Have we got a deal for you! It鈥檚 a treasure to die for. In fact, people around the world have died for it, and people still are dying for it. It鈥檚 called an election. It takes place at a polling station near you. It doesn鈥檛 cost you anything but a little effort, because others have already picked up the tab, some paying the ultimate price.
Voting in Saturday鈥檚 municipal election is one of the fundamental duties of citizenship, but it is more than that 鈥� it is a privilege. And yet, in a society where the majority is supposed to rule, a minority will decide who makes the rules.
sa国际传媒 has the unenviable record of the lowest voter turnout in sa国际传媒 for civic elections, and the outlook doesn鈥檛 seem to be getting better. The turnout of eligible voters was 32 per cent in 2005, 31 per cent in 2008 and 29.55 per cent in 2011. The capital region barely surpassed that average in 2011 with 30 per cent, with Metchosin the highest at 49 per cent and Langford the lowest at 14 per cent.
Many studies have been done about low voter turnout, and various factors have been identified, but the cause is not that complicated 鈥� voters who don鈥檛 bother to vote.
鈥淓verybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it,鈥� is a humorous quote by American essayist Charles Dudley Warner, but it鈥檚 not so funny when applied to politics. Although it might seem we can do no more about dismal politics than we can about dismal weather, each of us has a say in how we are governed.
Although it is sometimes hard to measure, each voter鈥檚 influence in politics is real. The closer to home the voting is, the more each vote counts. Some will say one vote doesn鈥檛 make enough difference to matter. Tell that to the candidate who loses by a handful of votes.
The term 鈥渟ilent majority鈥� gets bandied about, referring to a vocal minority getting its way while the concerns of the majority are overlooked. It鈥檚 often more perception than fact, but in sa国际传媒 municipal politics, unfortunately, the silent majority is real, comprising those who don鈥檛 bother to vote.
Whatever excuses people offer for not voting, they are just that 鈥� excuses. Voting is easy; polling places are convenient. If you can make your way to a movie, a concert, a restaurant or a shopping mall, you can certainly find your way to a polling station.
You can make informed choices. Finding out about the candidates might take a few moments, but the task is easier than it has ever been. The sa国际传媒 has been covering the election campaign and running profiles of each municipality. All that information, plus information supplied by the candidates, has been compiled on our civc election website (timescolonist.com/elections). Many candidates have their own websites or have distributed material at residences.
This is the season we remember wars fought for freedom. But as election day approaches, we should remember other battles, ones fought with words and ideas. No longer do we need to own property, have a certain income, be of a certain ethnic origin or be of a particular gender to be able to vote. But universal suffrage did not happen suddenly in sa国际传媒 鈥� it came one philosophical battle at a time.
We should not take that privilege for granted or let it slide into disuse because of apathy.
On Tuesday, thousands gathered to honour those who fought and died for the principles of democracy. On Saturday, many thousands more should make their way to polling stations to validate those sacrifices.
