Make your mark, again

I imagined how the day would unfold in my mind’s eye. A line of sleepy yet enthusiastic voters will start forming at the crack of dawn. Then when the voting station opens they would vote and post their achievement on Facebook or Twitter.

From 08:00 to about 11:00 or 12:00 the voting stations would be empty because the rest of the community wouldn’t bother before at least lunch time. The volunteers would then productively use this time to beat that high score in Candy Crush.

After the midday voter crowd comes and goes the day would end with a few more people making there mark, probably pedestrians who are passing by the voting station with some interest.

They might have been attracted by the overly enthusiastic campaigners ‘encouraging’ people to vote like trying to coax a frightened bird from underneath the couch. Although it is just one ward I imagine it being a small example of a bigger problem.

This is what we can expect from elections if 10-million registered voters did not even bother showing up during the national elections. What about the previous municipal elections in 2011? About 53 percent of registered voters cast their votes in the municipal election.

I mean how many of us really know what the mayor’s name is, or even who our local ward councillor is, right?
I like to care, I really do, but it seems that 50 percent of the people in this town are doing 100 percent of the caring. Those are bad numbers. Maybe we are distracted by other things to go vote. Things like surviving or keeping warm in the winter which is understandable but a lot of people come to mind who just honestly do not care.

I’m not going to throw that “every vote counts” line at you, but if you have an ID and you live in Ben Fleur or Reyno Ridge you should have at least considered it.

By the way for those of you who are wondering, my brain is already half way to our holiday destination so I had to carry this one all by myself. I cannot wait to join him but not before I vote.