When it comes to voter turnout, I seriously wonder how it’s going to be this year.
Elections Canada cannot encourage the public to vote thanks to the Fair Elections Act. This is the only national, non-partisan voting organization that would be able to reach across the country and get voters to the polls. This should be their job to get people to the polls.
Who’s going to encourage voting? Political parties and small regional groups. Guess how effective that would be?
The loyal Conservative following will have no problem getting fellow blue bloods like them to the polls. Your leader needs you, oh loyal Tory right wingers.
The problem becomes getting ordinary, non-partisan people who have no political affiliation whatsoever to the polls. By 2011 standards, 40 per cent of the electorate fits under this category. That is a big number of undecided, “I don’t care who wins” type people. Maybe one TV commercial won’t do much to sway them to vote but it would be more effective than nothing.
These are the types of people who aren’t swayed by party platforms or TV commercials and attack ads either, so how else do you get people to vote?
Guess what, you undecided types? That’s what Harper wants.
Going to the advanced polls (twice because the lines were crazy long on the first day), the majority of voters that I saw were over 50 and, based on statistics, most likely Conservative voters.
Why would he encourage an electorate that would most likely vote against him?
Was this what he was planning with the Fair Elections Act? The demographic that the Act affects most is young people who are more likely to vote against him than for him. What else would his agenda be when he blatantly targets the youth vote?
I discovered a trick when discussing voting.
Give them a reason to vote. The reason that voting is important because it’s a right that women and men have fought for for centuries is no longer working on someone who just doesn’t care.
Give them infrastructure costs, give them the deterioration of health care, give them a cookie - just give them a reason to cast a ballot.
I’m horrible for saying this and then not backing it, but I will say it now and stand by it: Even voting Conservative is okay - just please for the love of Canada, because you love your country, just vote.
There are many reasons to vote Conservative, many reasons to vote NDP, many reasons to vote Liberal and many reasons to vote Green. There are also many reasons to spoil your ballot because those are counted too. More is meant by a spoiled ballot than not voting at all ever could mean.
