BLOG: Lazy or Just Discouraged?

by Melanie — October 31, 2008

The contents of these blogs are not authored by Apathy Is Boring. Apathy Is Boring is a non-partisan organization and statements made reflect only the views of their authors.

In what was considered a fairly uninspired election, a record low number of Canadians voted this October. 13,832,972 votes were cast of a possible 23,401,064, equaling less than 60%. Relating this discouraging number solely to apathy or a lack of patriotism is debatable: a surprising number of citizens were unable to vote due to the new voting regulations introduced this year.

The new regulations (Two pieces of ID, one with a photo, one with an address) were an unwelcome surprise to many on October 14th, despite a $9.3 million dollar advertising campaign. Judging by the amounts of people turned away for having inadequate ID, it seems that there may have been better uses of this money as well as more productive ways of advertising or communicating the new regulations.

A great proportion of citizens who were unable to vote due to the new ID regulations were students studying at schools away from their home ridings. 2/3 of students at Dalhousie University in Halifax were turned away to vote being students living in residence or off-campus. Aboriginal voters were also greatly unaware of the new regulations and denied their right to vote: in some parts of Nunavut, only 23 of 200 people were allowed to vote.

New regulations weren't the only negative circumstance of this year's election- there were also problems with poll volunteers. According to Elections Canada, fewer people volunteered to work at the polls this year, and even fewer actually showed up. There were also problems of confused or lazy volunteers closing the polling stations early and turning voters away. 

As far as the new regulations are concerned, there was a popular negative opinion that they were highly unnecessary. The new rules were introduced to prevent voter fraud, something people are arguing was never an issue in the first place and now proving ironic since the real problem seems to be getting and letting people vote in the first place.

This raises an interesting and considerably paranoid concern: Is our parliament interested in increasing the number of voters? If nobody actually cared to vote, would they govern freely? Are they strategically making it more inconvenient and unpleasant to vote in hopes of inspiring apathy?

The politically passionate and practical argue that citizens are lazy and spoiled. Said one woman in regard to another's anger to a polling station closing early, "I shudder to think what all the people around the world who brave the very real threat of physical violence just for the privilege of voting would think if they heard what this lady had to say. A polling station not opening on time is bad, but let's keep things in perspective people…"

While this is definitely true, I think it’s all relative: While facing violence for the privilege to vote is a reality in parts of the world, it is certainly not the reality for Canada in 2008. Our reality is that we are considerably 'spoiled', but also busy and a little lazy. Voting is often treated as an inconvenience, and I think that while this may be a bit absurd, it should be accommodated no less.

Examples: It's 2008. Why can't we vote online?  We do most of our banking, schooling and business online so why not our civic duty? Why is it seen as lazy to not want to wait in line at our community center to vote when it's acceptable to balance our chequebook and even buy our groceries online?

Similarly, nobody likes waiting in line. It even ruins Disney World and the airport. If we are going make time in our day to wait in line, why can't it be in a livelier setting? There could at the very least be music and coffee. I think the $9.3 million spent on informing (or not informing) citizens of the new regulations could have been better spent getting people to vote period and making voting easier and more pleasant rather than more complicated (even if only mildly). It's the same for landing and securing volunteers. Nobody likes to sit in a quiet, serious room all day; balloons and cookies are underestimated devices, why can't they be incorporated to the polling environment?

Finally, people may not love voting, but it is proven that people LOVE getting things for free, even if it is just a pen or a small coffee. We obviously have the budget to offer something small to voters when they come in to vote, so why not offer a friendly incentive? The best example is donating blood. If agencies can get people to give a bag of their own blood with a few touching commercials and a can of soda and a donut, why not do the same for elections? If giving blood meant interrupting your busy day to stand in line in the local community center hungry and bored with no real concept of the impact of your small action, then I have a feeling that high rates of blood donors would quickly disappear.

REFERENCES:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/10/14/poll-problems.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2008/10/09/north-advance.html
http://thechronicleherald.ca/News/9008860.html
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/calgary_alberta_votes_polls
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/canadavotes/news/2008/10/14/7083256.html