Why are fewer Canadians voting? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Fuzzy McGillicuddy · 10-14-2008, 11:49 PM

Voter turnout in Tuesday's federal election was the lowest ever, just 58%.

I struggle to understand why people don't vote. I think democracy is too important to take for granted. But I also realize the current state of affairs turns a lot of people off. Canadians are tired of the rhetoric, they want to see someone who does what they promise they'll do. Many others just don't care.

Are you one of the 42% of Canadians that didn't vote? Why not.

HOOT · 10-14-2008, 11:51 PM

I voted because Dion's grandpa fought in WWII.

Dion · 10-14-2008, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOOT

I voted because Dion's grandpa fought in WWII.

It was WW1

Anyhoo.....

We have a winnar folks! Thread can be closed now

icarus · 10-14-2008, 11:55 PM

I was one of the 42% because I am overseas and it was too much of a pain in the ass to arrange to vote in a riding which was a foregone conclusion anyway. My housemate walked over to the Canadian Consulate to vote yesterday and they just laughed at him and said 'you're way too late'.

kermitology · 10-14-2008, 11:56 PM

I voted, but people have to be annoyed with the petty infighting between the major parties that is just increasing as time goes on. The parties are all polarizing in some manner and there are a lot of people who aren't satisfied with any one of them to cast a ballot.

In reality, voting isn't an onerous thing to do, but making an informed vote does take some work, and most people aren't interested in doing so given the fact they don't care enough about any one party. Or if you live in Alberta, get fed up with the fact that a sack of barley could run under the Conservative banner in Calgary and win.

Hack&Lube · 10-14-2008, 11:56 PM

the Canadian electoral system is broken and regional. Many people live in areas where the outcome is almost already guaranteed. It's also not proportional. Also, Canadian politics are boring with regional polemics and stupid fighting instead of actual policy.

Reggie Dunlop · 10-14-2008, 11:58 PM

People are polled about everything these days, and have teh innernetz to express their opinions nowadays. Voting isn't as empowering as it once used to be.

nik- · 10-15-2008, 12:00 AM

I ended up not voting because in the end, I just don't really support any of these parties. The only thing that worried me about this election was apparent blood lust over Alberta from the Liberals and NDP and I knew they had no chance of winning. Plus I live in Calgary anyways.

Short Answer: Apathy and no party connection.

edit: on second thought, no apathy. I took the time to read the platforms and watch the debates, I just didn't care for any of them.

Phanuthier · 10-15-2008, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by icarus

I was one of the 42% because I am overseas and it was too much of a pain in the ass to arrange to vote in a riding which was a foregone conclusion anyway. My housemate walked over to the Canadian Consulate to vote yesterday and they just laughed at him and said 'you're way too late'.

Same here. I actually followed some of the issues being fought over and did take a look at how out of country voters vote, but I missed the deadline. If I was in Canada, I'm not sure who I would have voted for anyways.

Some of my university friends who used to be anal about voting back in 1st year have since given up and don't vote, just because they don't care enough to follow it. I think that the case with alot of people, though this election there's more at stake then usual. What the politicians say they will do and what they actually do never comes through, and within <4 year term, things just don't get done, and it seems we keep on going back to the ballots - city, provincial, federal, and those of us in societies.

What I would like to see is the term of a government to be more then 4 years so the elected officials have more time to work their plan.

FlamesAddiction · 10-15-2008, 12:05 AM

I think there are a good chunk of former Liberal voters who became turned off and don't want to vote for them but also can't bring themselves to vote for anyone else. I wouldn't be surprised if that accounted for a measurable chunk of the 42%.

Kjesse · 10-15-2008, 12:06 AM

I had a few things come up at the last minute, and had to choose whether voting was important. For the first time in my life, I decided it didn't matter, and I didn't vote. I'm in Calgary West, the result was a foregone conclusion, and my protest vote really had no place to go... none of the other candidates appealed to me.

I was thinking what might have got me to me vote, because I'm certainly not proud that a couple minor inconveniences kept me from voting. I'm thinking if the Senate were also elected, but seats were assigned based on the percentage of national support, that would really make my vote count.

