How can my vote make a difference?

Transcript:

So it's election time, and from all around you're getting the message that you should vote, that it's important to go out and vote. Well, why? I know you're probably asking yourself, why is ti important that I go out and vote, what can my one vote do to make a difference in this election? Well, first of all, it's more than your one vote. You're not the only person asking yourself that question. In the last election, less than 40% of voters under the age of 25 actually turned up to the polls to vote. But let's look more concretely about how your one vote can make a difference. First of all, strategic voting. So let's say there's no particular candidate that you like, but there's one candidate or one party that you really dislike. In that case, what you can do is choose the candidate that you think is most likely to beat that candidate, and vote for them instead, and hopefully that will eliminate the candidate that you don't like. But let's say you don't really like that tactic, it seems kind of underhanded. You want to vote for a candidate that you actually like, but you know that your riding is definitely going to go one way or another and your vote isn't really going to make a difference. Well, actually, your vote does make a difference, and in a really concrete way: money. You may not know this, but every political party that gets more than two percent of the popular vote receives almost two dollars annually for each vote they got in the last election. Now, less than two dollars doesn't really seem like a lot when it's just you, but it really does add up. In 2010, the Green Party which is the lowest number on that scale, actually got almost two million dollars from voters in the last election. You might notice that there's only actually five parties that show up on there as having enough of the vote, and maybe none of those parties really aligns with what you believe, what you want out of your country. Well, there's more choice than this. There aren't just five parties in Canada, there are 19 parties registered at the federal level. Not all of these parties run candidates in every riding, but it's worth checking out which ones do run candidates in your riding. Let's say there's absolutely nobody in your riding that you care to vote for, you're just disgusted with this entire process, you're just frustrated with democracy. Well, there are some other options. You might have heard of spoiling your ballot. Spoiling your ballot is when you deface your ballot by voting for more than one candidate, by writing on it. It just shows that there's really… you're disgusted with the process, and you can't see yourself voting for any of these people, and… kind of… undermining the entire political process. Now the problem with this is that it's actually illegal. It's really, really difficult for you to get caught, but if you do, you could face a fine of up to $500 dollars or up to three months in jail. However, it isn't illegal to return a blank ballot, which just shows that there's nobody on the ballot who you could see yourself voting for. If you really can't see yourself voting for any of the candidates in your riding, that's what I suggest doing. It's important to actually show up to the polls, to show that you care about what happens to your country and you care about democracy, not that you're just sitting on your couch at home because you couldn't care less. So this May 2nd, show up to the polls, whether you're voting for a candidate you like, whether you're voting to keep a candidate you don't like out, or whether you return a blank ballot, it's important to show that you care. Vote against apathy.