Watching the election coverage and the subsequent online conversations always provides a great deal of entertainment for me, and I’m sure many others. On one hand, you see the witty repartee of the various political commentators and bloggers, and then, if you happen to look at forums like I occasionally do, you get the most derogatory remarks you could ever imagine. It’s when I read the latter that really makes me lose faith in the democratic system. Most people are so unwilling to do research and see beyond the surface, especially when determining which candidates best suit our country’s needs, it’s really no surprise so many end up dissatisfied with the state of the nation.
I’m sad to admit that I have not yet voted in an election. In 2004, I was too young, and it 2006 I really got too lazy and tied up with my school work and work work to do the research. Yes, I am ashamed, and I plan to remedy this in November. But what about the thousands of others who, like me, get too lazy or disinterested to learn the issues and candidates or just generally don’t care about the future of their country?
I’ve gone back and forth on the argument of mandating that all citizens 18 and over must vote, like they do in Australia. I feel like it would at least make people pay more attention to what’s going on since they would be required to share their voice. But then again, all the disinterested out there could just walk in a voting booth and choose at random. So what’s the magic way to get the system to work? How do you get people to care and how do you get them to stop judging the candidates based on the surface quips thrown out there by the mainstream media? Maybe with all these people so interested in sharing their opinions online, a Web-based voting system would increase turnout. Why publicly participate in determining the future of your nation when you can do it in your pajamas?
Until a solution is found, I’m really excited to see how the rest of the season unfolds. Maybe it’s too much to ask for people to stop judging the candidates on anything but the issues, but I’m hopeful, and perhaps a bit optimistic, that this can be achieved in my lifetime. We’ll see.
