You would have to be living under a rock to not notice that there is an election fast approaching.
Brightly coloured signage decorate lawns, highways and the lapels of dedicated voters proudly waving the party flag. What many people may have not realized is that the various parties have been stockpiling the armoury for months. Then the writ drops, and it is like the gun shot at a track meet.
One of the biggest problems that the process encounters is voter turnout and reaching younger demographics. Despite campaigns targeting this group and attempts to speak on issues that matter to them, year after year hundreds and hundreds of young people consciously choose not to vote. It is getting worse as people feel that their vote has no real impact. As a result, turnouts get smaller and smaller.
A lot of people will say that they do not vote because they do not believe what the politicians are telling them, that in the end, they are all the same, and that the vote they cast won’t make a difference anyway. Perhaps they would get out and vote if they felt their voices would be heard. What these unhappy people need to know is that they can make their opinions known by simply going into the voter’s box and spoiling their ballot. This tells the government that yes, they do care, and they did indeed make the effort to go down to the polling station, but for whatever reason, they did not feel that there was a reasonable option of who to vote for.
Ultimately, something needs to be changed within our system before more people will be inclined to participate. One notion is that it is not the process itself that is lacking, but the party system. When voting for an individual to represent your constituency, you are also voting for their party (unless they are running as an independent). That means that regardless of what you and your region needs, it better be a priority of the party if you want to see any action on your behalf.
Perhaps an improvement to this process would be the abolishment of parties altogether. Have everyone run as independents, and be completely accountable to their constituencies. That way, when your elected representative is in Victoria, they are pushing for your needs.
Another benefit to this would involve the cost of campaigns. If everyone ran independently, the amount of money spent on campaigning would decrease drastically. Even better, if we set a limit on the amount of money each person could spend . . . after all, an election outcome should be based on who is going to do the job the best, not who has the most signs or the most airtime on TV.
There is no question that we are all lucky to live in a country that allows us the freedom of a democratic vote.
However, as we grow and evolve as a society, there is no reason why we should fear changes to how we operate the system.
Tiffany Beckedorf
