Political science

Politicians are to blame as we head for record low voter turnout

The January 23, 2006 federal election could go down in history for the lowest voter turnout since Confederation.  While the government has been criticized for holding an election in the middle of winter, cold temperatures don’t explain the fact that voter participation has been in free fall for the last 25 years.  While 75 per cent of registered voters went out to cast their ballots in the 80s, only 6 out of 10 Canadians took the trouble to vote at the turn of the millennium. 

Why are citizens who enjoy freedom of expression and universal suffrage so nonchalant? “It’s the politicians who are to blame,” says Sébastien Dubé, a political science student at the Université de Montréal whose doctoral thesis focuses on political instability and voter abstention in Western societies. According to Mr. Dubé, politicians have a poor understanding of the population’s aspirations and actually impede democratic practices. “The parties’ platforms and the behaviour of some politicians are good reasons for many people to stay home on election day,” he explains.

In fact, Mr. Dubé is surprised that prevailing cynicism and major political wrongdoings such as the sponsorship scandal have not had an even more dramatic effect on democratic practices. “The surprising thing may be that two-thirds of Canadians are still willing to vote.  There’s still hope,” he says. 

What is the typical profile of the political cynic who chooses not to vote?  “The more people feel connected to their communities, the greater their tendency to come out and vote,” explains Mr. Dubé. “This means that the elderly and people who have been living in the same community for a long time, for instance, are more likely to vote than young people, all things being equal. Differences between men and women are negligible.”

Sometimes, voter abstention is rooted in the political landscape.  Mr. Dubé cites the example of a right-leaning federalist homosexual who is outraged by the sponsorship scandal. Which party will win his vote? The Conservatives oppose gay marriage; the Bloc québécois is pro-sovereignty; the NDP espouses leftist ideology; and the Liberal Party was behind one of the biggest political scandals in Canadian history. You can bet this voter will stay home on January 23rd. 

If they really wanted to, political officials could increase voter participation. Making the voting system more proportional, that is, more representative of society’s different ideological trends, would no doubt boost participation rates. “In Argentina, voting is mandatory,” explains Mr. Dubé. “That doesn’t mean that everyone supports the system. In fact, as many as 30per cent of Argentineans spoil their ballots.” An electronic voting system could also encourage people to vote. If we can carry out banking transactions on the Internet, why can’t we use it to fill out a ballot?  “Polling stations could also be open longer.  And why limit ourselves to one voting day? ”

According to Mr. Dubé, abstention among voters continues to grow throughout the Western world.  The abstention rate for France’s last parliamentary elections was 40 per cent; 33 per cent for the American presidential elections; and 23 per cent for Spain’s 2002 elections. “And those rates only take into account registered voters,” explains Mr. Dubé. “If we calculate the abstention rate based on the number of adults who are eligible to vote but did not bother to register their names on the electoral list, the results are even worse, with close to 50 per cent of Canadians and Americans not bothering to cast their ballots.”