Shiz poses an interesting conundrum today. She had no idea that it was election day. She knew the election was coming up at some point… just not that it was today.
Some of us do not have/watch tv, and don’t like/read the trashy local newspapers. You cannot rely on media alone to inform us of things.
I was trying to think about how one would ever realize that an election was coming, without watching the local news or reading the local papers. I myself am a self-admitted media whore, so I typically devour that stuff (whether I believe it or not is an entirely different story).
So I tried thinking about any other ways the election has been promoted…
Candidate signs? I suppose those are a hint, but “I didn’t even know an election was CALLED – even though I saw signs everywhere, thinking it was advance campaigning – until someone mentioned it in passing.” I guess they don’t exactly have the date on them…
Internet News? No… that’s just an electronic reprint of the newspapers.
The bajillion flyers that were dropped in mailboxes? I guess a lot of people just throw those out like so much junk mail without actually looking at what’s on them.
Telephone Pollsters? Not everyone gets called. I only got one phone call through the entire campain – usually I end up getting 6 or 7 at least.
Word of Mouth? I guess that all depends on whose mouths you’re listening to.
I’m officially stumped.
Are there any other ways to publicize an election? Should there be? I know a ton of my co-workers had no idea (until I informed them) that they were voting on BC-STV – so obviously the word is just NOT GETTING OUT.
At what point does the issue change from inadequate promotion/publicity/awareness to one of a person’s choice to be ingnorant? (Note: Shiz appears to be far from ignorant – I wish that were the case for so many others I know.)
The only reason I knew there was an election coming (other than the signs and phone calls) was because my friends are voting in it, and mentioned it LAST NIGHT. So, for those of us who never watch tv or read the newspapers, it’s easy to get left behind.
The BC election has been announced in literally dozens of ways both in the media and otherwise. Here’s a brief list off the top of my head:
* Telvision, radio and print media coverage
* Voter registration cards mailed to existing voters
* Phone campaigns by parties
* Mail campaigns by parties
* Announcements on many government websites
* Word of mouth
Short of the government mailing every household in the province, there’s little else we can ask our government to do for us.
But we shouldn’t be asking.
A democracy works best when a citizenry is engaged with it. How do you become engaged? Through the media, through communicating with your representatives, through discussions with your friends and families, through voting, etc. We shouldn’t take democracy for granted. It behooves us to be engaged enough to be aware that an election has been called, and vote in it when the day comes.
It’s Shiz’s fault, I’m afraid, that she’s not aware of the current election. All the participants (the government, political parties, the media) have done all they can be expected to do to inform the electorate.
What Darren said. 🙂
As long as you keep your address up to date with Elections BC, you should have gotten your voter’s card with the information about when the election is on it (plus where you vote) in the past week at least. I can understand if you’ve moved recently…although why not keep them on your list of people to update, just like the TV/phone/hydro folks?
I agree with Darren.
I just figured I’d put it out there to see if there were any dissenting opinions on whose responsibility it is, and what – if anything – else could be done to publicize election details.
Everyone seems to know the election was “coming up” – but not the actual date.
I VOTED!
I’d love if campaign signs had DATES on them. And the phone calls we got from the BC Liberals were too boring to listen to, even if I was a Liberal supporter, so if they said the date I have no idea.
I was going to try to find out when the election was going to be, but I had no idea it’d be so soon.
And the refferendum? I had not a clue what that was about.
Mailbox flyers? Never saw one. Radio? Hate it. I’m stumped, too.
This was, surprisingly, a low key election.
I don’t entirely agree with Darren, because that’s a perspective from a self-proclaimed media whore (or could even be considered part of the media). As far as I can tell, the same goes for the assenting views.
I don’t entirely disagree either, because I can’t think of an elegant solution, but the whole democracy responsibilities thing kind of rubs me the wrong way. Perhaps I’m just bothered by the amount of twisting and disenfranchising in our system.
From someone who hasn’t watched the news, nor listened to the radio or local news websites recently: I knew the election date from my voter’s registration card. That part I agree with.