Federal Election Called: Voters Go Online
New Technologies Proving to Boost Voter Participation
Sep 30, 2008
The Canadian federal election has finally been called for Tuesday, October 14, 2008. After all the pre-election announcements and hints, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is now taking Canadians to the polls for the third time in four years.
When asked, many voters felt there was no need for an election. A few felt frustrated at having to go to the polls for the third time in four years. Others felt that the federal government of whatever political stripe needs a stronger mandate to govern.
The last two federal Parliaments were minority governments, the first led by former Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin and the second by current Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Under a minority government in Canada, all parties with seats in the House of Commons are encouraged to work closely together to reach consensus. Under a majority, the governing party dominates the membership on key Parliamentary Committees and for votes it tends to “whip” its own Members of Parliament into voting for government-led bills.
The role of the Opposition under either scenario is important. In a minority situation, the Opposition parties can vote together to bring the government down on a non-confidence vote and force a new election. In a majority, the Opposition is less powerful, but can present alternatives and critiques of the governing party.
Public opinion polling firms are working overtime this election. It seems that more political opinion polls have been conducted during this election than there have been in the past elections. At the present time, the federal Conservatives are leading by at least ten to twelve percentage points over the second place Liberals. Harper is calling on voters to give him a majority.
In the meantime, there are voters that do not wish to see a Harper majority. They have organized numerous websites where voters can organize or “swap” votes to strategically elect the most likely candidate in close ridings that will beat Stephen Harper’s Conservatives. Cyberspace organizers refer to these sites as ABC sites or “Anybody But Conservative”. Such groups have cropped up on Face Book, My Space and on other websites normally devoted to specific issues, such as the environment.
Will these efforts work? At this point, it is hard to say. Modern elections are influenced by modern technology and communications to a larger extent than elections in the past. These days, anybody can “google” the name of their electoral districts’ candidates to learn more about them and to read any online materials they may have published. So far, this technology has proven disadvantageous for at least a few candidates that have written blogs, citing opinions that the party leaders felt were out of sync with the voting public. A few have been asked to resign their candidacy.
However, the election goes on. There is approximately two more weeks to go for local candidates in local areas to sway the opinions of their voters and to convince them to vote. Sometimes, in Canadian politics it is convincing people to vote that is the problem, as opposed to swaying them to vote for one’s own political party. Electoral participation in Canada has been declining over the past decade. However, participation in electoral politics and between elections is becoming more important for Canadians than ever before.
Key directions of government that affect our daily lives, such as health care, education, economic growth and taxation, are issues that are being raised in this election. It is very important for Canadian voters to turn up at the polls and mark their ballots, or they may have to live with what others choose.
