The foundation of Canadian democracy is progressively deteriorating, giving rise to a chilling national crisis. The staggering decline in voter turnout during elections has generated negative attention and drastic measures are imperative to ensure Canada remains a truly democratic nation. I recently came across an article by Mac Harb, a Canadian member of the Senate who sponsored a bill calling for the introduction of a compulsory voting system in Canada. He introduced Bill S-22 as a “direct response to a rising electoral crisis,” as voter turnout has been on the decline in Canada since the 1960s, reaching a record low of just 60.9 per cent in the 2004 election. After dismissing the bill, the Canadian government claimed to realize the significance of declining voter turnout, and vowed to implement a strategy to encourage citizens to vote, especially youth. However, their vital plan resulted in an overall increase of only 3.8 per cent more voters in the 2006 federal election…some plan, eh? We need a better “plan”.
At first, I found myself disagreeing with Harb. However, after researching this topic further, I now support a compulsory voting system. Canada is in desperate need of some sort of action to inspire Canadians and motivate them to become invested in their country and this seems to be the most effective, logical solution.
The most common criticism against compulsory voting is that such a system would violate individual “rights”. First, the majority of people fail to recognize that technically, no one is forced to vote in a compulsory voting system. The only mandatory provision is the obligation to go to a polling place. Second, voting needs to be seen as a civic duty and not simply a dispensable right that can be refused. We have a right to a fair trial but we have a responsibility to serve on juries to protect that right. We have the right to universal health care, but we have the responsibility to pay taxes for that service. These are all examples of mandatory duties with reasonable limits that we put on our freedom to ensure the success of our society.
Compulsory voting enhances political participation and our Canadian democracy depends upon that active participation of citizens. According to Elections Canada, only one in four Canadians under the age of 25 voted in the 2004 Federal election. Implementing a compulsory voting system would enhance political participation by motivating Canadians of all ages to become more involved in the future direction of their country. The notion that a single vote truly can make a difference will lead Canadians to change their attitudes and pay increased attention to critical issues and political matters. People cite many reasons not to vote, such as lack of time and disdain for politicians, however, those who want to express their dissatisfaction with politicians or with the system by not voting will do so much more clearly by cancelling their ballot or putting an X beside ‘none of the candidates. And my life is hectic too…but I can spare 5 minutes to exercise a significant right my ancestors fought so hard for.
Compulsory voting would also ensure every Canadian voter has equal liberties despite age, race, education, gender and wealth. Research shows the lower electoral participation is, the higher inequalities are in terms of educational attainments and social class in the electorate. If voting is not mandatory, unequal electoral participation increases, and if the majority of voters are only representative of a particular group, then the elected officials are not representative of the entire country. Compulsory voting would ensure every citizen had their voice heard and, similar to a referendum, there would be no question as to what the people want.
There are also concrete examples to look at the success of a compulsory voting system. Thirty democracies around the world claim to have compulsory voting. Among those countries are Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Greece, Singapore, Switzerland and Uruguay, to name a few. Australia’s compulsory voting system was established in 1924 in response to declining voter turnout and now there is a consistent turnout of over 90 per cent in their national elections. Furthermore, polls in Australia show that 80 per cent of Australians support the mandatory system and do not see it as an infringement on their rights.
Adopting a compulsory voting system is the best solution for Canada to ensure it remains a truly democratic nation. There is an inherent responsibility attached to the privilege of living in a democratic society and the benefits of implementing such a system far outweigh any costs in the long run. We must change the attitudes and behaviours of the Canadian people to view voting as a civic duty rather than an expendable right and the critical need for enhanced voter participation and equal liberties must be addressed immediately in order to guarantee our freedoms. We need a signal from the Canadian government that voting is still an important element of our democratic system, and compulsory voting is our most logical solution. Just my opinion…
Erin
Sources:
Elections Canada. 2006. Report of the chief electoral officer of Canada on the 39th general election of January 23, 2006. Ottawa: Elections Canada.
Harb, Mac. 2005. The case for mandatory voting in Canada. Canadian Parliamentary Review 28, (2) (Summer): 4-6.
