Opinion column: It's not apathy. Our system is set up to drive voters away
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Adam (inkslinger@mastodon.club)'s status on Monday, 15-Apr-2019 16:05:33 EDT Adam -
The research fairy 😷 🧚♂️ 🌈 (bgcarlisle@scholar.social)'s status on Monday, 15-Apr-2019 16:06:42 EDT The research fairy 😷 🧚♂️ 🌈 > Why are we still using a “first-past-the-post” system of counting ballots that we know leads to more polarized elections and fewer new voices in politics?
Yeah, WHY ARE WE?
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Adam (inkslinger@mastodon.club)'s status on Monday, 15-Apr-2019 16:23:52 EDT Adam @bgcarlisle Because Trudeau didn't say, "2015 will be the last federal election that doesn't used ranked ballots, my preferred form of electrocal reform, which will likely favour the Liberal Party of Canada for decades to come!"
Also, because he was too much of a coward to accept the recommendation of the committee.
I, too, am still angry and a little bitter about this.
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M. Grégoire (mpjgregoire@mastodon.club)'s status on Monday, 15-Apr-2019 16:34:49 EDT M. Grégoire @bgcarlisle @ink_slinger Cynicism is healthy with regard to #canpol. That being said...
First, it is very easy to join a Canadian political party — in fact, my experience is that they're desperate for new members. If you don't find information about your local association, it's probably because they have 15 active-ish members, mostly grey-haired.
You want to join the Green Party? The link is on their home page, $10 per year.
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M. Grégoire (mpjgregoire@mastodon.club)'s status on Monday, 15-Apr-2019 16:41:06 EDT M. Grégoire @ink_slinger @bgcarlisle
Secondly, online voting is a terrible idea, even worse than electronic voting machines. Yes, voting is on weekdays, but your employer is obliged to give you time to vote. There is a real value in the civic ritual of everyone lining up to vote together; it makes you take your vote more seriously than when you order from Amazon Prime.-
M. Grégoire (mpjgregoire@mastodon.club)'s status on Monday, 15-Apr-2019 17:51:40 EDT M. Grégoire @bgcarlisle @ink_slinger Thirdly...
Well, I can't find the quote I wanted, but briefly, the best way to make a decision is to listen to one person who strongly believes the affirmative argue against another person who strongly believes the negative. In the same way, we get better politics because the parties oppose each other.
In principle that would lead to policy flip-flops, but less so when the marginal voter chooses the winner.
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Adam (inkslinger@mastodon.club)'s status on Monday, 15-Apr-2019 17:56:29 EDT Adam > There is a real value in the civic ritual of everyone lining up to vote together; it makes you take your vote more seriously than when you order from Amazon Prime.
Is there any research backing this claim? I enjoy lining up to vote because I'm a masochist, and I suspect you're right that there's some value in the ritual, but is there any evidence that this is true?
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M. Grégoire (mpjgregoire@mastodon.club)'s status on Monday, 15-Apr-2019 18:19:31 EDT M. Grégoire @ink_slinger @bgcarlisle A fair question. I'm not familiar with any such research, no.
But it makes sense to you, doesn't it?
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Adam (inkslinger@mastodon.club)'s status on Tuesday, 16-Apr-2019 12:30:45 EDT Adam @mpjgregoire @bgcarlisle Sure. But if online voting has been used successfully in other countries, as the article claims, I'd be interested in knowing more about that and if it affects the gravity people place on their votes.
I'll probably read the book the column references, when it's available (my library has it on order). I'm sure I won't agree with all of it, but it should at least be food for thought.
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M. Grégoire (mpjgregoire@mastodon.club)'s status on Tuesday, 16-Apr-2019 12:42:30 EDT M. Grégoire @ink_slinger @bgcarlisle Switzerland and Estonia, according to Wikipedia. (I recall reading somewhere that there were doubts about the security of the Swiss software.)
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Adam (inkslinger@mastodon.club)'s status on Monday, 15-Apr-2019 16:45:30 EDT Adam @mpjgregoire @bgcarlisle This is a fair point. If you want to get involved, it's not actually that difficult. I will say that pretty much all the major parties suck at outreach and recruitment of new people. The conservative parties, interestingly, seem to actually be the best at drawing in "young blood" as more than just a volunteer base to canvass during elections. They actually often have young(ish) people on their riding boards.
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Adam (inkslinger@mastodon.club)'s status on Monday, 15-Apr-2019 16:46:07 EDT Adam @bgcarlisle @mpjgregoire So, on the one hand, it's not too hard to get involved. On the other hand, most parties don't seem to encourage involvement beyond, "Please donate!"
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