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It may be a dead heat on paper, but on the ground it was a different story in Week One of B.C.’s crucial electoral reform referendum.

As Elections B.C. began mailing out more than three million ballots, the Yes campaign in support of proportional representation came charging out of the starting gates.

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The No side stumbled with an unintentionally hilarious TV commercial warning goose-stepping Nazi thugs could take power if pro-rep forces succeed.

The pollsters say this referendum is so close that it’s not clear which side will come out the winner.

But I’d say one thing is clear enough: The Yes side won the first week of the campaign. Going away.

The campaign so far is breaking along predictable political and special-interest lines.

A proportional representation voting system would increase the number of MLAs elected by smaller parties, notably the Green party.

Not surprisingly, the Greens are all in favour. So is the governing NDP, the Greens’ power-sharing partner in the minority legislature.