Voter Turnout in Municipal Elections

I’m going to make some statements here at the fear of them being misconstrued and me being misunderstood. It seems to be a theme these days so why stop now?

First – I wish more people would vote. I think you give up any right to complain when you don’t vote.
Second – I’m actually happy some people don’t vote. Some people are idiots who have no clue about government or politics and probably shouldn’t be allowed to vote.
Third – I think it’s an absolute democratic right to not vote.
Fourth – I think Municipal Elections should be open to all residents of a City, citizens and non-citizens. If you pay property taxes here, you should have a voice in the decision-making (and Tenants do pay taxes.)
Fifth – I think we should have an elected Youth Advocate; This person would be elected by students. This would encourage youth voting and create a life-long interest in politics.
Sixth – Voters don’t vote for a number of reasons. Most Political observers know that bad weather can swing voter turnout from 5-10 percent. So can distance to a polling station
Seventh – Voting has to become part of a cultural shift. In other words, we can’t simply put up some posters and expect people to vote. We have to have an ongoing campaign to increase participation and we probably need political/government reform to stop disenfranchisement. If it seems like your vote didn’t count, you’re less likely to vote in the future.
Eighth – Transparency and engagement by City Hall are key to continuing to increase voter participation. We can’t expect people to care about something they don’t know a lot about.
Ninth – Community-based orgs need to hold public meetings and bring Councillors to the community during their term and candidates during elections
Tenth – an independent Report Card is needed to show residents how Council votes on various issues
Eleventh – none of this will happen without people creating and driving change (this sounds like a personal challenge to myself.)
Twelfth – The eleventh requires the creation of a Social Business to drive a change in the political culture of our City. This umbrella group would serve as a non-partisan information resource and bring together different interest groups and perspectives to create an ongoing discussion.

So. I’ve been looking for a new job for some time. I’ve been involved in Municipal politics for about 10 years since I moved to Toronto in 1998. Now that I’m back in the town I left for many of the reasons people are searching to identify, perhaps its time for me to get off my butt and put thoughts and words into action. As a friend said recently “I may not be the Quarterback but at least I’m in the game. You’ve got the brains and skills, why are you sitting in the stands?”

And so I will ask for some volunteer help to get this effort off the ground. I would like to earn a living wage from it – I’ve got debts to pay. But I’m also willing to work to create something new, to help the City of my birth. If you’ve got ideas, if you’ve been involved in London, if you’ve got skills (particularly internet design) I’d love to talk to you. Please get in touch and we’ll talk about how to get this started. From name to vision statement, from focus to scope, I’m open to ideas. And by the way…Londontopic.ca is for sale. So there’s an emerging gap and opportunity.

Okay. So this started as one topic and drifted to another. I'm like that. More vision than fine details. I'll write more about voter engagement in the future I'm sure.