Why I Exercise My Democratic Right to Vote

“I don’t like any of the candidates, so why should I even bother voting? What’s the point? They’re all crooks and are only out for themselves.”

Voter apathy is increasingly common and I completely understand why. More and more, it’s starting to look like it doesn’t matter if you turn left or if you turn right, because you end up being not happy with what the government is doing for you. I get that. I feel that too. Even so, I feel it is of paramount importance that we all exercise our democratic right to vote.

As I said on Twitter a while back, I took the “CBC Vote Compass” quiz to see which way I should vote in the upcoming federal election. That quiz didn’t do me very much good, as it put me right in between the Conservatives and the Liberals. And let’s not forget about the “Liberal bias” of that CBC tool.

In this way, it really does sound like it doesn’t matter which way I turn. I think that I am fiscally conservative, but socially liberal… and there are no parties that really lean toward that quadrant of the political spectrum. However, when you look at places like Libya and Egypt, where people are literally dying for democracy, you really start to appreciate what we do have in the Western world.

You do have a choice. You do have the opportunity to pick your political leaders. If you’re not happy with one party or the other, you can do something about it. Some people may think that a single person can’t make a difference, but individuals are the only ones who have ever made a difference. We combine our efforts and we can make for a better country, a better world, and a better society.

Get past your political apathy. Educate yourself on the issues, because your vote matters. If you don’t make your voice heard (even if it is in an anonymous manner), you don’t really have much of a right to complain. You have the opportunity to make a difference.

I’m going to be doing a lot of voting in the next few months. In addition to the federal election next month, there’s the BC HST referendum, as well as a possible election for a new Premier of BC. My vote matters and so does yours. Exercise your democratic right.