Average voter turnout from 1945 to 2001 within the G8 nations
By Mohamed Sheriffdeen
Photos by Eleanor Qu
As is often the case given an article on this subject, I should preface it by stating that I did vote in the recently completed Provincial elections — though I neglected to update my Facebook status accordingly — before settling down on my couch to gaze in abject disbelief as the Liberals made off with an absolute landslide at the polls. The resultant beating was so thorough that it cast into doubt whether the outcome was actually an upset at all; the underdog rarely crushes the Goliath in such a devastating manner, so maybe we were simply misled by some shadowy Liberal-pollster conspiracy all along.
Given the events, politically bent minds within the media, social media and blogosphere erupted in a series of frenzied questions targeted at digging out the buried truth; specifically “What the hell happened?” A number of valid concerns regarding campaign strategies were raised by an array of sources, but the quickest point to catch on was the once again abject voter turnout. More significantly was the absolute void of eligible voters under the age of 35 who apparently had far better things to do than show up to the polls to perform their civic duty.
Public nattering has been palpable, and has easily stolen the thunder from Clark’s thunderous win. The venomous reaction targeted towards young voters has been swift and merciless, almost to the point of sheer mockery. Busier categorizing youths as lazy, slovenly, ineffectual primitives with little or no connection to the important events of the day, these cackling condemnations rarely made any headway into questioning why voter turnout was so low, preferring to scribble with a broad pen. Sadly, this blanket “Why the hell aren’t you voting? What’s wrong with you people?” mentality has sprouted legs everywhere, even University newspapers.
The Peak itself published two articles last week that commented on voter apathy in tones varnished with eloquence but seething with pure bile and presumed civic outrage. “Instead of directing anger at those who opted to vote for one of the smaller parties, blame should be rightfully placed on the shoulders of those who elected not to cast a ballot” fumed Gloria Mellesmoen, while trying to allocate blame for the Liberal win.
Alison Roach, of the same paper and apparent doomsayer apostle, sighed “Overall, the election seems to be saying that BC doesn’t care much about change; or rather, that we don’t care much about any of this.” In scrawling through message boards and comment threads on various websites, multiple commenters appeared to come up with variations on the same brilliant joke independently (“We should put a Like button next to each candidate on Facebook, maybe the kids could vote between status updates!”) while laughing churlishly, wiping their monocles and sipping on cups of not-too-hot tea.
Voter participation has been on a downward trend in BC for a number of years, so allow me to immerse you in a few more (fun!) facts and figures by way of Elections BC. While numbers for the most recent election are still not fully available, overall voter participation (across all age groups) has declined from 70.34 per cent in 1983 to 50.99 per cent in 2009, falling every year. In the 2009 general election, an abysmal 26.88 per cent of voters between the ages of 18 and 24 decided to cast a ballot (25–34 year olds won the silver in this dubious category, logging votes from only 33.69 per cent of all those eligible.) So why the apathy with young voters?
First of all, let’s stop pretending that this affliction is limited to youth in BC. During their presidential election in 2012, the US grappled with the same issues despite record turnouts in 2008. Disaffection in Japan has reached a modern high as fewer than 50 per cent of young voters turned out in their December 2012 election.
In an excellent article published in ThinkAfrica Press in October 2011, Celeste Hicks interviewed young adults in Tunisia with higher educations, who “tearfully clutched” at their diplomas as they bemoaned the state of their job market in the aftermath of the Jasmine Revolution. “I’ve got no confidence in these elections at all. I’m not going to vote” proclaimed 26 year old Neila Herela, qualified in publicity and marketing but living on the street.
For the sake of our discussion however, let’s limit our focus to the so-called infotainment addicted, attention-span-compromised youth of BC who are attached by the hip, heart and mind to their smartphones. Truly, if you are a young voter, there is very rarely any good reason provided to actually impel you to vote, despite the proclamations of those voting-snobs out there who thumb their noses as they rifle off inane lines of dignified disbelief that do nothing to get at the real heart of the issue — “If you do not vote you don’t get to complain about decisions made in government;” “there are people out there your age dying for the right to vote;” “show these crusty old politicians that you matter and make your voice heard!” — let’s address the first and last comments first.
