The provincial general election for the province of Saskatchewan is coming up, and the election campaign is underway in the race to decide who will lead the province politically over the next four years in the Legislature.
When an election like this comes along, the danger is for people to presume to know what the outcome will be, and therefore they will not bother to vote, because after all, what difference will one vote really make?
The worst thing that can happen in a democratic society is for apathy to set in amongst the voters, because apathy is a sign that the very system of democracy is being taken for granted. When that occurs, abuse of the system can sneak in and no one is the wiser - until it's too late, after the election, and the outcome is then twisted from what it was supposed to be, namely to be completely determined by the votes cast by the electorate.
It is the privilege, and in fact the duty, of every eligible voter to be a part of the process; it may be a small role to play, but collectively, it all makes a difference to the outcome of an election.
In the case of the provincial election, a voter's involvement includes obtaining the information they need to intelligently make a decision as to which party or candidate to support. Part of that process is to attend such events as the all-candidates forum, which in Weyburn will be held on Thursday, Oct. 27, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Comp Cafetorium.
Even if one has their mind mostly made up about who to support, it is still a worthwhile activity to attend such a forum and find out where each of the candidates stand on particular issues; plus, it gives voters a clearer idea who each of the candidates are and what their personal strengths or weaknesses are.
If any voter has doubts or questions in their mind on particular issues, the campaign is the time to ask the question, and pinpoint the candidates on where they stand on any given issue.
If a voter does not participate in any way in the process, including not bothering to take two minutes to go to the voting booth and cast a ballot, then they don't really have the right after the vote to complain about how it turned out.
