In Defence of Not Voting
As the Canadian federal election has officially been called for April 28, it’s important to stress something: you should probably vote.
There are many important reasons to vote. Electoral politics is one way for the average person within a liberal democracy to have a say in the system. In ridings with contested seats, any single vote that could feasibly oust an MP that helped push harmful policies is good. Also, if you’re working the day (during hours the polls are open), your employer is required to allow you up to three paid hours to vote. If you’re in line to vote, stay in line! In fact, allow people to go ahead of you! You’ve got time to wait.
In terms of federal elections, Canadians typically do faaairly well. No federal election in the 21st century, for example, has dipped below 50 per cent. Yes, it’s still not a great sign that the lowest turnout in 2008 hit an admittedly dismal 58.8 per cent. Sometimes it’s even worse. In Ontario, for example, this year’s election only had about 45 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballot… up from 44 per cent in 2022.
So should more Canadians vote? Probably. But I’m going to make the argument that not voting is completely fine to do.
When we discuss the reasons for voting, the ones listed out here are all well and good. They’re important motivating factors for people to participate in elections. Of course it would be ridiculous to say that voting can’t bring some changes. However, those who don’t vote are also participating in their democratic system. They are showing their dissatisfaction.
I don’t want to rest this article on personal anecdotes, but I feel these are relevant. For my first election, (I believe it was provincial but I can’t remember), I cast my ballot for the Green Party candidate. Having been born and raised in a true-blue district, I believe my choice only ended up getting high double-digit votes. I told myself that these parties get benefits even if they don’t win the elections. With a higher vote share, parties get more funding.
The second time I voted, I walked into the voting station, asked for my ballot, immediately returned it and told the worker I was declining. Then I walked out. They count those. I did it because I didn’t feel represented by any candidate.
However, I recognize now that these choices translated to very little. In the first case, my vote didn’t change the likelihood of the Greens getting more footholds in more ridings. In the second case, it’s extremely unlikely that anyone motivated enough to go to the voting booth will use that time to politely decline their ballot, especially in a system that doesn’t advertise that option.
Most of the reaction to elections proves my second point correct. When people crow about the lack of voting for candidates, nobody looks at the amount of declined ballots. Everyone looks at the voter turnout. The takeaway? People not voting are making a choice, whether conscious or unconscious.
That choice is completely justifiable.
Let’s have a side note here in terms of legislative fixes to low voter turnout. Occasionally when this discussion is raised, people point to compulsory voting as a fix, with the most prominent example being in Australia. There are a couple problems with this idea. Even if there were the political will to push through electoral reform like this (there isn’t), it wouldn’t necessarily be a solution to our democratic woes. Australia is also witnessing declining rates in satisfaction with their democracy. They’ve also had a rise in reactionary policies from their right-wing politicians. Australia is also facing a housing crisis and a cost-of-living crisis much like Canada. Has voting solved these issues?
No. It hasn’t. Things are continually getting worse. The federal government used to build social housing. They stopped 30 years ago and no party has seriously proposed picking up that slack (though Carney has hinted at it). Healthcare, a provincial responsibility, has been declining in quality. But even federal commitments are lacking. In the 1970s, the federal government promised to cover 50 per cent of healthcare costs. In 2023, that number was 22 per cent. The period of time where this decline occurred swung between both Conservative and Liberal governments. Both minority and majority. Bloc opposition and NDP.
Before you start writing in the comments or @ing me on Bluesky citing good policies that were passed by the NDP or others, or pointing to ones that were repealed by Conservatives: Yes. I know. Doug Ford repealed rent control in 2018 leading to a 35 per cent jump in Toronto rents. Ford also won every election with barely a whisper of a fart to stop him. When this happens, and low voter turnout assists, the problem is far beyond individuals not casting ballots. It’s systemic. That’s the perspective we should view this problem from.
Trouble is, people are disconnected from politics. That’s what we’re really talking about here. By all means, shout about the Green Belt scandal. Shout about how Poilievre is a convoy-brained nerd who’s never worked an honest job in his life. It doesn’t matter how right you are (and you are right) that’s not what people feel every day. Rent is getting higher. Work is getting harder. Hospitals are getting more crowded. Groceries are out of control. In terms of tangible effects, disconnected politicians place a poor second to these troubles.
“Well that type of attitude just helps conservative parties!” I agree. So what is your solution?
Because I can tell you one thing that doesn’t work: shaming people for not voting.
How do I know that doesn’t work? Because it hasn’t worked the past three Ontario elections. It didn’t get Harris into the office of the President. If Trudeau had stayed on, it wouldn’t have worked for the Liberals. Polls have shifted to Carney because people are motivated by external factors. No one has zest for Carney because some random on X told them to back the Liberals or face suffering.
Shaming doesn’t work in most contexts. Look to fat-shaming. Those who do it spout a similar rationale, that they do it because they supposedly care about the health of their target. It’s a delusion. Shame just makes people feel worse. All it does is make the person doing it feel above their subject.
Of course, using this example, it must be made clear that fat people experience far more fat-shaming than non-voters experience for not voting. I am comparing the tactics, not the sociopolitical context and effects.
