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The non-voters should hang their heads in shame |
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Written by Al Hollingsworth
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Thursday, 11 June 2009 |
You don’t vote, you don’t have a say. It is as simple as that. It’s my humble belief. Always has been, always will be.
In our province, following the June 9th Provincial Election, over 40 per cent of our residents did not cast a ballot – and from now until the next provincial election, should remain absolutely mute on matters political and things controlled by our government. No vote – no voice.
How seriously do I take this civic duty? I rate non-voting right up there with draft dodging.
In the “War to end all wars”, World War 1, Canada sent 600,000 troops to Europe to fight the Germans, and 60,000 of them, one in ten, never came home. World War II saw 42,789 Canadians left behind in shallow graves, with an additional 97,988 wounded, many of them losing one or more limbs.
The Korean Conflict of the early 1950s produced 1,558 casualties, with 516 Canadians dying there. In Afghanistan, the death toll at this writing is 119, and…sadly… counting . . . .
I’m sure that the great majority of these brave men and women really didn’t want to go to battle, but they knew that in order to preserve our democracy the enemy had to be stopped. They put their lives on hold for years; over 100,000 gave up their lives to make our country what it is today. One of the best places on earth to dwell.
Yet 40 per cent of Nova Scotians couldn’t be bothered – couldn’t bring themselves to give up five minutes of their life to mark an “X”. Shame on them!
Perhaps it is time for Nova Scotia, indeed Canada, to invoke compulsory turnout on election day. Compulsory voting is a misnomer, as with secret balloting, there is no way to tell if an individual voted. However, forcing a person, by law, to make their way to the polling station would probably result in the individual casting a ballot.
Some will argue that this practice is undemocratic, and would infringe on personal liberty. I disagree - voting is a civic duty and should be classified the same as the legal requirement to send our children to school. Don’t send your child to school or provide them with home schooling that meets provincial standards - expect to pay a penalty.
To get a parliament, or a legislature that represents the total population, then all must participate by casting a ballot. Making voting mandatory would change campaigning. If party workers were no longer faced with spending countless hours working to get the vote out, the time between when the election writ is dropped and voting day could be better spent on developing and enunciating party platforms and discussing issues. Not only would everyone vote, they would be better informed and cast their votes accordingly.
Throughout the world, over twenty countries have some form of compulsory voting. One of the most successful and well-known compulsory systems is in Australia. First adopted in the State of Queensland in 1915, the Australian government brought in compulsory voting in 1924. Eighty-five years ago, the voter turnout Down Under was as low as 47 per cent. Today, it is in the 94 to 96 per cent range.
To assist the voter, Australian elections are held on a Saturday, when the majority of citizens are not working. Failure to vote results in the following:
Initially the Australian Electoral Commission will write to all apparent non-voters requesting that they either provide a reason for their failure to vote or pay a $20 penalty. If, within 21 days, the apparent non-voter fails to reply, cannot provide a valid and sufficient reason or declines to pay the penalty, then prosecution proceedings may be instigated. If the matter is dealt with in court and the person is found guilty, he or she may be fined up to $50 plus court costs.
Ironically, three days before Nova Scotians (well, some of them) went to the polls, we paused to remember D-Day, June 6, 1944.
“Fourteen thousand young Canadians stormed Juno Beach on D-Day. Their courage, determination and self-sacrifice were the immediate reasons for the success in those critical hours. The fighting they endured was fierce and frightening. The price they paid was high - the battles for the beachhead cost 340 Canadian lives and another 574 wounded. John Keegan, eminent British historian who wrote Six Armies in Normandy, stated the following concerning the Canadian 3rd Division on D-Day: ‘At the end of the day, its forward elements stood deeper into France than those of any other division. The opposition the Canadians faced was stronger than that of any other beach save Omaha. That was an accomplishment in which the whole nation could take considerable pride’.”
They came ashore from landing craft, wading in chest high water, as German machine guns rained down, like shooting them like in a barrel. They were fighting for our freedom, our right to chose our leaders and our governments.
Shame on those who ignore this ultimate sacrifice or who have never taken the time to hear and understand the message. I challenge these individuals to reflect on how different their lives would be today if these Canadians along with the troops of other Allied countries had not prevailed.
(Al Hollingsworth is a retired journalist and broadcaster who served seven years in the Canadian Army, including peacekeeping duties in Cyprus)
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