party standings.  Then there came months of 
discussion and negotiation while the parties, not the voters, 
tried to couple to find a majority coalition.

This meant that coupling parties negotiated on which of their 
policies were mutually acceptable, dumping those which weren't. 
The conspiring parties with the biggest coalition next tried to 
form a Government ... and when that finally succeeded,  the end 
mishmash of politicians and policies had never been voted on in 
the election.  Goodnight democrasy, hello party rule !

Miles.
 
+--------------------Miles-Maxted-------------------+
| 116 Sunrise Avenue, North Shore City, New Zealand |
| Ph/Fx/As: ++64-9-478-3138   Mob: ++64-21-296-3891 |
+---------------------------------------------------+
 
___ MultiMail/Win32 v0.47

--- Maximus/2 3.01