I have given up on “strategic voting”. I found myself walking away from the polling place with a bad taste in my mouth. It was not from licking the little pencil.
We are now co-opting our system to where you are now encouraged to vote for someone you don’t want, in order to avoid someone else you don’t want. It is getting really twisted.
Our system only allows us to vote for someone. We need some more boxes on the ballot. There should be two boxes next to each candidate. One for “YES”. That is for voting for a candidate that you really want in. The box beside it is “NO”. An “X” would indicate that you are willing to accept any of the others on the ballot but “not this one”. This negates one of the other “YES” votes. We should not be forced to choose the “least worst” to avoid the “most worst”.
There needs also be a stand alone box at the bottom of the ballot. This one is for “NONE OF THE ABOVE”. If “NONE OF THE ABOVE” actually wins the riding it should automatically trigger a by-election. The by-election should take place within a very short time, two weeks or a month and none of the candidates who appeared on the first ballot are allowed to run.
None of this is likely to happen. It would allow the voters too much choice in who their representatives are or are not.
That brings up another matter. At what point in time did our “elected representatives” become our “rulers”. We really don’t need to give someone else our vote. On anything. Modern technology can allow us to make our own choice on every question confronted by any governing body. There is no reason that any concerned voter could not log on to a website and vote on the issues of the day in real time. Well, actually there is one reason. We would no longer need politicians.
So how would this work you might ask. Here is one possibility.
If an individual or group feels that they have the BIG IDEA as to how this country should be run they sit down and draw up a plan. A comprehensive plan. Not a bunch of election promises but a step by step plan as to how they would have things be for the next four years. Others do the same. These plans are published well in advance of an election.
Then we have an election. We choose which plan we want as our guideline and that person or group gets the nod. So far it sounds much like the existing system but here is the difference.
The election winner is then hired to implement his plan. The winning plan is incorporated into law. It can not be changed. No more broken election promises. If it turns out that some part of the plan must be changed for whatever reason the administration can not change it without voter permission.
In this age of instant communication we can, as individuals, vote on any little matter that requires change to the plan. We can vote on any appointees. We can vote on tax changes. We can vote on how our tax money is being spent. We can decide if our country is going to war or if we get new streetlights. We can decide whether directors of crown corporations get pay raises or if our neighbors house is too tall. Any of the decisions that are currently being made by those who we control only with the threat of losing their job in three years can be made by each and any concerned voter. This applies to all levels of government. from Federal to local.
A voters card in our wallets will allow us to exercise true democracy – on a daily basis. It is no harder than checking your bank balance online and is probably more secure than a credit card purchase from Ebay. We can vote from home, from a public access center, a library or from a Blackberry. Any place with internet access. Anyone who is concerned can be involved and those who can’t be bothered can simply ignore the process. As they do now.
The administrator of the current plan is our elected head of state. He can wear black tie and glad hand visiting fireman. Pay him well. He will only be around until his plan is complete or he blows it. Did I mention that unauthorized deviation from a plan once it is in law is grounds for instant dismissal. Each and every time a voter logs on to the issues of the day he sees a box marked NO CONFIDENCE. If a majority of the concerned click that box the administration of the day is gone. Finito. Sayonara. The voters can decide to hire a new administrator to complete the plan or start fresh.
I was asked yesterday about how local issues would be handled. Specifically, How would we deal with government subsidies to keep ferry prices down? They said that if it came to a vote those who do not use ferries would vote them down. There are two answers. First, what does it say in the plan? If we elected someone in this province they should have put a lot of thought into the ferry situation and their solutions have already been accepted and are in law. Second, this is a democracy. As much as it might upset our little world – majority rules.
Something along these lines is currently impossible. Politicians play politics. They do not make plans much beyond getting elected and once elected it is a few years of anything goes until the next election looms. Then it’s back to the little blue books and the little red books of election promises in a desperate attempt to get in that all important second election victory that secures the retirement plans.
If I sound a bit upset with the status quo it is because I am. Most people should be. I am fed up with politicians who, when questioned after an election, say with a laugh “You didn’t believe that did you. It was only an election promise.” I am fed up with self awarded retroactive pay raises. I want to see the electorate have more than a token opportunity once every three or four years to choose between being held in contempt or flat out ignored.
I will never again vote for least worst.
Now, where did I put that mouthwash?
