In the absence of a good argument
not to vote, you should do so. Claiming that voting doesn’t change anything fails as an argument because even if it changes nothing voting still wouldn’t be detrimental, while the counter-claim that the political system creates and upholds law and allows citizens to participate in their own government, as it is supposed to, is just as valid.
In other words,
worst case scenario, you vote, no harm done, best case scenario you’re a mighty hero of the political process!
The thought has often occurred to me that democracy might mostly be a futile exercise, meant merely to placate citizens by giving them a false sense of their own self determination and influence. Yet, even then, participating in the political process could give you a better idea of how it functions in the event you want to criticize it more effectively.
So get your ass out and vote! Vote as your conscience dictates, vote strategically, vote maliciously, vote ironically, vote with a deep sense of melancholy ambivalence tinged with a ray of hope (as I do), just vote!
I argue with my Venezuelan friend and colleague Edward, about politics, left and right, socialist, democratic, fascist, current, historical. We agree, we disagree and we agree to disagree, tossing the conversational ball back and forth with quite a lot of conviction and force. Today, when I opened the envelope which was couriered to me in India by Elections Canada, containing my voting kit with a special ballot for citizens abroad, I had to think of Edward, that perhaps he would be envious of my privilege.
Thus, while I cast my vote for many reasons, one of them is that because I have some hope for good in Canada’s political system, despite my skepticism, if that good exists, then I wouldn’t want to scoff at privilege others value so very highly.
I usually don’t like the idea of the selfie, but in this case I thought I’d like to show myself with my election kit here in India to encourage people to think about the political process, the act and meaning of participation and finally to use the opportunity to put the effort of voting into perspective.
Elections Canada couriered my voting kit to me via the courier TNT, carbon footprint be damned, and I’ll probably have to pay about $50CAD to be certain it gets back by October 19th. Proving my citizenship and voter registration was easy to do through the Elections Canada website.
For me it will be relatively expensive to vote, however, a lot of people in the world risk their livelihood and lives to participate in the political process. Thus seen, my political act is rather minor.
Please don’t misunderstand; I’m not a cheerleader for forced democratization and I’m not claiming any legitimacy for a government or system just because they choose to fly democracy’s banner.
I would just like to get you to think critically about politics and challenge you to question political apathy, especially your own.
Below I’ve written a few words about the theme of a short film that I made,
Unopposed. I made it partly to fight my own growing apathy toward politics and partly to satisfy my own curiosity about the electoral process, which initially seemed so simple but upon closer inspection appeared opaque and then illogical.
The Canadian electoral system suffers from the inherent unfairness of many parliamentary democratic electoral systems. Canada, like many Commonwealth nations, uses the English Westminster system as it’s model, a type also known as ‘first past the post’, which can and does create situations where a political party wins a majority of seats despite receiving less than the majority of the vote.
I’m skeptical when proponents of democracy ascribe to it an inherent good. I’m more comfortable with the appeal that it’s the best system we’ve come up with so far. One thing I am convinced of, however, is that democracies would benefit from a system that ensured more fairness. Such electoral systems are designed so that parties receive roughly the same proportion of seats as their share of the votes – referred to as proportional representation.
Some countries, like New Zealand and Germany, have proportional representation. There is a movement in Canada to implement it but there is strong resistance, especially from those who benefit from the system as it is.
I think it’s safe to claim that proportional representation would not solve all of Canada’s problems, however, minority parties could receive more seats, allowing them a more powerful voice on issues less important to mainstream parties. That is my central argument for proportional representation.
As an example, if the Green Party received seats in proportion to their share of the 2011 election,
3.9%, they would have received approximately 12 out of 308 seats. Having 12 Members of Parliament fighting to make environmental concerns a central part of public debate could make it more difficult for a majority government, the opposition or coalition partners to sweep those concerns away in the name of job protection at the behest of industry.
Who knows? This might even be good for industry. It certainly doesn’t seem to be detrimental to Germany or New Zealand’s economies.
