If you’ve ever sat in on a discussion with a group of political theorists, you know that sooner or later the discussion will turn towards electoral reform.

It’s the million dollar question these days, what with our abysmal voting turnout of the past few federal elections.

What’s unfortunate is that people focus more on the how to get more people to vote, but not on the why. Why is it that almost half of Canadians didn’t bother marking a ballot last federal election? Do that many people really have no faith in the political system or their elected representatives, or is something else the problem?

“ Why bother voting, people must ask themselves, if I already know which party is going to win?

One of the greatest issues is that people simply don’t feel like they can vote for someone who really represents their values.

In Canadian politics these days, you have three, possibly four choices on who you could vote for, mirroring the main political parties.

But what if you associate yourself with an ideology and not a candidate, or vice-versa? For example, what if you held conservative values but felt that the Conservative candidate in your riding would do a terrible job? Your choice at that point is to hold your nose and vote for either a party or a candidate you dislike or alternatively, simply not vote. So how can election rules be changed to make that choice less disenchanting for voters? British Conservatives have come up with an interesting answer.

In the constituency of Totnes, U.K., the Conservative party is holding a primary to choose their party’s next candidate there. The riding association chose three people to stand for the nomination, and a ballot was mailed to every voter in the riding so every eligible voter could mark an ‘X’ to decide who the next Conservative candidate will be. This is especially interesting, as Totnes has been held by a Conservative in English politics since its creation in 1885, with the exception of one year (1923). This means that voters will get a chance to vote not only for their favourite candidate, but for the person who will likely be elected as the next MP for that area.

This plan is an excellent way for people to feel like their vote counts. Historically, contested seats almost always have a significantly higher voter turnout than seats where the same party claims victory over and over. Why bother voting, people must ask themselves, if I already know which party is going to win?

This happens across the world – even here in Winnipeg. In federal ridings like Winnipeg North, people generally have a very good idea on which party will win (no offense to those lovely Winnipeg North Liberals and Tories, of course). Having a primary campaign will allow the voters in ridings like these to have a more significant impact on who their elected representative will be, which might encourage them to actually bother turning up to vote. If you felt like you had a more significant impact on who a party’s candidate would be, maybe you would feel more inclined to vote in the general election as well.

Matt Schaubroeck is a University of Winnipeg student.

Published in Volume 63, Number 30 of The Uniter (August 13, 2009)