Friday, June 11, 2004
I've been hearing a lot of "if you don't vote, you can't complain" talk as of late which should come as no surprise. Whenever the proponents of such a stance are faced with a protest like, "But none of the parties represent what I want", they fire back with "Well then spoil your ballot. Send a message! They won't change their platforms if you don't vote!"
When I first voted in an election, I spoiled my ballot. The NDP candidate for my riding was a bit incompetent, the Liberal candidate was a bit arrogant and ineffectual, and the Progressive Conservative candidate was a bit, well, conservative.
I'm surprised none of you remember when I spoiled my ballot, I mean it did introduce massive and sweeping platform and electoral change across the board.
The next federal election after that, I didn't vote. I had just moved to a new riding and was quite sure I couldn't produce the necessary proof to be included on the voter's list. I also was apprehensive about voting in a riding that I really didn't feel a part of. I had no time to find out what the candidates' platforms were and I had no idea what the concerns of the constituents were. I figured that an uneducated vote is an indeed a waste vote, so I decided to opt out.
This federal election things are quite a bit different.
In Canadian 'first past the post' system, your vote really doesn't matter unless you're on the winning team. It's antiquated system that sorely needs reform. The system hasn't changed all that much. Why should I bother voting?
Bill C-24, which makes its first appearance in this election, provides a 1.75 per vote per party as long as that party garners 2% of the vote. The NDP, The Conservatives, the BQ, and the Liberals will have no problem getting that support, it almost shouldn't even be an issue for them. The Green Party on the other hand could desperately use that money so that they can mount a larger campaign in the forthcoming elections. I'm not necessarily a fan of all of the Greens' platforms, but I do like what they essentially stand for and I want to feel that my vote is going to good use. I'd much prefer to see a four party system than a two or three party system, Bill C-24 allows me to have some say in that.
My problem is, is that I worry that the NDP may not win this riding. I'm quite sure it's a good bet for them to win (Alexa McDonough, the party's candidate routinely trounces the competition in this riding), but Sheila Fougere is a pretty strong and popular local candidate. However, even if the NDP didn't win the seat, there wouldn't be much chance of the Conservatives (the only party I'd go out of my way to vote against) winning the seat. Nova Scotia isn't really going to make or break any government, so essentially what it comes down to is where is my vote going to do the most good?
Should I attempt to help the Greens gain the 2% of the vote that is required in order to gain access to government funds even though they're a little murky on a number of their platforms that I find somewhat important (arts and culture, taxation, gay marriage)? Or should I worry that maybe McDonough isn't the popular MP she once was and make sure that decent representation is ensured for the riding in parliament? I think McDonough is grandstanding this election, mostly because of this McDonough Challenges Regan And MacKay To Debate
, neither of the MPs are in McDonough's riding, so the debate would seemingly be just theatrics. I'd rather see her or one of her representatives knocking on my door, which she has yet to do, than see her debate against the other parties' Nova Scotia 'heavyweights'. She's not the leader of the NDP anymore, she's an MP with a riding to represent, I'd like to see her do that. I realize both MacKay and Regan have attacked her, but let their actions speak for themselves. Neither of those MPs have very seem to have much integrity, especially MacKkay after MacKay reneged on his promise to David Orchard to not merge the PC's and the Canadian Alliance. Let Regan and MacKay hang themselves and get back to campaigning.
So I'm torn on where to send my vote, but maybe that's a situation I'm creating because I so desperately want to feel like my vote actually counts. I want to feel like I have some say in 'democracy'. I'd love to feel like it matters who I vote for and that an electoral decision depends on what party I cast my vote for. I have a feeling we all feel that way and that very few of us are ever going to feel satisfied.
Update I should not vote for the Greens because their website is gaudy and literally hurts my eyes and none of the canidate's promised updates work.
Stay tuned to see if I even vote at all.
When I first voted in an election, I spoiled my ballot. The NDP candidate for my riding was a bit incompetent, the Liberal candidate was a bit arrogant and ineffectual, and the Progressive Conservative candidate was a bit, well, conservative.
I'm surprised none of you remember when I spoiled my ballot, I mean it did introduce massive and sweeping platform and electoral change across the board.
The next federal election after that, I didn't vote. I had just moved to a new riding and was quite sure I couldn't produce the necessary proof to be included on the voter's list. I also was apprehensive about voting in a riding that I really didn't feel a part of. I had no time to find out what the candidates' platforms were and I had no idea what the concerns of the constituents were. I figured that an uneducated vote is an indeed a waste vote, so I decided to opt out.
This federal election things are quite a bit different.
In Canadian 'first past the post' system, your vote really doesn't matter unless you're on the winning team. It's antiquated system that sorely needs reform. The system hasn't changed all that much. Why should I bother voting?
Bill C-24, which makes its first appearance in this election, provides a 1.75 per vote per party as long as that party garners 2% of the vote. The NDP, The Conservatives, the BQ, and the Liberals will have no problem getting that support, it almost shouldn't even be an issue for them. The Green Party on the other hand could desperately use that money so that they can mount a larger campaign in the forthcoming elections. I'm not necessarily a fan of all of the Greens' platforms, but I do like what they essentially stand for and I want to feel that my vote is going to good use. I'd much prefer to see a four party system than a two or three party system, Bill C-24 allows me to have some say in that.
My problem is, is that I worry that the NDP may not win this riding. I'm quite sure it's a good bet for them to win (Alexa McDonough, the party's candidate routinely trounces the competition in this riding), but Sheila Fougere is a pretty strong and popular local candidate. However, even if the NDP didn't win the seat, there wouldn't be much chance of the Conservatives (the only party I'd go out of my way to vote against) winning the seat. Nova Scotia isn't really going to make or break any government, so essentially what it comes down to is where is my vote going to do the most good?
Should I attempt to help the Greens gain the 2% of the vote that is required in order to gain access to government funds even though they're a little murky on a number of their platforms that I find somewhat important (arts and culture, taxation, gay marriage)? Or should I worry that maybe McDonough isn't the popular MP she once was and make sure that decent representation is ensured for the riding in parliament? I think McDonough is grandstanding this election, mostly because of this McDonough Challenges Regan And MacKay To Debate
, neither of the MPs are in McDonough's riding, so the debate would seemingly be just theatrics. I'd rather see her or one of her representatives knocking on my door, which she has yet to do, than see her debate against the other parties' Nova Scotia 'heavyweights'. She's not the leader of the NDP anymore, she's an MP with a riding to represent, I'd like to see her do that. I realize both MacKay and Regan have attacked her, but let their actions speak for themselves. Neither of those MPs have very seem to have much integrity, especially MacKkay after MacKay reneged on his promise to David Orchard to not merge the PC's and the Canadian Alliance. Let Regan and MacKay hang themselves and get back to campaigning.
So I'm torn on where to send my vote, but maybe that's a situation I'm creating because I so desperately want to feel like my vote actually counts. I want to feel like I have some say in 'democracy'. I'd love to feel like it matters who I vote for and that an electoral decision depends on what party I cast my vote for. I have a feeling we all feel that way and that very few of us are ever going to feel satisfied.
Update I should not vote for the Greens because their website is gaudy and literally hurts my eyes and none of the canidate's promised updates work.
Stay tuned to see if I even vote at all.
# posted by Die Brucke @ 9:14 AM 
