So here we are gang! The day you get to exercise your franchise and help choose who will lead the country for however long they can lead in a minority government situation.
Just joking! ...Or am I?
I got back from my polling station about half an hour ago. Business was steady, but not overwhelming, then again it was only 11 o'clock. On the CBC this morning, it looked like Atlantic Canada was coming out in droves to vote, but generally speaking, a lot of analysts half expect low or average voter turnout, I guess we'll see.
It's sunny now, but when I walked up to my polling station is was dark and windy. A harbinger? Who knows. But what I did see was the line of election signs on either side of the road. Across the street from me their was a row of Gloria Kovach signs and a row of Frank Valeriote signs.
Meeting in the middle a sign from either candidate was bouncing back and forth in the breeze and my dirty mind thought vaguely for a moment that it looked like the two signs were fornicating. Naturally the Conservative was on top. Snicker if you will, but that was pretty much the point of many NDP talking points. Is it terrible that you're still looking for new political metaphors on Election Day?
I hope all of you are planning on voting today. Although if you read this blog you probably are someone who votes early and votes often anyway. As everyone should, I reinforce, because I heard it again last night...
"There's no one I can get behind."
"I can't trust any of the leaders."
"There's no one that speaks to me."
"They're all the same anyway."
"I don't know any of the issues."
Wrong. Wrong. Really? Wrong. And go back to Alaska Sarah Palin.
Seriously, if you can't bother to get informed, I don't want you to vote. I don't like the idea of choosing a government representative by the Eeny, meeny, miny, moe method, so don't bother because I know you won't.
As for everyone else: clam up! In Guelph, there are 10, count 'em, 10 people on the ballot. You mean to tell me that there is no one on the Guelph ballot whom you remotely agree with? I realize this may be harder in other ridings where your choices are limited to the Top 4 (Liberal, Conservative, NDP and Green), but in Guelph you're covered from the Far Right (Libertarian) to the far left (Communist, Marxist-Leninist), and all points in between (John Turmel?).
But in the off chance you still can't bring yourself to pick a candidate, try this: cast a blank ballot. You heard me. Go to your polling station, get your ballot, take it behind the divider, don't mark anything, come back to the ballot box and cast.
Why? Because all blank ballots have to be accounted for, along with spoiled ballots and those cast for the various candidates. If you don't go to the polls and get your name crossed off the voters list, it says nothing. Not a thing. It says simply that you didn't show up to vote, not that your politically apathetic, disenfranchised or otherwise just Palin-like in you engagement with the issues.
But casting a blank ballot truly sends a message. It says with certainty that no one on the ballot represents you, and you're still standing up to be counted. Imagine if everyone that said that they didn't vote because there was no one on the ballot they wanted to vote for cast blanks. Can you imagine if the CBC reported that 100,000 Canadians went to the polls and didn't vote for anyone?
So please think twice about not voting for those of you who subscribe that way. And for the rest of you, you know what to do.
Just joking! ...Or am I?
I got back from my polling station about half an hour ago. Business was steady, but not overwhelming, then again it was only 11 o'clock. On the CBC this morning, it looked like Atlantic Canada was coming out in droves to vote, but generally speaking, a lot of analysts half expect low or average voter turnout, I guess we'll see.
It's sunny now, but when I walked up to my polling station is was dark and windy. A harbinger? Who knows. But what I did see was the line of election signs on either side of the road. Across the street from me their was a row of Gloria Kovach signs and a row of Frank Valeriote signs.
Meeting in the middle a sign from either candidate was bouncing back and forth in the breeze and my dirty mind thought vaguely for a moment that it looked like the two signs were fornicating. Naturally the Conservative was on top. Snicker if you will, but that was pretty much the point of many NDP talking points. Is it terrible that you're still looking for new political metaphors on Election Day?
I hope all of you are planning on voting today. Although if you read this blog you probably are someone who votes early and votes often anyway. As everyone should, I reinforce, because I heard it again last night...
"There's no one I can get behind."
"I can't trust any of the leaders."
"There's no one that speaks to me."
"They're all the same anyway."
"I don't know any of the issues."
Wrong. Wrong. Really? Wrong. And go back to Alaska Sarah Palin.
Seriously, if you can't bother to get informed, I don't want you to vote. I don't like the idea of choosing a government representative by the Eeny, meeny, miny, moe method, so don't bother because I know you won't.
As for everyone else: clam up! In Guelph, there are 10, count 'em, 10 people on the ballot. You mean to tell me that there is no one on the Guelph ballot whom you remotely agree with? I realize this may be harder in other ridings where your choices are limited to the Top 4 (Liberal, Conservative, NDP and Green), but in Guelph you're covered from the Far Right (Libertarian) to the far left (Communist, Marxist-Leninist), and all points in between (John Turmel?).
But in the off chance you still can't bring yourself to pick a candidate, try this: cast a blank ballot. You heard me. Go to your polling station, get your ballot, take it behind the divider, don't mark anything, come back to the ballot box and cast.
Why? Because all blank ballots have to be accounted for, along with spoiled ballots and those cast for the various candidates. If you don't go to the polls and get your name crossed off the voters list, it says nothing. Not a thing. It says simply that you didn't show up to vote, not that your politically apathetic, disenfranchised or otherwise just Palin-like in you engagement with the issues.
But casting a blank ballot truly sends a message. It says with certainty that no one on the ballot represents you, and you're still standing up to be counted. Imagine if everyone that said that they didn't vote because there was no one on the ballot they wanted to vote for cast blanks. Can you imagine if the CBC reported that 100,000 Canadians went to the polls and didn't vote for anyone?
So please think twice about not voting for those of you who subscribe that way. And for the rest of you, you know what to do.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment