Let's all Vote!

Ah, the fall election season. Not the American election; although I am following it, I have no say in it so I really can't comment much more on it. No, I am talking about the Canadian federal election - the election that we are all so looking forward to; and we will all be lining up to vote in. And I'm not talking about who to vote for, but the act of filling out that X in general. So this post, while I haven't forgotten the promised posts on adultery and forgiveness, will be about voting. 

Everyone should always vote: Voting is not just a privilege; it is a right that must be exercised. If it is not exercised then a mockery is made of democracy - and we can't have that. The right to self determination in a country is one of the most important rights we have, and if we ignore that right, then we could lose all our rights. To be a citizen in a modern democracy is to vote; all other rights extend from this basic right. 

But moving beyond civic duty, there is also some personal, pragmatic reasons for voting. How can anyone claim credit for government policy you agree with; or condemn policy you disagree with; if you don't vote? How can you complain about gay marriage when you never voted? Or applaud "tough on crime" initiatives? Or even complain about municipal taxes and road conditions? Voting gives us legitimate bitching power. 

And lastly, there is the "how many people died for our way of Life" argument, which flows something like: our soldiers are dying in Afghanistan (Iraq, Germany, France, China, Rwanda, whatever) so but not voting they are dying for no reason. They are willing to give their lives to protect our way of life and to help other countries gain democracy, so not voting is like telling our soldiers that their lives are worthless to us.   

Voting has no point: One vote, one person. That's a great system. It's a guarantee that my vote won't count for anything - because there has never been an overall election decided by one vote. Ever. And if there was, it would be disputed. And you can't argue that "If everyone voted" because if everyone voted, then individual votes would matter even less. (statistically: 1 of out of a million has more relevance than one out of 5 million, and so on). 

And there is absolutely no candidate who can possibly represent me. I may agree with Harper on the economy but Dion on social policy, Layton on crime and May on the environment. And what would my vote mean anyway? Am I voting for the leader, the party, or the individual candidate? What if I like the candidate but not the party? Or the leader and not the candidate? There is no real way that my vote can be interpreted rationally.

If you combine all that with the fact that most people don't even follow the election anyways, it is better that people who don't care don't vote. An uneducated vote is much worse than no vote. 

What I think: I think that voting is a necessary evil. It doesn't really tell anyone what a nation is feeling; and there will always be winners with far less than a majority of the popular vote. So the Canadian system, while far from perfect, does represent the people fairly well, the leader of the country has always had far less votes than they should have had. democracy is the worst system of government out there - except for all the others. I disagree with Australian type systems where you are required by law to vote - but it does have a certain appeal. 

How I relate: I vote. I try to vote in every election, from civic to federal. Those citizenship lessons must have sunk in a bit. I don't think that I am really making a difference, but I do like to complain and I feel that voting gives me the right to do so. I also encourage others to do so, even when I know that they probably won't be bothered to. I wish that we had some type of proportional representation system - that would likely get more people out to vote because they would genuinely feel that their vote can make a difference.

So get out there and Vote! I'll write about sex again next time.  And I have unofficially set myself goals of 4 posts a month - so expect 2 more this month. I hope.