We vote less and less in Quebec.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Voter turnout in provincial elections has fallen over the past few decades. Gradually, but inexorably.
In the 1980s and 1990s, this rate generally hovered around 75% or 80%. In the most recent provincial elections, in 2018, it was 66.45%.
You see us coming with our big hooves…
We would like to suggest to you, very humbly, that the moment would be particularly well chosen if we wanted to try to stop the fall in the participation rate.
And to reverse the trend, why not?
The time would be well chosen, first, for the preservation of a healthy democracy. It might have seemed commonplace a few decades ago, but it isn’t anymore.
Exercising one’s right to vote remains a fundamental way of participating in the democratic process. A gesture all the less trivial at a time when democracy and liberal values are in decline in the world.
The moment would be well chosen, secondly, because it is now easier to find shoes that fit.
We end up with five major parties, which are almost all located in different places on the ideological spectrum of political representation and which have sometimes radically different visions of the future of Quebec.
We are far from simply having to choose between two parties that are alike, a bit like being asked to decide between Coke and Pepsi. The flavors are more diversified this year. Let’s take advantage of it.
It is also more difficult to pretend that we do not like any candidate or party leader or that we do not feel concerned by the issues. These are two of the main reasons cited by Quebecers polled for abstention in the 2018 provincial election by Laval University researchers François Gélineau, Philippe Dubois and Maxime Blanchard.
While it is true that certain issues have not been addressed to the height of their importance in recent weeks (education, poverty and Aboriginal issues, for example), the campaign has nevertheless allowed a remarkable mix ideas on the majority of hot topics. From the economy to the environment, including health and immigration.
Hard to pretend, moreover, that it was difficult to find out about candidates, parties and programs (another reason cited after the 2018 election). The campaign this year was one of issues rather than controversy. Consequently, information on the ideas defended by the candidates circulated abundantly.
Moreover, an editorial on the importance of the vote would not be complete if we did not appeal to young people.
These young people today vote less. And in a significant way. So of course it’s worrying.
Especially since they not only vote less than their elders, which in itself would not be a big surprise. In fact, they vote less than their elders voted when they were their age. This makes many researchers say that we are witnessing a disaffection of the rising generation for representative democracy.
Of course, we can understand the disillusionment and cynicism of many citizens with regard to politics.
But the best way to change things — including eventually obtaining a reform of the voting system — is to vote!
“Democracy is the worst regime except for all the others,” said Winston Churchill. No one has yet managed to contradict him. Nevertheless, the number of autocrats who are consolidating their power in all corners of the world is on the rise.
We are not going to solve the crisis of democracy in the world by exercising our right to vote in Quebec.
Except that by participating in this democratic exercise, we can demonstrate in a concrete way that we want to prevent this crisis from escalating a little more.