Rock the Vote Part One - by Apollo

The first discussion topic...and it isn't about sports! Well, at least not right away...

Something rather near and dear to our hearts are elections. Well, we don't love them, but I think that generally Stevan and I try and participate in the democratic process and try to be informed on relevant issues. I don't pretend to be well educated on politics, but compared to the majority of eligible voters, it appears I may be a genius simply based on the fact that I've actually voted in municipal, provincial and federal elections.

The European Parliamentary elections took place last week, and unfortunately drew an all-time low 45.3% turnout of eligible voters. Now, that still amounted to about 150 million people voting, but out of an estimated 350 million eligible voters, that's pretty sad. The media have speculated that holding the elections at the same time as the Euro 2004 football tournament was a big mistake and helps to explain the low turnout. That's right...watching a football game which lasts about 3 hours per day somehow explains why people could not vote over a four day span when polls were open for at least six hours a day.

Here in Canada, we're going to the polls on June 28 for the federal election and if past trends continue, voter apathy in Canada will also reach new highs, or is that lows? Particularly troubling is the decrease in voting among young people, where the prevailing attitude is that government is either too big or too disparate to the point where voting makes no difference at all.

Now far be it from me to rant about the lack of voter participation or to wail idealistically about the need for more citizens to exercise their right to vote, but why is it that people really don't seem to care about their elected officials?

1. Voting is free (or more importantly, it's already paid for by tax dollars whether you vote or not...your money has already been spent, you may as well be the one spending it);

2. Voting is convenient; polling stations are always within walking distance and are open longer than most banks...which you would think would appeal to citizens who spend their lunch breaks waiting in line for teller machines, doughnuts or coffee);

3. Government services are used on a daily basis - unless you plan on not walking, driving, using the telephone, eating, using money, etc. - so how can people not care about the government delivering these services to them?

4. Democracy is often used as the banner which supposedly sets us apart from them, or what helps to define us as a nation, so why ignore such a fundamental component of democracy?

5. Politicians are scary - would you trust some of these people with the well being of your family, your money, your property? Probably not in some cases...so how can you trust that the rest of the country won't vote these scary people into office unless you do something to stop it?

There's plenty of arguments on either side as to the decline in voter participation, but I for one will probably never understand. People go out of their way so often on a daily basis for the most mundane of tasks - getting a coffee, smoking, picking up laundry, playing the lottery - perhaps if polling stations were located inside coffee shops here in Canada or at bistros in Europe, we could turn voter apathy around...in any event, I'll be voting on June 28.