Mere days remain for us to decide Ken Banks

Who are you voting for?

Are you ready for the federal election to be over? I am. And I consider myself to be a political junkie.

Last week, I watched both the English- and French-language debates in their entirety. Each campaign, I try and follow the various party platform announcements. I keep up to date on daily polling numbers and I even follow a website dedicated to electoral predictions. In high school, I took a political science course as one of my electives, indicative of my growing interest in politics.

However, after 37 days of this 41-day campaign, I am finding myself ready for the country to finally make up its mind and elect a government.

Even though I am a strong advocate for voting and democracy, one can only take so much when it comes to the political rhetoric.

As we near the end of this election, there are, however, some positive signs as it relates to voting.

Over the first 48 hours of advance polling, during the Thanksgiving long weekend, approximately two million Canadians cast a ballot, according to Elections Canada. This represents a 25-per-cent increase over the number of ballots cast from those who voted in the first two days of advance polls during the 2015 federal election.

These two million votes already cast are in addition to any votes that were cast on Sunday or Monday, as well as those that have come in through a special ballot process, or on post-secondary campuses.

Last week, Elections Canada said voter turnout at advance on-campus polling places across the country was also considerably up from the last federal election.

Hopefully, these are signs of a more engaged electorate and we will see a higher voter turnout this year than in recent past elections.

With polls showing what appears to be, at least as of this writing, a statistical tie between the incumbent Liberal government and the Conservative party, with less than a week to go in the federal election, perhaps people will decide that their vote can make a difference this year, and that their voice can indeed be heard.

We often hear the popular refrain, “my vote doesn’t matter.” In an election as close as this one appears to be, that excuse should hold less validity than ever before.

With polls suggesting a possible minority government, with either the Liberals or Conservatives holding the most seats, and perhaps a strong third-place showing by the NDP party, or even the Bloc in Quebec holding the balance of power, we should all take advantage of having the right to make our choice count. Even the parties further down the popularity scale have something to offer in the functioning of our Parliamentary system.

Yet, despite what polls are saying now, this often-used quote gets it right: “The only poll that matters is the one held on Election Day.” Thus the significance of voting!

The following represents voting advice from England’s influential Pastor, John Wesley on Oct. 6, 1774 to those under his care. Perhaps we would all benefit from reading and applying it again these 245 years later:

1. To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy

2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against, and

3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.

Let us be in prayer for our country as this election comes to a close, and for the person God would have lead us as our prime minister. May we also be praying for the Lord's direction as we vote for our local MP.

Election Day is Monday, Oct. 21 across Canada. I encourage you to get out and vote!