10 comments:
Your comment "...inspire Canadians and motivate them..." sums up the problem nicely. It's not public apathy but public disgust and a lack of knowledge about our politicians that is the reason for the low voter turnout. That, and the appalling lack of any type of civics teaching in our public schools. My earliest instruction in Canadian politics came as part of my grade 6 history. Our teacher required us to know the names of all the political parties in our province as well as the federal parties. We also had to know the names of the leaders of these parties. By grade 7 this same teacher required us to cut articles out of the newspaper that related to one provincial and one federal bill or proposal and explain it as best we could. He would then pick two or three of these topics and discuss what these measures were meant to achieve as well as the oppositions view of these initiatives. By grade 8 he had expanded this newspaper cutting idea to include world politics.
Today, the polls show that less than one quarter of the public even knows what the Liberals 'green shift' is all about and somewhere around three percent know what the revenue neutral portion of this proposal signifies.
Mandating people to vote will only result in far too many people checking the first name that they remember hearing. This will only lower the already deplorable mudslinging to a level where the party that can make the most egregious claims will gain the headlines and public notice.
There are two common sayings that best represent my philosophy as to why making voting mandatory is a bad idea. The first, and most important, is that the public gets the government they deserve. The second, which is ignored by all the non-voters, is "if you don't vote, you can't bitch." It is the latter that gets me out to vote even though I may just pencil in Gizmo Gearloose as my selection out of pure disgust with the whole pack of idiots.
I am in complete agreement with you that something needs to be done to raise the number of voters that take the time to make a vote. The low numbers are appalling- do people not realise that this vote, this 2 minute task that they are choosing to ignore helps decide who governs over our great country and sets the rules out for everyone, including them? It's quite disgusting that every year, you hear more and more reasons why people did not go out to vote.
I don't pretend to have a huge understanding of the way politics work. And I am sure that I am probably guilty of hearing what I want to hear and not paying attention entirely to everything else, but I am a firm believer that at least I am making a valiant effort. It's important to remember that the effort and the follow through are what's important here.
Further more, I find there to be very few good reasons why you cannot take the time to vote. This year, I actually went with a co-worker and friend to my designated voting place wearing my pajamas. Voting is not a fashion concern- its a political duty.
I wish that there was some way to ensure that everyone had to vote, and be informed on the vote they are making. My fear of mandatory voting is that should we institute it, people will go there and play the good old game of 'eenie meenie minie mo'. If we are at a an average of 60% of people voting now, does that mean that if we bring in a mandatory voting system that 40% of people are going to go in there and choose whichever candidates name sounds the best? If this is the case, then truly, I think we are better leaving it at just a poor turn out.
It's important to have everyone vote, but its more important to be informed and vote. Not only should political education be presented more in our schools, but in our home lives as well. It was my mother who first introduced me to politics when I was about 13. She told me that if I paid attention to the election, and made an informed decision, she would place her vote based on my decision. It was that sense of being able to do something to help the world that got me caught. I have been a voter, and a proud voter at that, ever since I was of legal age.
Something needs to be done. We need education on what's going on, and we need the public to vote!
Dear Erin,
While I applaud your enthusiasm to better Canada and engage more of its citizens in the democratic process, I have to disagree with you.
In his famous speech to the members of the Press, President Kennedy rightfully declared that "there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions . . . there is little value in ensuring the survival of our nation if our traditions don't survive with it"
Free choice is the cornerstone of the democratic school of thought and it is a tradition embraced for centuries from the times of the Persians and Greeks to thaose of Americans and Canadians. As such, it is clear that mandatory voting strips the Citizen of the right to free choice as he/she is forced to make a choice between a selected number of candidates. Thus, undermining the whole notion of Free Choice and Democracy which inevitably will result in formation of a closed society.
Mandatory voting schemes are not unheard of. Just recently, Robert Mugabe robbed the prospect of a better future from citizens of Zimbabwe by running for 're-selection' and unopposed. Thousands of people showed up at the polls and the participation rate was much higher than that of Canadians. The people of Zimbabwe did not voted out of free choice but out of fear of prosecution by the Secret Police. Numerous other examples exist that are beyond the limits of this post but the point is this without free choice no democracy can exist and no nation can survive.