Let’s make this clear: people who are into politics are weird gremlins. Watching election results come in, following party pressers and tracking policy is for nerds. Most people don’t do that because they’re too busy spending their dwindling free time playing sports and having sex. I say this as someone who hasn’t missed an Ontario election night or federal election night since 2015. I’m closely following the upcoming Australian election, for fuck’s sakes. I am one of you. So believe me when I say that we are strange little freaks.
When people think of politics, they think of politicians lying. They think of the expectations of understanding platforms. They think of right-wingers screaming about wokeness. They think of smug liberals talking down to them. They think only of elections and nothing else. Who in their right mind would willingly dive into that? No one. Blaming non-voters for their abdication just reinforces their justification. “Holy shit this is annoying… why would I spend my time on this?”
I’ll go out on a limb here and posit this disconnection is also a huge impetus for people voting conservative. They simply look at the numbers on their pay cheques and bills then vote accordingly. We don’t see hospital visits in terms of saving money. We see it in terms of “Can I take that much time off of work?” or “Do I really want to spend my Saturday at the hospital?” However, when you look at taxes it’s extremely easy to think “That’s too much.”
These types of voters don’t need to engage in the actual politics. They walk in, vote for the person who promises the cost number go down, then walk out.
Is this a problem? Hell yes. But the solution is not to rant and rave about how this is all non-voters’ fault, actually. In their minds, they didn’t do anything except not cast one vote in a sea of them. If any single one of them had voted, in only very rarely cases would it have mattered. So unless you’re so committed to vote-shaming as a viable tactic that you’re planning to door-knock in its favour, it won’t even matter.
No, the solution is to bring politics closer to home so that they’re felt as closely as that number on your pay cheque. In a double whammy, his approach also has the potential to reach those conservative voters.
How do we do that? Longtime readers, say it with me: organize. Talk to your neighbours. Participate in your unions. Join tenant unions. Help feed your neighbours. Go with them on medical visits if needed. Be a community member. Then, when someone goes “my rent jumped up so much,” you pull out the Toronto Star article… “Doug Ford did this, but don’t worry… our community is actually going to help.”
It is extremely difficult, there’s no question. But it’s effective. Many people would prefer do the reverse. Vote-shaming people: as easy as it is useless!
This is something I’ve wanted to write for a while. Every time an election ends and conservatives are swept to a victory, liberals immediately turn around and finger-wag their superiority at nonvoters, conversely holding their vote as a shield. “Don’t blame me, I voted for Kodos!” These people post this attitude in replies online incessantly. Sure, the current political climate is the fault of an overworked woman smoking a bong in her parent’s garage to In an Aeroplane Over the Sea because she didn’t vote for Bonnie Crombie. Do you even believe that?
This attitude smacks of “I did my part, so I’m blameless.” It’s central to the whole attitude. “If you don’t vote, you don’t get to complain.” Psychoanalyzing this further is pedantically academic, but it’s noteworthy how much “blame” is centred in vote-shaming.
For the record, here’s my view: both the Liberals and Conservatives rhetorically supported Israel throughout their genocide of Palestine. The Liberals gave material support. It’s completely understandable why one would never vote for them. Meanwhile, the NDP is near completely useless.
The riding I can vote in has been blue for over a decade with no sign of changing. Every party I could vote for has disgusted me. I hope the Carney Liberals win, if only to stave off the reactionary right for a few more years, but I am under no pretenses. In the grand scheme, they’ll continue policies that worsen the situation and allow the right to regroup. I am disillusioned. That is a direct result of the system.
If there is no grand understanding of why someone politically engaged like me won’t vote for any of these parties, that’s a bigger problem than me not voting. That’s a bigger problem than anyone not voting.
Finally, there’s the elephant in the room. Reactionary politicians, right-wing populism, Trumpism. Whatever you want to call it. For the purposes of this article, it’s inconsequential. You know what I’m talking about.
We all know how time works. So in order to see how these forces came to such prominence, you have to look to see what came before it. There are plenty of things. A loosening of hegemonic power held by certain demographics in society. The continuing wealth inequality. Worsening protections for workers. Precarity in secure housing. The slow erosion of paths to a comfortable life. These things, as explained earlier in this piece, happened under both conservative and liberal governments. Liberals, as it is now very clear, would rather lose every election there is than capitulate to the left. Conservatives, who certainly helped us get here, have no problem capitulating to the increasingly rabid base to hold onto power.
So here are the perceived options: Keep things slowly going bad or try this (supposedly) brand new formula. All it will cost is hurting other people you don’t know or care about.
Do you blame people for not wanting to play this game?
Well, maybe. That’s why I’m writing this.
Your circumstances most likely differ from mine. So if voting has a chance to make a meaningful impact, go for it. Whatever. It’s a secret ballot. No one will know who you voted for. You can escape the ever-present blame. But if your political actions stop and start at the ballot box, that attitude is what got us to this point. Don’t play the blame game focusing on people for not wanting any part of it. Instead, show them what can happen when they can affect their situation through their own actions, rather than trusting someone they don’t know to do it for them.
Or keep vote-shaming. Maybe it’ll finally work this time. It probably won’t, but you’ll feel better, won’t you?
