How to convice the majority of eligible voters to turn up

With civic elections next week, a major question at hand is: “How can we encourage people to vote?” Participation in past local elections has been dismal. In Kelowna’s most recent election, the participation by eligible voters was only about 33 per cent. Nationally, about 60 percent of eligible voters actually participate.

Detailed statistics indicate that, as people age, their participation increases consistently. The lowest participation in voting is amongst the youngest eligible voters age 18 to 35. That low rate of participation should be of concern to all of us.

But, low participation by the youngest potential voters should be of concern particularly to those young people themselves. The structure and evolution of a city and how it does or does not prosper, what common amenities it enjoys, how transportation evolves and how general living standards change are all important to their prospects. With young voices being effectively silenced through non-participation, our city 10 or 20 years hence might look substantially different than it would if the voice of young voters was loud and more effectively focused.

The major question for Kelowna is: “How can this group be encouraged to participate more fully in the governance of the city? We need to develop a capacity to reach out to this population and engage them in civic affairs. It’s one of the best investments we can make in the future.

To be truthful, it will not be easy to enhance participation and, given that only one-third actually vote, the challenge extends well beyond the young people. The reasons why civic elections attract such low turnout is not well understood. The limited communication between civic government and most of the potential voting population may be part of the explanation. Most voters, as a result, have only limited knowledge of the activities of local government.

Without an understanding of the many ways in which local governments affect their lives, many have little motivation or capacity to participate in efforts to influence what the civic government is doing by voting or running for office. With limited knowledge of what city government does, it seems very low risk to ignore the entire process

The new Kelowna city council that will be elected on the 15th of this month needs to commit itself to expanding its outreach to all voters with better and more frequent information on what the city government is doing. Given the number of staffers employed in the communications department, this should not be impossible.

It is not good enough to say that citizens can find information about the city’s activities on its website.

Average citizens need to gain an appreciation of how they can constructively influence those activities and why they should participate. Council might also consider appointing someone in communications to work full time on enhancing information flows to the general public. Better communication might encourage more people, particularly young people, to vote.

Council members themselves can talk with students in the city’s high schools about what council does and why. Moreover, council should consider establishing a dozen part-time internships with a moderate salary for Grade 12 students in local high schools.

Each could be assigned to a council member or the mayor. Do you think they might influence their peers to get more involved themselves?

In Australia, voting is compulsory and failure to vote is subject to fines. I hope we don’t need to use such a drastic measure. Voting is a privilege and essential for an open and democratic society. So let us try harder to make it work in local government. We all stand to gain if that happens.

Regarding my previous column listing four important issues in the upcoming election, at least 10 candidates for Kelowna city council have indicated their support for instituting a ward system. Find out their names and give them your vote and help us get more accountable city government.