What if the greatest threat to democracy isn’t the ‘other side’ winning, but millions of us voting without understanding what we’re actually voting for?
As I write this, Canadians are voting this week for our Federal election, and what party will be leading us and who will be the next Prime Minister. As is the trend with every election, this one “is the most important” we’ve had. The stakes continue to be so high.
A lot has been written lately around “low information” voters, recently in regards to the past US election, but I see it here in Canada as well. A lot of complaints I hear about government reveal that many voters lack even a basic sixth-grade understanding of what level of government is responsible for what.
The thing is, I was once a low information voter as well. And I still voted.
When I had just turned 18 years old, the first time I could vote was for a federal referendum in Canada in 1992 to make changes to our constitution, giving provinces more power and autonomy from the federal government. It was motivated by the province of Quebec wanting more say in how they run their province, but it would affect all provinces.
The referendum failed, leading to Quebec almost leaving Canada in 1995, when they held their own referendum which ended up coming down to a 50.5%/49.5% split to stay in Canada.
When I review the Wikipedia page about these events, I realize I had no idea what I was actually voting on. I was caught up in visceral emotions, like many people. And yet, my vote counted the same as anyone else. This to me is comparable to something recently like Brexit and people not knowing what the consequences actually were going to be.
The next (1993) federal election brought to power Jean Chretien as our new Prime Minister. It was a “change” election, after 8 years of Conservative rule. I voted for and was happy to have Chretien as our new PM.
However, a good friend of mine asked me what reasons I voted for him. And my answer was “Well, I like the guy.”
“’I like the guy’ isn’t reason to vote for someone”, my friend responded.
That conversation always stayed with me. This is the same as when you hear about people voting for the person they most would like to have a beer with.
I shared these stories with my children in recent weeks, because I wanted them to see that I too was a low information voter. That’s what it looks like. I had no idea of the actual issues, and certainly couldn’t explain my vote in a logical way.
I see this going on these days on a wide scale. A lot of what people are upset about, they don’t even know who or what is in charge, or how those people can make a difference. I saw it with the “trucker convoy” in Canada a few years back, when many of their grievances would have them flunk grade 6 civics.
There’s nothing I can do about that, but I can at least change what’s behind how I vote, and model that for my kids.
What that looks like today is using a tool like a vote compass. I used the one created by the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) that asked 30 questions about what matters to me, and then showed on a grid how my answers compare to those of the major parties in Canada.
My oldest is voting for their first election, and I told her if she does nothing else, take the vote compass, and you can at least explain that your vote matches the party closest aligned to you personally.
Had I told my friend 30 years ago “I voted for Jean Chretien because after doing the vote compass I was matched closest to his platform” would be a lot better answer than “I like the guy”.
And this is literally the least one can do. I wish more people did this bare minimum. They might even surprise themselves about what they care about and who that best matches with.
And now when politics comes up amongst my people, instead of asking “Who did you vote for?” I ask “What issues are most important to you?”
I don’t think anyone actually thinks of themselves as a “low information voter”, and it’s taken me all these years to have my own clarity on my past, but asking these questions will quickly reveal if someone actually knows what they are voting for or are caught up in slogans and identity. Whether or not I agree with someone, I at least want them to be a thoughtful, informed voter, and be able to explain their reasoning. I will always respect that.
And who knows, if even a few percentage of low information voters change how they see things, that could change everything.
Having these basic middle-school level civics conversations seems to light me up, sharing how I once myself was a low information voter. The change always starts with us. It’s one of the ways I try to make the world a better place.
