Another election is in the books and the obligatory task is upon us in the editorializing class of congratulating all of those who put their names forward, winners and losers. We do so without reservation. Being a candidate is no easy endeavour, especially in the age of social media. And while we often criticize, according to our role, we do commend all those who contest elections for their service to democracy and in this case our province.
But while the next few days may be a time for congratulations and condolences, the next four years are a time for reflection and action.
In the election Monday, only 56.8 per cent of registered voters exercised their democratic right. That is down approximately 10 per cent from 2011 when it was 66.7 per cent. Those ratios, however, are misleading. Prior to the writ period, Elections Saskatchewan registered nearly 92 per cent of the estimated 815,000 eligible voters, which is a 24 per cent increase over 2011. That year, the organization only registered 76 per cent of an estimated 797,000.
In real numbers, the elections authority registered more than 150,000 more eligible voters—kudos for that—but just less than 23,000 more voted.
Factoring in population growth, to get an accurate idea of political participation, we have to compare the percentages of eligible voters who voted. In 2011, it was 51 per cent, this year 52 per cent. Accounting for the inherent margin of error, those are pretty much identical results.
To put it in further perspective, the Saskatchewan Party just won an 84 per cent majority of the seats in the Legislature with approximately 33 per cent of the eligible vote.
Now, the standard answer to that for winners is something along the lines that people who don’t vote don’t matter. On the other side, the answer is democracy is broken.
Both of those views are wrong-headed. Every citizen of this country and province has a right to good government. The fact that half of the electorate feels so disenfranchised, or so complacent, or so angry that they don’t even bother voting, is irrelevant.
And the fact is, the ratios are more likely to go down than up because studies indicate the percentage of people who vote is greater among old people and lesser among young people. Since the voting habit develops early and is lifelong, we could very quickly be electing governments with less than half the voting age public.
Potential solutions that have been proposed include mandatory voting, proportional representation and online voting. These can only be effective, though, if people care and all indications are we have entered an era in which they don’t. Just 20 per cent of Canadians say they trust our political institutions ‘a lot.’
So, why don’t Canadians trust political institutions? Part of the problem is we view politicians as self-interested. There have been so many cases in which politicians have been just as likely to discourage the vote as encourage it when it suits their purposes. Encouraging voting in general has given way to pinpoint targeting of supporters and getting out the specific vote.
Then there are the high profile breaches of ethics and even criminal activities of elected (and appointed) officials. Whether it is fair or not, all get tainted by those instances.
But maybe we are looking at this all wrong. The assumption is low voting rates are a problem. Perhaps the assumption is incorrect. The strange thing, or maybe not, is that while voting rates are at an all-time low, civic engagement is at an all-time high.
More people are members of groups or organizations in their communities or engaging in other ways—online, for example—than ever before. Perhaps democracy is evolving away from politics. Is it possible people may be exerting influence in ways other than with ballots? Is our future less voting, but more democracy?
Loyalty to political parties has been declining for decades. Could it be people are simply more inclined to work with whomever gets elected rather than concern themselves with for whom to vote? After all, elections only happen every few years, whereas governing takes place every day. And honestly, when you get right down to it, how much difference is there really between most of our mainstream candidates?
It is a thought. Sometimes we need to turn a thing on its head to see it right side up.
