What do I need to know about the Referendum Act?

The Electoral System Referendum Act was passed during the final days of the Spring Sitting of the PEI Legislature in June 2018. It was a highly controversial bill that, in its first draft, proposed draconian restrictions on the ways in which Islanders could participate in the referendum on the adoption of Mixed Member Proportional Representation (MMP), or even take part in discussion, debate and education on proportional representation prior to the referendum. Partly as a result of the the legislation, the PEI Coalition for Proportional Representation (the community-based coalition that ran a successful 2016 electoral reform plebiscite campaign ) decided to disband, and the decentralized PEI Proportional Representation Network was born.

Through the efforts of members of this network and oppositions MLAs, a high level of public awareness was raised about the major flaws of the Referendum Act, including potentially unconstitutional provisions, and the government was forced to back down on many of the worst elements of the Act. The heavily-amended final Act, which is now law, still has problems but is much improved over the initial draft.

The infographics below help to make it easier for citizens to understand what the act says about who can participate in the referendum and how, and how this changes during the timeline leading up to the Referendum (which will take place at the same time as the next election, which the PEI Elections Act says should take place in April 2020, but could happen sooner if the government chooses to call a surprise early election).