Have you been to the polls yet?

By Laura Bohnert

Voter turnout rates have been on the decline across Canada, but Alberta in particular has demonstrated below-average voter participation.
In the 2014 by-elections, Alberta demonstrated a record low in voter turnout — and that isn’t exactly a new trend for Alberta. Statistically, Alberta consistently contributes below-average voter turnout — but what are some of the reasons for this trend of civic non-engagement? Apathy or oblivion?
For the most part, low voter turnout has been blamed on the apathy of the voters — citizens who are indifferent to the outcome, but is apathy solely invested in voter indifference, or is unawareness a factor as well?
Following the 2014 by-election, Conservative John Barlow suggested that low voter turnout may not be the result of apathy as much as it is unawareness. “People, when we were at the doors,” quotes Barlow, “just didn’t know it was going on. That was the biggest thing. I don’t think there was voter apathy so much as people genuinely didn’t know it was on.”
Unawareness, of course, could demonstrate a form of apathy as well such as a disinterest in learning about the election strategies and campaigns, or in finding out the important dates of elections. Or, perhaps, too many people are switching to Netflix and are thus missing out on all of those delightful attack ads that remind us who is evil and why we should vote for their opponent.
Students have largely been blamed for voter apathy over the past while, but Alberta in particular has a better claim to politically apathetic citizens. Many of Alberta’s citizens — those in Fort McMurray in particular — are transient, moving in and out of the area for work, and thus may have less of a concern with Alberta’s provincial politics in favour of their political interests back home.
Of course, there is one more aspect of voter apathy that probably should be attracting more attention. It’s possible that people aren’t voting simply because none of the political leaders represent the least of all evils. If their political agendas aren’t distinct enough to encourage a passionate response in voters, then maybe that’s an indication that our leaders aren’t running the right campaigns, or that the right people aren’t running. If the majority of voters aren’t voting, then maybe that’s an indication that the campaigns are missing the issues that matter to the majority.
Or, maybe the voters are beginning to see through those attack ads; maybe it’s becoming a little too obvious that there is no point in voting for the slogans our politicians spew and the issues they claim to be dedicated to resolving.