Premier MacDonald disappointed by voter turnout

By Michael Gorman

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

Nova Scotia's premier says the province's voter turnout in last week's federal election is disappointing.

Turnout for the 40th general election, in which Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives increased their seat count but did not reach their goal of a majority government, was an all-time low with just 59.1 per cent of eligible voters casting ballots. The number wasn't much better in this province, with just 60.7 per cent of eligible voters marking an x. That is down from 63.9 per cent in 2006 and 62.3 per cent in 2004.

In the West Nova riding where incumbent Robert Thibault was defeated by Greg Kerr of the Conservatives, voter turnout was 62.8 per cent. "It's something that we should all cherish, the fact that we can exercise our right to vote," Premier Rodney MacDonald told The Vanguard last week.

Another reason the premier might find the numbers disappointing is because of the province's Democracy 250 project. The multi-million dollar project is designed to celebrate the creation of democracy in the province but also to educate young people about the political process and encourage everyone to be active and participate. While stressing the importance of voting is a part of Democracy 250, it's not such a big part that the low voter turnout last week was enough for MacDonald to be disappointed with the program. "A lot of work has gone on with D250, but that's not just about going out to vote. D250 is much more than that. It's about celebrating our past, our heritage, it's about celebrating sacrifice . . . I've run into many young people who have been engaged in the process and have learned a great deal from that. I'm disappointed (with the voter numbers) but I'll be very interested to see what happens in the next provincial election."

Part of the problem, at least with the federal election, said MacDonald, is the way the government at that level went about conducting the election. The premier said he believes it was a mistake to pass legislation that requires voters to present photo identification before voting, something MacDonald said his government would not require at the next provincial election. "There's a difference between our election and their election and I believe that hurt their voter turnout as a result," he said.

MacDonald said the low numbers are cause for examining the way people are engaged when it comes to politics within the province. He pointed to a pilot project in the Halifax Regional Municipality that will look at the pros and cons of electronic voting. An all-party select committee is also being assembled, he said, to gather information from people around the province about the level of engagement in the political process when it comes to voting. That project is scheduled to begin this week.

And although they are doing what they can to ensure people are engaged and interested in the political system, MacDonald cautioned that federal voting numbers aren't necessarily reflective of the way people feel when it comes to politics at the provincial level. Only time will tell if he is right.