Voting 101

It is perhaps one of the greatest ironies of contemporary North American society that after countless years of struggle by our ancestors to achieve an equal distribution of power, a significant proportion of North Americans (especially young adults) choose to give up their power. In the last Canadian federal election in 2008, only about 44.2% of adults aged 18-24 reported that they had voted[1].

Of non-voting young Canadian adults, approximately 45% and 35% said a very important reason why they did not vote was because of not liking the parties/candidates and because of a lack of interest on the issues respectively[2]. The problem with these reasons is that by not voting, these reasons are perpetuated. The probable reason why there are no relevant issues and a lack of support for candidates and parties is because the politicians do not care about trying to please the young voting population, precisely because their low voter turnout has a minimal effect on the election results. It is only by voting that politicians running in future elections will realize the vast number of votes that young adults can provide, and will add to or change their platforms accordingly. It is possible that if enough young adults vote in the upcoming election that platforms in the next federal election will include lower tuition rates and other benefits for the younger population. Therefore, refusing to vote only serves to perpetuate this vicious circle.

Voting is also a social responsibility. It is implied by being a voting aged citizen of Canada that one agrees with the basic principles of Canadian society, with one of the most important principles being equal political power. When a large proportion of a certain age group does not vote it undermines those of that age group who do vote, as their votes are made to be less valuable. In addition, when a large percentage of the population does not vote, it increases the individual value of the votes that were cast. This then puts political power into the hands of fewer individuals, which is a concept that democracy lies in stark opposition to. Thus, not voting undermines the notion of political equality as well as the political foundations of Canadian society.

I will be voting in the upcoming federal elections and I strongly encourage all of my peers to do the same.

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[1] “Voting in last federal, provincial and municipal elections, by age group and sex, Canada, 2008.” Statistics Canada. June 26 2009. Web. March 24 2011.

[2] Pammett, Jon, and LeDuc, Lawrence. “Explaining the Turnout Decline in Canadian Federal Elections: A New Survey of Non-voters.” March 2003. Web. March 24, 2011.