I didn't vote, and I also conclude it actually didn't matter.

eddly · 10-15-2008, 12:07 AM

I follow politics very closely, but unfortunately I did not vote this time around. I ended up working late tonight. Looking at the results in my home riding though, it wouldn't have mattered too much as the party I support won by over 17k votes.

I also have a very young family so it can be difficult to "pack" them all up and go somewhere. One day I'd like it to be possible to vote online, but I doubt we could ever have enough confidence in such a voting method.

Latest results show the person I was going to vote for winning by over 20k votes.

Phanuthier · 10-15-2008, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eddly

I follow politics very closely, but unfortunately I did not vote this time around. I ended up working late tonight. Looking at the results in my home riding though, it wouldn't have mattered too much as the party I support won by over 17k votes.

I also have a very young family so it can be difficult to "pack" them all up and go somewhere. One day I'd like it to be possible to vote online, but I doubt we could ever have enough confidence in such a voting method.

There would be a ton of issues with voting online (not much different then the US system

) but it would be nice.

First Lady · 10-15-2008, 12:09 AM

I honestly don't know why people do not vote. I think it may boil down to laziness.

I worked as a DRO today and would like to share a couple of stories of people who care and are not lazy.

Firstly there were a number of blind individuals who voted; if they can find their way to a polling station there is zero excuse for anyone else.

Then there was a lady 104 years old; she was wheeled in by her 80 yr old daughter ! ! !

And the one that gave me goose bumps was a young man (maybe late 20's) who just became a Canadian citizen. He asked for permission for his g/f to take a picture of him putting his ballot in the box. I gave the approval. Others in the line took a step back to give them room and a moment to capture the experience. When they were done, several in the line shook his hand to congratulate and thank him. It was very moving.

Inferno · 10-15-2008, 12:10 AM

Other than the fact I could care less about politics the party that does win is all talk and very little action. So I just let the people who follow politics pick our leader and have faith that most Canadians wont vote for the worst.

eddly · 10-15-2008, 12:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

There would be a ton of issues with voting online (not much different then the US system

) but it would be nice.

Exactly. I can dream though. I have a 4 month old... I'd rather not vote if it means keeping her happy.

FlamesAddiction · 10-15-2008, 12:11 AM

If they're going to spend all those resources to have an election, they should throw a referendum in about an important issue as well. If you went in to vote for your government and also got a chance to vote on something like same-sex marriage, privatized healthcare, or marijuana prohibition issues, then you'd probably get a huge turnout.

Dion · 10-15-2008, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by First Lady

And the one that gave me goose bumps was a young man (maybe late 20's) who just became a Canadian citizen. He asked for permission for his g/f to take a picture of him putting his ballot in the box. I gave the approval. Others in the line took a step back to give them room and a moment to capture the experience. When they were done, several in the line shook his hand to congratulate and thank him. It was very moving.

Well done First Lady!

V · 10-15-2008, 12:14 AM

I did vote, but I can understand folks that really couldn't bother.

I honestly think that we would see far better turnout if we had proportional representation. What's the point of voting anything but Conservative in Calgary? We had absolutely no idea about anything this Calgary NE Conservative stood for at a constituent level, and I'm pretty sure I was the norm, and he still won in a landslide.

I wish I could convince myself that my vote actually counts for something. As it is right now, I vote so that I can bitch for the next two years. That's about it.

HOOT · 10-15-2008, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by First Lady

I honestly don't know why people do not vote. I think it may boil down to laziness.

Some but not all. A lot of people feel they have no one to vote for or like in Calgary many assume the Liberals would win so didn't vote.

I had a conversation with a girl at the insurance place here in Victoria and she said she didn't even want to vote because everyone that was running was so negative. Instead of saying "I'm going to do ______" it was "This person won't do this ____" or "This person will do ____, which is bad".

This is the exact same thing I was saying the other night and about the US election. I don't know about everyone else but it grows tiring and I don't want to hear about that. I want to know how you are going to make my life better not how the other guy is going to make my life crappy.

I still voted because I had nothing better to do and had the thing in my car. However mainly because it was at my old school and I wanted to walk around and laugh at the old photos/.