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Regina Leader Post, Thursday, Jun 24, 2004
and other papers in an edited version
VIRTUAL DEMOCRACY: the flawed "electoral reform"
by Marjaleena Repo
Lately extraordinary media attention is being paid to "voter apathy,"
and no wonder, as in a remarkably short time the turnout of eligible
voters has dropped from 75% in 1988 to 61.2% in 2000, heading towards
the U.S. rates of ca 40%.
Lack of civics in our schools is blamed; or a weakened sense of
citizenship in the country (and perhaps in the western world); or just
people's busy lives. Mostly the blame goes to "politics" which is
experienced as meaningless and alienating and on politicians who make
and break their promises, as they see fit.
But to understand why people are not voting, one must also understand,
concretely, what prevents people from voting. The low turnout does not
just consist of people who choose not to vote, but also, in ever-larger
numbers, of people who can't vote, although they very much want to. That
is why we need to examine "voter obstruction" and not just "voter apathy."
In the late 90's, the parliament introduced two changes which
contributed heftily to the dramatic fall in the voter turnout.
1) Door to door enumeration was eliminated in favour of a "permanent
voter's list." Canadians of voting age recall enumerators heralding the
coming election, and functioning not just as registrars of eligible
voters, but as a sort of warm-up act for the election. The accuracy of
their lists was high, making it easy for people to turn up at the polls.
The state assumed full responsibility for enabling citizens to
participate in this all-important national political event.
Contrast this to the "permanent" voter's list which was used for the
first time in 2000. Compiled from the 1997 voter's list, provincial
lists, and from voluntary registration from tax returns and vehicle
registrations applications, it turned out to be a complete dud, full of
wrong information, dead people, people who had moved several times since
'97, and more significantly, great numbers of people missing altogether,
including ones who had not moved, and of course all who had just come of
age or become citizens.
In the Prince Albert riding in 2000 our campaign spent more time than we
cared to just helping people get on the list - not an easy task as the
system was not set up then (nor is it now) to cope with the errors and
omissions that are inherent in the so-called "permanent" voter's list.
Getting on the list was a major obstacle course. Election Canada's phone
would ring busy and a personal visit to the local Chief Returning
Officer was often the only recourse. For many their efforts to vote
stopped there and then, because they simply couldn't make the trip.
On voting day, our office was flooded with urgent calls from people
denied the right to vote, despite having been instructed by Elections
Canada to appear at the poll with their ID. Many discovered they were in
a wrong poll, and were unable to go to a different location, far from
their residence.
This regressive "reform" had full support from both the Liberals and the
Reform/Alliance, and was done to suit the "less government" ideology of
these two parties, and their obsession with spending cuts. In one fell
swoop the change in voter registration puts the onus on the individual
to get him or herself registered -- while placing numerous obstacles in
her way. The ones most affected are the poor and young -- among whom in
Prince Albert were a very high percentage of Aboriginals -- and these
are the very people whose voices must be heard for democracy to function. Thus the change has contributed in spades to voter inequality, too.
2) A second regressive and little understood feature of the "reform," is
the shortened campaign period, from a minimum of 47 days to 36, another
cost-cutting measure. But more was cut than costs, as a shorter period
significantly lessens participation in the electoral process. (It also
heavily favours the incumbents who get out of the starting blocks
faster, while the challengers scramble to get their offices functioning
-- and to get access to the ever-so-flawed preliminary voters lists.)
One visible result of this short period is the lack of all candidates
meetings where voters can come to listen and to question -- and to
heckle, if need be, in the grand old electoral tradition.
The "reform" is a train wreck that has devastated citizens' chances of
meaningful participation in the election. The campaign has left them
and has become lodged in the media's "virtual reality" where
personalities, commentators and programme hosts with their never-ending
spin have replaced the voters. The TV debates are structured to allow
for none of the give-and take of a proper public meeting, and both the
candidates and the voters watching them are cheated. The voters, who
should be lining up at the mike to pummel the candidates with well
prepared questions, only appear in media clips -- the more negative
about "politics" in general, the more likely to be heard and seen. The
informed and thoughtful voter no longer "fits" in the show formats
scripted and directed by media "opinion makers," who have become
vote-makers.
Elections Canada is now hell-bent to introduce internet voting. That
will be a final blow, as reliability and accountability will be out the
window. Fraud is practically invited, and voter participation will
further diminish, because we will now have a major technological
obstacle as well.
No, if we are to have a functioning democracy, we must go back to the
future: we need to restore the voter-friendly enumeration, and return to
a longer campaign so candidates and voters will have an opportunity to
meet each other face to face, and not through the limited and
controlling media filters. And we must do our utmost to prevent the
death of democracy by electronic voting.
Marjaleena Repo is a political organizer. She ran David Orchard's 2000 federal campaign in the Prince Albert, SK, his PC party's leadership
campaigns in 1998 and 2003, and was Saskatchewan representative on the
party's management committee.
She can be reached at Tel:(306)244-9724 Fax: (306)244-0606 E-mail: mrepo@sasktel.net
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