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October 09, 2008

Voting angst

Posted by Dominique Jarry-Shore at 12:32 PM ET

During an election a few years ago I suggested that my mother vote for the NDP. "Why would I vote for them?" she asked me. "They're not going to win!"

Wanting to vote for the winning candidate instead of the one you believe in, is just one of the ways the results of our flawed electoral system can be skewed. And even though I've always "voted with my heart," this is the first election I've seriously considered strategic voting.

I wanted to see if strategic voting could be the tipping factor for me of one party over another since I still haven't decided who I'm voting for. On voteforenvironment.ca I punched in my postal code and was told I could "vote with my heart" since in my riding, the race is between the Liberal's and the Bloc -- both environmentally-friendly (read: not Conservative). In other words, my vote doesn't really count anyway, so I can vote for whomever I want.

It's dangerous territory when people start to feel their votes don't count -- and a signal of the need for change.

More entries on: Election 2008

Previous: Answers to Yesterday's Quiz
Next: Parties speak out about a forgotten issue

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Reader comments:

My riding is the same (Toronto Centre). No matter how I vote, the Liberals are going to win by a landslide. It's easy for someone to feel disillusioned about voting, and considering how many students live in this riding, I can't help but wonder if maybe the NDP or the Greens (Conservatives trailed fourth with 9% of the votes in the last election. They have no chance with this one) might win the seat if all the people who thought their vote wouldn't could actually voted their hearts.

Posted by: Melissa at October 9, 2008 09:38 PM

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