Responsible voting is vital
Dear editor: Here we are about a month away from election day. The slate for council numbers 26. Wow! If we go by last election figures, about 31.8 per cent of the population decided the city’s fate. Will it happen again? That depends on you, the eligible voter.
If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times: It’s your civic duty to vote. Between now and Election Day — unless you’re planning an extended session in a sensory-deprivation tank — you’ll no doubt hear it again.
The slate of candidates will pose a formidable problem when it comes time to vote. Who will get how many votes is anybody’s guess. The fact remains that personal vetting has to be done; proper questions have to be asked of candidates; attendance at allcandidates meetings is a huge must. These protocols have to happen unless you want more of the non-descript type of government that we’ve had for the last term.
What then does it mean to vote responsibly? At least four things.
First, it does mean voting. All those who rail against “politics as usual” and the power of elites, big money and narrow interests can bring about change, but only if they vote.
Second, it means serious thinking. Voters need to look at candidates and issues without pre-set prejudices or the tendency to rationalize the faults of their preferred candidate.
Third, responsible voting means suspending judgment. In the age of cable channels, talk radio, the internet, and social media, people have a tendency to accept at face value anything they hear as soon as they hear it, especially if it agrees with their current ideas, and to pass it along without testing its veracity.
Finally, voting responsibly means looking out for the “aggregate interests of the community.” Voters can certainly question whether a candidate proposes to give them what they want.
In short, voting is not just pulling a lever. A voter is not a consumer of government, choosing that person who will deliver the goods he or she wants. Voting is a sober act of citizenship. If we want better government, we need to be better voters. Ron Barillaro Penticton