How do we get more people to vote?

[ookpik]

How do we get more people to vote?  There are many ways but I would use caution.  More people voting does not guarantee a better democracy.

Last month in Toronto over 330,000 people voted for Doug Ford.  The media politely calls these people "low information voters."  And they are everywhere.  I'm not suggesting they shouldn't be allowed to vote but I certainly wouldn't encourage them.  After all, we do live in a democracy and they have the same rights as you and I.

Be careful with that. In ancient Greece women weren't allowed to vote. That exclusion existed until the 19th century. In some countries they didn't get the franchise until relatively recently (e.g. Switzerland until 1971.) This was justified by claims that they lacked the intellect or judgment to understand politics.

Even if there was hard evidence that we would be better served by excluding or discouraging "low information voters" how would the criteria be established or enforced?

BTW Doug's brother got 383,501 votes in 2010, about 47% of those cast vs. Tory's 394,775 votes but only 40.28% of those cast in 2014. Whose election is more democratically legitimate? (Rhetorical question.)

[plam]

How do we get more people to vote?  There are many ways but I would use caution.  More people voting does not guarantee a better democracy.

Last month in Toronto over 330,000 people voted for Doug Ford.  The media politely calls these people "low information voters."  And they are everywhere.  I'm not suggesting they shouldn't be allowed to vote but I certainly wouldn't encourage them.  After all, we do live in a democracy and they have the same rights as you and I.

Last night my nephew and niece-in-law showed a video called "Ford Nation Folk Speak."  Have a look.  I would be interested in your opinion.

http://vimeo.com/110365134

Calls to vote implicitly include a precondition: "go find out about the candidates. Then, vote for the candidate who you think will best meet your needs". It's important to not lose sight of that precondition: we don't really want to encourage uninformed participation.

Having said that, of course everyone should have the right to vote. Voter suppression, as practiced in the US, is particularly problematic. Canada is much better at letting all citizens vote, and I strongly support that. Who am I to say that certain classes of people shouldn't vote? We just have to trust that people will do the right thing and inform themselves before voting. Sometimes systems get out of control, and so the results of the vote aren't always the right thing, but I think that overall it is.

In terms of voting for Doug Ford: in my opinion, people are expressing a certain dissatisfaction with the "elites" by voting for a Ford, and the Fords have managed to (brilliantly) position themselves as anti-elite. Rationally, it doesn't make sense, but emotionally, I think it does make sense for people to vote the way they did, in terms of a sense of belonging and being listened to.

I'm always skeptical of edited videos. You can make anyone look bad by judicious editing. People are less random than it seems.

[jgsz]

How do we get more people to vote?  There are many ways but I would use caution.  More people voting does not guarantee a better democracy.

Last month in Toronto over 330,000 people voted for Doug Ford.  The media politely calls these people "low information voters."  And they are everywhere.  I'm not suggesting they shouldn't be allowed to vote but I certainly wouldn't encourage them.  After all, we do live in a democracy and they have the same rights as you and I.

Be careful with that. In ancient Greece women weren't allowed to vote. That exclusion existed until the 19th century. In some countries they didn't get the franchise until relatively recently (e.g. Switzerland until 1971.) This was justified by claims that they lacked the intellect or judgment to understand politics.

Even if there was hard evidence that we would be better served by excluding or discouraging "low information voters" how would the criteria be established or enforced?

BTW Doug's brother got 383,501 votes in 2010, about 47% of those cast vs. Tory's 394,775 votes but only 40.28% of those cast in 2014. Whose election is more democratically legitimate? (Rhetorical question.)

I wouldn't exclude or discourage anyone from voting.  I'm just not gung-ho on spending time getting more people to vote.  

[Spokes]

I found this thread from the 2014 election. Probably still valid. Voter turnout needs to be better.

[jeffster]

I found this thread from the 2014 election.  Probably still valid.  Voter turnout needs to be better.

I think people don't vote because: 1) They don't like any of the candidates. 2) They're too lazy. 3) They're just too damned busy (and so one could argue that people have paid leave for election days).

[panamaniac]

It would be exceedingly rare for someone to be "too busy" to vote. With five dates on which one can cast a vote, t's a very weak excuse (or a reflection of poor organization/messed up priorities).

[plam]

Or people think things are just fine the way they are, or don't think their vote makes a difference.

[KevinL]

Many people aren't aware of advance voting options (they only register 'election day' in their minds).

Many believe local elections are less important than provincial or federal (when the opposite is actually true).

They may be aware of the size of the municipal ballot with its numerous races, and find it too daunting.

There's no parties involved, which means for every office you are selecting only by the candidate's name recognition.

[JoeKW]

Well, the best way to motivate people to vote is to get really bad people elected and then wait until the next election... works like a charm.

[jeffster]

It would be exceedingly rare for someone to be "too busy" to vote.  With five dates on which one can cast a vote, t's a very weak excuse (or a reflection of poor organization/messed up priorities).

I didn't know about advance polling...I know it exists, but I've received no information yet regarding this.

But you're right, some peoples priorities are messed up.

[Moody]

Well, the best way to motivate people to vote is to get some standing desk chairs in the voting booths and get really bad people elected and then wait until the next election... works like a charm.

I don't know if you're being facetious or not, but that certainly works. Of course, you have to pray that the really bad people don't make too much damage while they're in office though. haha