I know this is an extremely stupid question, but how can the Green Party be “stealing” votes from the NDP but not the Liberals?
Most people who would vote Green (like me), would never vote Liberal.
Voting Green is a wasted vote here, because they’ll never get enough votes to win. So it’s the same as not voting at all.
But if you intend to vote against Bill Belsey, it’s best to vote NDP, as they have a chance of winning. Voting Green is one less vote against Belsey, really.
It’s the reason George W. Bush won his first election – the Greens took enough anti-Bush votes from Gore to keep him from winning.
It’s also how Belsey won the last election – a majority of people in Rupert actually voted against him, but since they all voted for different parties, he won.
Personally, I think this is a great reason to vote YES to STV – so that no vote is wasted. And that nobody is elected without a majority of votes.
STV would be great for parties like the Greens (and the Christian Heritage, and the Marijuana Party, etc), because people could vote for them as their “first choice” and then another party as “second choice” if they don’t win…
Really, what it comes down to is that both the NDP and Green parties are running on left wing platforms. Like MiG said, if you are someone that would vote Green, chances are the Liberals are too far right for your liking.
Another good example was in the Federal election with the Reform/Alliance and Conservative parties. Before they combined, both were right wing platforms that had trouble winning seats in recent years.