Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Attention Canadians: VOTE TODAY

Canadians: Don't forget to vote!

I always find tears coming to my eyes when I see news pictures of newly emancipated people lined up around the block to vote, or coming out of the polling booth showing the inked finger that is their country's equivalent of voter registration lists. I don't know if it's happiness for their pride in the new power of democracy, or sympathy for the soon to be shattered naïvité of people who think that casting that ballot really is going to make their world better.

It's not a very big power, because there's so much going on above our heads controlling the choice offered to us, and the way people behave once chosen, but it's still an important part of the system. Know what the candidates offer you. Know what you want. And make a choice.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Voted. Got pretty much what I expected at the national level.

The power of the vote is not in that citizens can direct policy but rather that credible competition between parties serves the vital role of keeping the winner semi-honest. We desperately need either electoral reform and/or one of the other parties to get their act together because without either, democracy is a ritual without meaning.

Anonymous said...

Apparently voter turnout was a record low of 58% ... I guess Canadians weren't much interested in Mr. Harper's attempt to secure a majority...?

One comment I heard was, "waste of money..."