Voter Indifference

"It definitely matters because it's getting to the point that the legitimacy of the government comes into question. How can they say they have a mandate? They don't have a mandate if only 18% of voters voted for them." Tyler Sommers, co-ordinator, Democracy Watch

Descending voter participation in the electoral process in Canada has presented as a real problem, and it appears to be widening, as more people than ever appear to have become disaffected and continue to distance themselves from the process. It might help if the voting process of casting a ballot could be performed electronically, but then again it might not.

Voting day in Ontario was a perfect autumn day. Bright and sunny with mild temperatures. Since weather is so often cited, particularly in a northern climate like Canada's as presenting as a deterrence to participation, that certainly was not in evidence this time around. The campaign, to be sure, wasn't quite dramatically gripping.

And people were griping about a number of issues, not all of which were addressed by the campaigning politicos. Understandable, since during an election campaign with its emphasis on sound bites, no one really wants to become embroiled on issues of true significance which in the final analysis turn out to be ideologically divisive.

The two main protagonists spoke of platforms that were clones of one another. Although the Conservatives were highly critical of the governing Liberals, it was the personality of the Liberal leader that formed the main thrust of the Conservative argument. As for the Liberals; they campaigned steadily on the merits of the governing style of the Liberal leader.

It hardly seemed to matter that this particular premier has disappointed so many of the electorate by his high-handed decision-making impacting in an immediately deleterious manner on peoples' incomes at a time of high financial stress and a fading job market. That he simply flicked off accusations of having been highly hypocritical in overturning his own promises seemed to do him no lasting damage.

In a sense, people who have been afflicted by hard times, and worrying concerns about their diminishing income, threats of impending job losses, insecurity and the like often simply wilt into a position of indifference reflecting their feelings of powerlessness. They stay away rather than emerge from the comfort of home, to vote in an expression of their feelings.

So little wonder that overall under 50% of eligible voters in Ontario bothered to turn up at the polling stations.