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Sidewinder: Scratching heads and luring eligible voters

The 2013 provincial election drew just over 50 per cent province-wide.
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THE NEWS/files Doug Bing and Marc Dalton celebrate their victories in the 2013 provincial election.

Edmund Burke, the 18th Century Irish philosopher, once said: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

I disagree.

May 9 is provincial election day in British Columbia and, if past records are any indication, the big winner will probably be voter apathy, where so-called ‘good men’ will sit idly by, letting others cast their ballots and make important decisions for them.

Probably 40 per cent of the eligible voters in either of our local provincial ridings will not participate by casting a ballot. Are these good people? I think not, because if they were really good people, they would vote.

The 2013 provincial election drew a pathetic turnout of just over 50 per cent province-wide, a shameful turnout considering the number of important issues that were facing the voters.

Well, here we are four years later and there is a very strong potential for a repeat performance. I cannot explain the magnitude of voter indifference, but I know it exists.

Politicians and election officials have been scratching their heads for decades trying to lure eligible voters to the polls in greater numbers, but their collective efforts have failed to make much of a difference with thousands of eligible voters who just don’t care enough.

I can’t recall any election – federal, provincial or municipal – in which the number of eligible voters who failed to show up at the polls couldn’t have drastically altered the final results if they had set aside their remote controls and golf clubs or whatever else long enough to cast their ballots.

The turnout in both Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge-Mission was significantly better than the provincial average of just over 52 per cent last itme out, but both fell just short of 60 per cent, leaving about 16,000 indifferent voters not casting their votes in each riding.

With 40 per cent of the eligible voters not participating, Doug Bing won his Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows seat with just over 45 per cent of the votes cast last time. Elizabeth Roseneau, the NDP candidate, trailed by less then a 1,000 votes, with just under 43 per cent of the vote.

Do you think the 16,000 voters in Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows who, for whatever reason, failed to vote could have made a difference?

The results for Maple Ridge-Mission were quite similar, with Liberal Marc Dalton winning that contest with just under 47 per cent of the votes cast, while NDP candidate Mike Bocking trailed behind with 39 per cent.

With just 1,200 votes separating Dalton and Bocking, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that even a relatively small share of the 16,000 voters who didn’t participate could have made a big difference.

Just like every other election, voters are faced with some tough decisions in this year’s May 9 election.

Employment, public spending, health, environment, education, housing and transportation are just a few of the major issues, but there is an even more important reason for people to exercise their democratic right to vote, and that is strengthening our democracy.

If you’re one of the cynics who thinks their votes won’t make a difference, or if you think that ‘they’re all alike’ and won’t vote for any of them, you are a big part of the problem.

There are very few legitimate excuses for failing to exercise your right to vote. For the few minutes it will take, British Columbia desperately needs you to shed yourself of that voter apathy and get involved by casting your ballot.

Sandy Macdougall is a retired journalist and former city councillor.