It’s the punch line to a bad joke: What did the mathematician say to the writer? The story is in the numbers.
So what story might the numbers tell us about the last election?
First, 47 per cent of eligible voters came out to vote, up from 39 per cent last time. What does that say? Well, despite lots of advanced polling and advertising from the municipality, despite heaps of media coverage, and even despite Peter Kent’s offer to set himself on fire if the number improved (a story that received international media coverage), more than half of the population were not engaged enough to find 15 minutes in their day (or on the two weeks leading up to the election) to get out and vote. There’s still a lot to be done to get our democracy working properly.
Those who did vote cast 30,000 ballots for council. That means that, on average, each voter made about five choices. The push to have electors “plump” their vote by choosing fewer than six candidates may have gained some traction, but most people, it seems, still chose six.
And what were the choices they were making?
Listening to the water-cooler talk on Monday morning, many seem to assume that the proposed LNG plant was the deciding factor of this election, but if you separate the candidates based on their official LNG statements into those firmly supportive, those firmly opposed, and those taking a “middle-of-the road” stand, the average number of votes is surprising with the opponents of LNG averaging 1,243 votes, the supporters getting an average of 1,578 and those in the middle earning 1,825, according to my own calculations. Our new council has two people from each faction. A fine balance, one might say.
Another interesting thing to consider is that the top vote-getter for council received support from 39 per cent of the voters and the sixth-place about 33 per cent. It may be humbling for each of our councillors to consider that, even with six choices per voter, more than 60 per cent of those who voted did not see fit to mark your name on their ballot.
Looked at differently, that last statistic may tell a more optimistic story, though. This year, the choice was difficult; the quality of the candidates running was exceptional and varied. Most presented thoughtful, intelligent and passionate visions for Squamish. Most, I believe, ran selflessly, wanting genuinely to offer themselves for public service.
For that, there’s no quantifying the gratitude we should feel.
