05-24-2018, 05:19 PM
(05-24-2018, 12:53 PM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: Declining ballots is partially how we wound up with Donald Trump and Stephen Harper. Trump had some of the worst turnouts, and didn't boost Republican numbers, just that independents got more votes, and overall voters stayed home.
Closer to that home, in 2008, the Liberals lost to the Conservatives in Waterloo. By 17 votes. This was primarily due to people feeling "safe" in not voting, or casting protest votes; the Liberals lost *25%* of the total votes cast for them from the previous election. If they had only lost 24%, or any other non-insane number, the Conservatives wouldn't have won. Vote for what you want the government to be.
Just to clarify - declining your ballot (i.e. your right to vote) is a formal process that you undertake at the polling station and that results in your ballot being counted (as declined). It is not the same thing as abstaining or spoiling your ballot, although the impact could arguably be similar in close riding results. When you decline your ballot, you are indicating that none of the candidates has earned your vote (i.e. you don't believe that any of them deserve to govern). It would not surprise me if there were as many as 50,000 declined ballots across the Province in this election.