Imagine a scenario where you鈥檙e in a room with nine other people and dinnertime is approaching. There are varying degrees of hunger and food preferences in the room, but six o鈥檆lock is the agreed upon time to eat.
Three people put their hands up and vote for Hawaiian pizza, the other seven don鈥檛 say anything. The majority in the room is now saddled with pineapple on their pizza. And worse yet, they鈥檒l get nothing but that for four years whether they like it or not.
This simplistic and watered down hypothetical is actually a microcosm of almost every municipal election in 麻豆传媒映画for the last 20 years, as voter turnout rates have hovered around a dismal 30 per cent on average.
By comparison, federal elections during the same time period have consistently brought in double that number. Provincial elections, meanwhile, have attracted between 50 and 60 per cent of voters since 2001.
Theories abound as to why that chasm exists, particularly given that most everyday services 鈥� roads, parks and garbage 鈥� are dealt with at the civic level.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very perplexing to me,鈥� longtime electoral reform proponent Shoni Field told the Courier.
Field was a member of the Citizens鈥� Assembly on Electoral Reform back in 2004 and more recently chaired the Independent Election Task Force from 2015 to 2017. The task force ultimately delivered a 140-page report to council in January 2017 that called for a number of changes to boost voter turnout and engagement: scrapping donations from corporations, unions and non-profits, piloting an online voting trial and moving to proportional representation.
An East 麻豆传媒映画resident, Field has seen the final vote tally exceed the 40 per cent threshold only twice since 1996. That happened in 2002 with 50 per cent voter turnout and in 2014, when 44 per cent of eligible voters gave Mayor Gregor Robertson another kick at the can.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a whole pile of personal issues that you don鈥檛 necessarily have a personal connection to in a city like Vancouver,鈥� Field said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e voting in a rural area, you鈥檝e probably had a conversation with most of the candidates. You know their neighbour or their aunt. You have to make that personal connection to make it matter.鈥�
A personal connection may be more difficult in this election than ever before, as the ballot has close to 160 names on it for mayor, council, school and park boards. Its may make it confusing for some, Field said, and overly time-consuming or stressful for others.
Her advice is to simplify, prioritize and rely on others to help with that work.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to know the entire platform of all the candidates, you have to recognize what鈥檚 most important to you, rather than digesting everything,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd if, say for example, the arts or renters鈥� rights are important to you, look to those groups who may have already asked those questions of the candidates.鈥�
Age old question
Longtime Simon Fraser University political science professor Patrick Smith had a decidedly blunt take on the amount of time the average citizen would put into that research process.
鈥淶ero. If not zero, maybe two or three per cent,鈥� he said.
Smith makes a point every semester of asking his first-year political science students if they intend to vote, and the answers always come back as a 50/50 split.
鈥淚 thank them just to piss them off,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e kind of confused, given this is usually only the first or second class of the year. Old farts like me get my agenda looked after. It鈥檚 partly that they can鈥檛 be bothered, and it鈥檚 partly that they鈥檙e not attuned.鈥�
That鈥檚 where change needs to occur and it鈥檚 a point that Smith, Field and University of B.C. political science professor Max Cameron all agree on 鈥� get kids involved early.
All three have varying degrees of comfort with lowering the voting age to 16. Short of that, allowing 16-year-olds to be on the voters鈥� list is a slam dunk for the trio, as it gets teens aware of the political sphere before they鈥檝e left high school and, in theory, ready to vote two years later.
Cameron, Field and Smith all pointed to research suggesting those who don鈥檛 vote by their mid-20s will likely never vote at all in their lifetimes.
鈥淜ids these days are not going to be told by their parents how to vote, I don鈥檛 think,鈥� Cameron said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e got enough autonomy and intelligence at that age where they can vote.鈥�
Words on encouragement
As for online voting, Smith is the lone proponent of a move to that system simply because it speaks to young people in a language they鈥檙e already fluent in. Field and Cameron, meanwhile, have misgivings around security.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 trust computers and I don鈥檛 like the idea of voting at home where maybe the father of the family would say to all the family members, 鈥楾his is how you鈥檙e voting,鈥濃�� Cameron said.
About 20 countries across the globe have mandatory voting in place. In Australia, not voting can cost a resident anywhere from $20 to a few hundred dollars in fines.
Field worries about making voting compulsory. For starters, it鈥檚 too prescriptive and undermines the notion of civic duty. It also invites a number of spoiled ballots, as those who have no interest in politics simply show up to polling stations, draw a line through the ballot and are done with it.
Cameron is a bit warmer to the idea and could see it working. As an example, he suggested trying it federally should voter turnout consistently dip below 50 per cent. The fine could be $20 and tied to tax payments.
鈥淲e want to be careful about this, particularly at the local level where voter turnout is already low,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e could get some crazy results municipally. Maybe there the threshold is 20 or 30 per cent, where you start to think of ways of incentivizing people actually voting.鈥�
As for the here and now, Field recognizes the task ahead for voters. Even as someone as politically aware as herself, it took Field 90 minutes to whittle through the candidates. She鈥檚 hoping others put in the same kind of legwork.
鈥淚t does require a little bit more from voters and I鈥檓 not sure that鈥檚 a bad thing,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e asking you to show up and put some thought into it. I鈥檝e never met anyone who has admitted to simply voting for the first 10 names on a ballot.鈥�
Election day is Oct. 20.
