You’re probably expecting a “get out and vote” editorial as we sit seven days from the coming provincial election. Been there, done that.
We, as well as most media outlets, have been banging the vote drum for decades and the results have been completely underwhelming as totals have consistently hovered around 50 per cent.
It would be easy to blame the whiny Generation Xers, or the self-absorbed Millennials for dragging down the numbers in recent years. But you know what, the almighty Baby Boomers have been just as bad. Voter turnout in the 2015 provincial election topped out at just 57 per cent, which was the highest percentage since 1993 when 60.21 per cent of Albertans went to the polls.
Before that the 1982 election garnered interest from 66 per cent of the voting public, while the highest on record was 81.8 per cent in 1935. The lowest totals we found were in 2008 (40.59 per cent), 2004 (45.12 per cent) and 1986 (47.25 ).
Don’t like the candidates, can’t make the time … blah, blah, blah. Those are lazy excuses.
Voting is the hallmark of western civilization and a right that people around the world die for.
So, how do we cure voter apathy?
If you don’t vote, expect to pay a fine. There’s no better motivation than fining people — it’s the reason why folks don’t travel 160 km/h on the highways and why most buckle up. Safety? Most use their seatlbelts because they’ve been conditioned to and don’t want to pay a $155 fine.
Or how about, if you vote, you get paid. How does a crisp $20 bill sound for taking 15 minutes out of your day to cast a ballot? Using the 1,488,248 ballots-cast figure from 2015, that would add up to roughly a $30 million payout. Hey, Ralph Klein issued $1.4 billion to Albertans back in 2005 as part of his Prosperity Bonus, so the idea isn’t as crazy as it sounds.
Maybe the answer is a combination of the two.
If 90 per cent of Alberta’s 2.6 million eligible voters cast a ballot and each got $20 that would equate to $47 million. To cover that bill fine the non voters (260,000) $180 each and the payout is covered.
Easy peasy.
Granted, our ideas aren’t all that sound and a little tongue-in-cheek, but how do you make people appreciate something as sacred as the right to vote?
