With the provincial election right around the corner, more and more voters are becoming disenfranchised with the three main political parties. Voters are tired of the bickering, vote buying, politicking, and general dishonesty of the Liberals, the Progressive Conservatives, and the NDP.
Many people will accept this as a fact of the democratic system, and choose not to cast a vote. This is not the right course of action. There are three better ways to show your displeasure with the current parties in Queens Park.
The first is to vote for a fringe party. In the Kitchener-Waterloo riding we have the choice of Stacey Danckert from the Green Party and James Schulz from the Libertarian Party. There are currently only representatives from the three main parties sitting in the Ontario Legislature. Elizabeth May of the Federal Green Party has shown us how much of a difference just one fringe party representative can make. She has a disproportionately powerful ability to make her voice heard in the provincial legislature.
A second option is to spoil your ballot. You can spoil your ballot by identifying yourself, marking more than one option, or destroying your ballot altogether. It is generally perceived that you are not able to follow simple instructions, and should not be taken seriously.
A much better option than spoiling your ballot is declining your ballot. From the Ontario Elections Act:
“An elector who has received a ballot and returns it to the deputy returning officer declining to vote, forfeits the right to vote and the deputy returning officer shall immediately write the word “declined” upon the back of the ballot and preserve it to be returned to the returning officer, and shall cause an entry to be made in the poll record that the elector declined to vote. R.S.O. 1990, c. E.6, s. 53.”
Declined votes will be tallied and counted separately from spoiled ballots. It is an intentional way to show that you displeased with the current situation, and care enough about it to show up to a polling station. A declined ballot has a clear message, and it will be sent to the decision makers of our province.
If we look at it from the perspective of mainstream party policy makers, we will see them trying to grab votes. Non-voters have always been considered a lost cause for parties, the amount of work to convince them to vote is much more than convincing someone who voted for a different party. When these policy makers see that a significant number of people declined their vote, they will try to target this demographic. The biggest hurdle of getting people to the polls has been overcome when policy makers target these voters who declined.
Here is where your voice can be heard, as they reach out to understand more about this new engaged demographic, you can express your displeasure with any part of the current political system. These parties want votes, you have them. They will listen and form platforms that will move towards positive change. A new engaged demographic is the best thing a party could ask for, so this is your chance to be part of that.
A disenfranchised reader may believe that elected officials never listen to voters’ concerns. That is a valid belief, but if they were to listen at any point, it would be while preparing for an election. This idea also revolves around the concept that the Canadian democratic system is not entirely broken.
Let’s assume for a moment that voting in the present Canadian democratic system is a futile action and decision makers never listen to the concerns of the electorate. If this is the case, I do not see it changing any time soon, not enough people are ready to start the revolution. The only feasible way to change this today is work within the existing system to push for change.
A voter should practice their ideal form of democracy whenever possible. Since everyone’s ideal form of democracy will be different, it is hard to generalize. In my ideal form of democracy, voters should not be forced to vote for someone they do not support. They need another option. A declined vote is this option. I encourage the disenfranchised reader to consider what their ideal form of democracy would look like. If that vision includes voting “none of the above”, a declined vote in this election will support that vision. It won’t change everything right away, but it is progress in the right direction. You have to start somewhere.
Not voting is analogous to deferring your vote to the general voting public. By not voting, it is generally perceived that you are ok with letting others elect someone to represent you. It is also perceived that you are ok with everything going on in Ontario right now. This is fundamentally different than a firm “I don’t support the current parties” provided by a declined vote. Voting in the current system is a game of generalizations. All Progressive Conservatives are not the same, just as all vote decliners are not the same, and all those who choose not to vote are not all the same. But the generalizations are still made in our current system.
As an engaged citizen, you can choose what generalization you would like to fit into. No vote, candidate, or party will make Ontario into a perfect place, but they all make progress to a subjective version of it. You may not fully agree with any party, but you should pick the one that is the closest. If no party is the closest to your vision of a better Ontario, send that message with a declined vote. No matter how small an action is, if many people will take that action, it will lead to a change.
Please vote on June 12th.
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