Canadian Election 2015: Get out and Vote

[Jetfire]

Today is the day. We are voting for our next set of representatives in Ottawa, after 78 long days of campaigning.

For any Canadians around, I don't care who you vote for, but I encourage everyone who can to Vote. There are a LOT of tight races in play this year, and the results of even a single riding's single vote could change things more than ever.

So Vote! Have your say on who's in charge for the next few years.

[Talon]

I voted in-advance last weekend

[mjr]

after 78 long days of campaigning.

Hi Canada...

That's cute.

Our campaign season is over twice as long as that...it's basically already started.

Love,

The United States.

[lordlundar]

Well you have to remember that up here elections at all levels tend to only last a month. The rest of the time our elected officials are actually trying to get stuff done.

[Aria]

FUCK Elections Canada. I just wasted an hour of my life!

I moved a month ago. So I went to the polling station on the card, which was for my old address. No, no, I have to go to a new location. Okay, I went. No, no, you're at the wrong location, you need to go here instead! My thought: How likely is it that the third location will try to send me back to the first? Pretty damned good, don't you think?

At which point I lost my temper and went home. Fuck this, it's all too much effort.

[mjr]

The rest of the time our elected officials are actually trying to get stuff done.

Like Rob Ford??

But yeah, I kinda wish our "election season" here in the U.S. was somewhat shorter. It's a circus sometimes.

[lordlundar]

Like Rob Ford??

I don't live in Toronto so he doesn't speak for me.

[MadMike]

Please keep any political issues, such as which candidate is "good" or "bad", off of this board. We have another board at www.fratching.com for that sort of thing.

I'll leave this thread open for now, but we will be keeping an eye on it.

[mjr]

I have to wonder if there's as much mudslinging and such in the Canadian elections as there is in the U.S. ones...

My guess is that the Canadian ones aren't as vicious.

[Aria]

I have to wonder if there's as much mudslinging and such in the Canadian elections as there is in the U.S. ones...

My guess is that the Canadian ones aren't as vicious.

We'e not. If you get too mean, you run the risk of alienating people and driving them to the other candidate.

And it looks like we have a Liberal majority government. I dunno, I was hoping for a minority. This could get interesting.

[mjr]

We'e not. If you get too mean, you run the risk of alienating people and driving them to the other candidate.

Wow, that's a little surprising to me. For a real train wreck, you need to check out U.S. politics. If there are enough candidates running in one party, they'll basically go after each other.

And Candidates from opposite parties have NO problem going after candidates of other parties, either, and rather viciously. And I think the general public eats it up. It's a "reinforcement" or confirmation bias thing. If Candidate A says, "Candidate B doesn't care about you!", then those who support candidate A are "reinforced" in their position. If Candidate B says, "Candidate A kicks puppies"*, then those who support Candidate B are "confirmed" that they're supporting the right person, because they know deep down that Candidate A kicks puppies. After all, Candidate B said it...and they're trustworthy, so it must be true!

The funny thing is, in the U.S. (and probably in Canada, too) it's more about "undecided" voters. Most candidates don't change most people's minds. If you've already decided that Candidate A will be getting your vote, not much Candidate B can really say will sway you, and vice versa. Especially if the candidates are in different parties.

And candidates try "negative ads", which honestly have a very low rate of return and effectiveness. Positive ads are much more effective, but candidates and their campaigns "go negative" anyway.

*DISCLAIMER: You should NOT kick puppies!

[Ree]

I have to wonder if there's as much mudslinging and such in the Canadian elections as there is in the U.S. ones...

I loved the typically Canadian "attack" ads that the Conservative party ran about the Liberal candidate Justin Trudeau.
They were just so mean to point out that he was young and inexperienced and then paid him a compliment about his hair.

[mjr]

I loved the typically Canadian "attack" ads that the Conservative party ran about the Liberal candidate Justin Trudeau.
They were just so mean to point out that he was young and inexperienced and then paid him a compliment about his hair.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!! That's extremely tame compared to what happens here. Politicians here could make Mickey Mouse look bad.

That kind of reminds me of the old Mad Magazine "Non Slanderous Political Speech".

Here's a link to the text, for those interested:

http://gis.washington.edu/phurvitz/o...mearSpeech.htm

[Jetfire]

Please keep any political issues, such as which candidate is "good" or "bad", off of this board. We have another board at www.fratching.com for that sort of thing.

I'll leave this thread open for now, but we will be keeping an eye on it.

Thanks. I didn't want to put the infamous 'this might belong on fratching...' because I didn't want this to get political.

I just wanted to encourage people to get out and vote, regardless of who you vote for.

And from the looks of the results, a lot of people did just that. Still below 70% turnout, but more than last time at about 67%.

Thank you for everyone who did vote (or at least tried to vote).

As for the results of the election, that's better for fratching.

[mjr]

I just wanted to encourage people to get out and vote, regardless of who you vote for.

And from the looks of the results, a lot of people did just that. Still below 70% turnout, but more than last time at about 67%.

This is a problem we have in the U.S., too. The "whys" are a discussion better left to fratching.

It seems like, for some reason (again, probably better left to fratching) getting people to actually vote seems to be difficult once you get turnout around 60-65%.