An individual’s voice is not nullified just because they don’t exercise their right to participate in a democratic forum. Often those who decide not to vote feel marginalized, as if their thoughts already don’t matter to the outcome. By adopting such a divisive tactic, we further drive those individuals out of the social arena without addressing why they feel their voices carry no timbre.
Furthermore, a selective decision to not vote can be made as a form of silent protest. I say that because I have done it in the past. Why vote for a party you consider the lesser of two evils? A party that does not represent your moral, economic or social viewpoints? A vote cast for the sake of voting by an uneducated individual with only the most basic understanding of a party’s platforms is, by this ridiculous statement, elevated as much grander than an individual who exercised their own choice to sit out an election — a vote in and of itself.
In a sense, this resounding echo heard by those politicians vanquished in an election is the voice of the people. In an election where less than 30 per cent of the eligible members voted, that is a loud bloody noise.
As far as kids our age dying for this right, that is an indisputable truth. One needs only to flip open a newspaper and cast a glance at the atrocities committed in Syria to witness the plight of the disenfranchised. However, just as it would be impossible for us to explain the internet to a cryogenically frozen and revived Walt Disney today, it is impossible to communicate that viewpoint to a youth who has grown up in North America with all the benefits of a free and modern society. Individuals here need to be reached with a message that they understand. One which is sadly absent in politics today: passion.
Paul Kershaw aptly labeled the Millennial generation when he founded the Generation Squeeze campaign. His driving point is simple: parties in power don’t feel the need to court the youth vote because the youth vote doesn’t affect campaign results. As a result, the youth stay away from the polls because public policy is rarely shaped in a manner that affects them. And because they stay away, they are not counted.
It is an absurd cycle that most politicians appear uninterested in breaking despite the ridiculously vast pool of untapped voters that they are allowing to fall by the wayside (ask Obama how much the youth vote helped his 2008 campaign before you claim that an investment in this age group is a waste of time.) Public policy is almost invariably catered to middle class earners, families and older people. Individuals trying to afford school or crack the job market are routinely ignored by lawmakers, yet our taxes are diverted to fund social systems for people already of retirement age who, in today’s economic reality, cannot afford to leave their jobs.
This creates a simultaneous shortage of opportunities and support systems for those much maligned and chastised youth. We get squeezed at the pump by an uncaring and distant government, and are castigated when we choose not to elect one that continues to pretend we don’t exist.
Furthermore, the current political system has bred an enormous disconnect between government and the average working and voting Canadian. Politicians are no longer feted on high as honourable civil servants, but viewed as walking scandals, punchlines and pompous gasbags squabbling amongst one another in an environment that breeds complacency and reduced accountability. Political viewpoints and party outlines are no longer a means to an open and pragmatic discussion of views in the interest of provincial and national agendas.
Every event, idea or platform is politicized in an endless display of exhausting one-upmanship and chicanery that means nothing to the voting public. Very little information about important and vital social programs ever seeps down the ladder to the information starved masses; instead, we are deluged by vulgar attacks on candidates by candidates.
Is it any wonder that 18–24 year olds (every marketing analyst’s indicator of broad population trends) are tuning out in droves? Here’s a crazy idea: maybe Adrian Dix didn’t lose the unlosable election because youth voters didn’t turn out. Maybe he lost it because he centered his entire campaign on attacking the bloated and hobbling Liberal government without discussing what his own party would do while in power. Maybe he was unable to allay voters’ fears about the disastrous NDP governments of the 90s, an attack line the Liberals have trotted out in every single election over the last twelve years.
In a rant on March 29, 2011, Rick Mercer personified the patronizing and paternalistic viewpoint of an older generation nonplussed by youth apathy, when he beseeched young people to “scare the hell out of the people running this country [by doing] the unexpected. Take 20 minutes out of your day, and vote.” There is no compelling reason or passion in that statement. Vote because it’s your job. Vote because you should vote. Vote because increased polling numbers makes us all feel better about ourselves.
But how about vote to effect an actual change? That won’t happen until a candidate arises that commands that passion. Instead of going to your local candidate hat in hand, offering your feeble support, demand your candidate comes to you, and illustrate why they deserve your vote. That tactic may actually bring some real change.
