Wherein I Try to Convince People That They Should Vote

While I imagine the "regular" readership of The Freak Report could be counted on one hand, I wanted to take a moment to talk about the 2015 Canadian Federal election that just kicked off this past weekend.

The short version is this:  if you are an eligible voter, you should make a point of voting in the election.  Seriously.  Do it.  Take a few moments this October and go vote.  Don't make excuses, just go do it.

If that short plea from a random stranger on the internet didn't convince you to go vote, well, consider the following.   (Be sure to read past the next paragraph!)

I can't address all the reasons why someone might choose not to vote, but a common one that I do want to address is that "my vote won't matter."  To this I say... yes and no.  In some sense, it's true that an individual's vote doesn't really matter.  Populations these days are just too large for any one single vote to materially change the outcome.  Without harping on things too much, a single vote is less than 1% of eligible voters - much less than 1%, really - so no, it doesn't really make a whole lot of difference whether any single individual votes or who they vote for.

"But wait", you might say, "aren't you trying to convince people to vote?  Because all this talk of votes not mattering isn't really all that encouraging."  Well, no, not if one looks at things individually.  But when you look at the aggregate, when large segments of the population are underrepresented at the polls, well, that does matter.  And can matter quite a bit. 

There was an article on CBC a while after the 2011 Federal Election which reported on a study that examined the effect of underrepresentation of young voters (defined as being under 30) during that election.  (The article is here for those interested.)  While the election had an overall voter turnout of a little over 60%, the youth turnout was under 40%.  The study found that had the youth turnout been the same as the overall turnout, the results of the election would likely have been much different - notably, the Conservatives would likely not have won a majority.

That article suggests to me that when large swathes of eligible voters choose not to vote, the outcome of the election can change significantly.  So in this sense, whether or not someone votes very much does matter, not as an idividual, but as part of a group.  And this is why I say everyone should make sure to vote.  Because it matters that all segments of the population are represented.  Because groups do have the ability to make a difference for the better.  So go vote.  Don't say it doesn't matter, because it does.  Just go vote.

Lastly, on a personal note, I feel that if someone who is eligible elects not to vote, then they have no right to complain about the outcome.  So if nothing else, vote so you can proudly complain about the results of the election for the next four years or so.

And with that, I shall get down off the soap box and will hopefully return with something more light hearted in my next post, whenever that happens to be.

Freak Out,
-TFitC