COLUMN: Time for a mandatory vote?

Before the next election there are two possible changes we should debate.

First, journalists would really appreciate the return of the caffeine-laden Jolt Cola (Google it, kids). May 9 was a long and crazy night. 

Second, perhaps it is time for mandatory voting. 

Hear me out. 

Voter turnout was approximately 60 per cent provincially, about 58 per cent in Squamish, preliminary tallies from Elections BC show. 

That isn’t horrible when compared to municipal elections where an average of 33 per cent cast a ballot in 2014.

To get Squamish to 44.5 per cent last muni election, Coun. Peter Kent had to promise to set himself on fire if the turnout improved from 2011’s paltry 41 per cent. 

The stunt worked, but the result was still pitiful, folks. Democracy works better when people engage. 

Voting is compulsory in 11 democracies around the globe. 

Making voting law could solve a number of problems with our current system. 

Politicians would have to court not just the predominantly older, well-heeled and self-interested who typically vote, but everyone, ideally giving voice to the issues of youth, women and First Nations whose concerns typically don’t make it into campaign speeches. 

It would also likely lessen the desire for corporate and union donations, again because politicians could not just pander to only those groups.   

Mandatory voting could counter voter apathy. If you have to vote, then common sense says you would take an interest in party platforms to see what impacted you, at least. 

Two of my friends live in Australia where voting is compulsory; One doesn’t like it because he believes people have “the right to be indifferent.”

I see his point. The state forcing anything can be a slippery slope, but so can the ‘live and let live’ philosophy. Canada has plenty of laws that are there to protect us from ourselves: seatbelt laws, for example, and sanitation bylaws. 

My other Aussie friend supports the compulsory vote, in part, because it prevents extreme situations like the election of President Donald Trump in the U.S., who rose to power with a 50 per cent voter turnout. 

She also argues that compulsory voting doesn’t force you to pick among idiots. Voters can show displeasure in their options by casting a spoiled or “donkey vote.” 

(Love Aussie sayings!) 

Enforcing compulsory voting is an obstacle, I acknowledge, and laws never solve all problems, but it seems an option we should at least consider.