The way to inspire the youth of Canada to take part in the political process is not by forcing them to the ballot box but by forming a transparent and responsible government, by reforming the Senate so its members are elected by the people and not selected by the party in power, by having government officials who are ethical in their decision making and embody the ideals of public service. Until that day arrives, Canadians will remain disenchanted by their politicians and their participation rates will remain low.
I am in complete agreement with the compulsary voting concept. Having lived in Austraia, I have seen this system at work and my initial feelings were how can you force people to vote. However after talking to friends and co-workers I quickly came to realize the people there did view it as a civic duty. If you did not like the candidates you simply invalidated your vote by choosing two candidates. Surprisingly, once you realized everyone including yourself are required to vote, you find it greatly increases voter interest and causes people to discuss the issues a great deal more. During election time, politics becomes the topic of discussion around the work place.
I also agree with Erin's comment that by making voting compulsary, you now get a better cross sectional response to the issues important to everyone in the country as you now have a valid representation of the "silent majority". Compulsory voting is long overdue here in Canada.
I also agree that people are taking for granted our right to vote. I also alocate this problem to the lack of information provided to the public during election time. There needs to be more information about each candidate provided to the public. The public debates on CBC are a very good start. But I also think there should be public anouncments on where citizens can find electorial information.
I believe that the mandatory voting should be enforced however i believe they should follow the same model as the terrorist act. That act was implemented on a five year term and after the five years that act was enabled for revisions if necessary. If after five years this plan does not prove effective it should be scraped. But all in all I don't think mandatory voting is the worste idea in the world, Australlia seems to be doing ok!
Dear Erin,
In my opinion implementing mandatory voting is against the right of a free society.
Although, I agree that voting is lacking, and Canadians lack the knowledge of the political spectrum. But mandatory voting is necessarily the best option.
**not necessarily**
This is an interesting solution to low voter participation. Still, it seems kind of utopian, even though manditory voting is in place around the world.
Quite often the main concern relating to mandatory voting is that people will vote randomly... they choose the first person listed, they have no preference. Many people fear that if the remaining 40% of the popl'n not currently voting take this approach, the government will not accurately represent the informed voters' voices. While this might be a logical fear, do you seriously believe that the current 60% that ARE voting are doing it with an informed conscious?
I believe that very few people who currently vote are doing it with an informed oppinion! Many people vote one way "because my all of my family votes for that party," or simply because "i want to see a change." When enough people take on the latter stance, we end up with a government in power not due to their advantagious policies and governing abilities, but simply because they are an alternative to the prior government.
Anyways, in this matter I would rather see uninformed voters stay home, even if it lowered voter turnout. It is correct to say that we all have the civil duty to vote... but it is best if people only vote when they know what they are voting for! I think the bigger issue here is the lack of education and interest revolving around civil political involvement. A good majority of the canadian population take no interest in voting because they do not realize how much affect the government can have on their day to day lives. I personally think that this relays back to our way of living, based on "having" rather than "being", which causes people to drone on their own success... but that is another story.
When it comes to educating the voting population, we have seen that youth initiative programs have very little success. So if neither education or manadorty voting resolves the problem or inactive, uninformed voters, do you believe there are any other alternatives to increasing voter participation?
First of all Erin, thank you for your kind comment on my blog. In response to your comment, and your post, I have to disagree as well. As several others have said in some way or another, mandatory voting infringes on citizens civil rights, and civil rights are an important part of democracy.
That being said, I don't think that mandatory voting will do much more than increase turnout. Is the important part that more people are voting, or that voters are more informed? There's no guarantee that voters will be more informed by implementing mandatory voting.
A better question may be, why aren't voters voting? If it is because voters feel that their votes don't matter, then mandatory voting won't help unless something like proportional representation is implemented.
Furthermore, perhaps the low voter turnout is a sign of complacency; maybe voters don't mind the way things are run, and so don't choose to vote. Perhaps their non-votes are a statement of sorts.
As a last tidbit, voting doesn't necessarily display confidence in a candidate, or even endorsement, so how would mandatory voting improve the situation?
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