Voting Poll
I find I've been thinking about this issue a lot in the last few days...
We're in the midst of an election campaign right now in Ontario to elect the next Premier of the province. There's been a lot of mud-slinging on the trail and the commercials and barbs have moved from the insulting to the bizarre (I notice in Christo's LJ that the "reptilian kitten-eater from another planet" comment against one candidate got as far as England :)). And just when I thought the California election was weird and bizarre.
I read an election article on the front page of the Star last Sunday with some depressing stats. The article said that when the total ballots were counted in the last Ontario election that only 58% of voters had come out to cast their ballot. In Canada's last federal election the turn-out was 61%, a record low. The stats said the number of people voting had dipped in all age groups, but especially the young. It went on to say that wasn't unusual, that consistently young people vote in the lowest numbers, but recent youth turn-outs have been twenty points lower than previous generations.
It went on to say that the Baby Boomer generation was one of the few groups of Canadian youth who did engage in political action early, galvanized by the early years of Trudeaumania and nationalistic pride of the late 60's. They say that as a result it was no coincidence that it was then that Canada's voting age was dropped to 18. Makes me wonder if I hit the tail-end of that trend, since one of my earliest political memories was going to a Liberal rally with my dad to see Trudeau speak when I first started to vote. Thing is my parents always stressed the important of participating in elections as part of one's civic privileges and it's an ethic I still believe in strongly.
I teach government and the electoral process to my Gr. 5 students as part of the Ontario curriculum. I always like it when I can tie this unit in with an actual election, especially since our school is almost always used as a polling station for the community so I can take the students right into where people are voting and let them see the procedure in action. Last Federal election two of the Polling Clerks were former teachers and they were wonderful with explaining everything to the kids, letting them see a voting ballot and letting them see behind the polling booth. And I always tell the students to encourage their parents to vote, ask to see their enumeration card and ask to go to their parent's polling station with them when they vote. And being that only 58% of eligible voters in Ontario participated in the last provincial election I'm going to continue to encourage my classes to do that.
So, A Poll:
There's people here from several countries, so I'm curious to know your thoughts on the ethics of participating in elections. Do you feel it's one's civic responsibility to vote in elections? Do you make a point of getting out to vote? Would you instill this value in your children? Do you follow the issues or watch televised debates? Are you apathetic about the whole procedure? Are you proud to be so? Or do you actively -not- vote because you're disillusioned with the system?
I'd really be interested in knowing people's feelings about this issue.
Exercise log: Five soggy miles today walking in the rain taking me to 432 miles on my walking challenge. 26 miles to Rivendell.
We're in the midst of an election campaign right now in Ontario to elect the next Premier of the province. There's been a lot of mud-slinging on the trail and the commercials and barbs have moved from the insulting to the bizarre (I notice in Christo's LJ that the "reptilian kitten-eater from another planet" comment against one candidate got as far as England :)). And just when I thought the California election was weird and bizarre.
I read an election article on the front page of the Star last Sunday with some depressing stats. The article said that when the total ballots were counted in the last Ontario election that only 58% of voters had come out to cast their ballot. In Canada's last federal election the turn-out was 61%, a record low. The stats said the number of people voting had dipped in all age groups, but especially the young. It went on to say that wasn't unusual, that consistently young people vote in the lowest numbers, but recent youth turn-outs have been twenty points lower than previous generations.
It went on to say that the Baby Boomer generation was one of the few groups of Canadian youth who did engage in political action early, galvanized by the early years of Trudeaumania and nationalistic pride of the late 60's. They say that as a result it was no coincidence that it was then that Canada's voting age was dropped to 18. Makes me wonder if I hit the tail-end of that trend, since one of my earliest political memories was going to a Liberal rally with my dad to see Trudeau speak when I first started to vote. Thing is my parents always stressed the important of participating in elections as part of one's civic privileges and it's an ethic I still believe in strongly.
I teach government and the electoral process to my Gr. 5 students as part of the Ontario curriculum. I always like it when I can tie this unit in with an actual election, especially since our school is almost always used as a polling station for the community so I can take the students right into where people are voting and let them see the procedure in action. Last Federal election two of the Polling Clerks were former teachers and they were wonderful with explaining everything to the kids, letting them see a voting ballot and letting them see behind the polling booth. And I always tell the students to encourage their parents to vote, ask to see their enumeration card and ask to go to their parent's polling station with them when they vote. And being that only 58% of eligible voters in Ontario participated in the last provincial election I'm going to continue to encourage my classes to do that.
So, A Poll:
There's people here from several countries, so I'm curious to know your thoughts on the ethics of participating in elections. Do you feel it's one's civic responsibility to vote in elections? Do you make a point of getting out to vote? Would you instill this value in your children? Do you follow the issues or watch televised debates? Are you apathetic about the whole procedure? Are you proud to be so? Or do you actively -not- vote because you're disillusioned with the system?
I'd really be interested in knowing people's feelings about this issue.
Exercise log: Five soggy miles today walking in the rain taking me to 432 miles on my walking challenge. 26 miles to Rivendell.