In one of his last major tasks as an MLA, Abolish Self-Government Member Dennis Stevenson, will write the “”No” case for the February 18 referendum. The 2000-word “”No” case will be posted to all electors by the Electoral Commission.
However, electors might not get a “”Yes” case.
Mr Stevenson said yesterday that he was against the referendum because it had been proposed by politicians, not the people.
The referendum is to entrench the result of the referendum held at the last election in 1992 at with 65 per cent of voters approved the Hare-Clark system of voting. If the new referendum is passed, the basic elements of the system can only be changed by a two-thirds majority of the Assembly or by another referendum.
At present, the 1992 result can be over-turned by a simple majority of the Assembly.
All 16 other MLAs voted for the referendum. The Liberal and Labor Parties are expected to meet in the next two weeks to discuss preparation of the “”Yes” case.
Under the Referendums Act, a majority of MLAs who voted for each side must agree on their respective cases before they can be sent to voters by the commission. They have to be presented by January 9.
One cynic suggested that the fact Mr Stevenson was on his own proposing “”No” was the biggest boost to the “”Yes” case. Others suggested that 16 MLAs agreeing on something might suggest a conspiracy of politicians that would arouse voter suspicion.
Opposition electoral spokesman Gary Humphries said it might be difficult to get agreement on a Yes case because the very reason the second referendum was necessary was because of the move by the Labor Party to undermine the result of the first referendum to rort the system with a plan for above-the-line party voting.
It was necessary to get nine MLAs to agree to a “”Yes” case, so the ALP had a veto, he said.
He was prepared to compromise on wording, but would not water it down to the extent it was counter-productive. In which case there would be no “”Yes” case going out.
He thought that the only reason Labor had agreed to the referendum was to make sure it did not become an electoral issue.
The ballot paper for the referendum will require voters to write the word “”Yes” or “”No” in a box after a question asking whether “”you approve the law to entrench the principles of the proportional representation (Hare-Clark) electoral system?” It will not have separate “”Yes” and “”No” boxes and ticks or crosses because this might confuse some voters given the ballot paper for candidates must be numbered.
In addition to entrenching Hare-Clark with “”Robson rotation” of candidates names on the ballot paper, the referendum will entrench compulsory voting.
Mr Stevenson said he disagreed with mixing the issues.
A spokesman for the Labor Party said the process of working out the “”yes” case had not yet begun, but the party would prepare a draft and see if agreement could be achieved.
The Electoral Commission is to resume its education campaign next month explaining both the referendum and the Hare-Clark system being used at the election for candidates.