Here’s Why Voting (Really!) Doesn’t Matter As Much As You Think It Does
We’ve been sold a lie, and that lie is: democracy.
And while I am strongly in favour of democracy over other more…torture-happy and totalitarian forms of government, what most of us picture as “democracy” isn’t what really happens when election time rolls around every four years.
In your average, run-of-the-mill democratic process – say: deciding whether to go Tastee, Juici or Burger King for lunch – each participant makes an individual choice based on their individual preference.
So, out of six friends, 2 will choose Burger King because dem hype an have money, 1 will choose Juici because they’re weird, and 3 will choose Tastee because they have the best patties of ALL TIME.
The group of friends goes to Tastee because most of them – 3 out of 6, or 50% – preferred that choice.
Very simple, right?
That’s democracy.
But in our current democratic voting system, it doesn’t exactly work this way. It can happen that a party that gets most of the votes, doesn’t even become the government in power.
That’s correct. You read that right. It is entirely possible that a party which most of the electorate prefers, ends up as the Opposition.
I know what you’re thinking…
As with so many things, it’s the system that’s the problem. Let’s look at the two main problems with our current system of democracy.
Problem #1: Our voting system is whack
In Jamaica (and the US, Canada, the UK, practically all of the Caribbean, and lots of other countries too) as an individual you don’t vote for who you want to be your President or Prime Minister, you vote for who you want to be your representative.
You probably already know this; you probably like it. I do too. But this system of representation has a few…issues that we don’t seem to hear enough about, and that makes it not just unsatisfactory, but downright ineffective.
- Some votes are worth more than others
You may be still trying to figure out how it could be that a party with the most votes may not necessarily win an election. Well, it’s simply because – within our current voting system – not all votes are created equal.
Or perhaps, to paraphrase Animal Farm, they are equal…but some are more equal than others.
In Jamaica there are 63 constituencies. Each constituency elects an MP for that ‘seat’ and the party with the most ‘seats’ becomes the government. (The voting system in a nutshell.)
But here’s the catch: if you live in a constituency with 50 voters, that seat is just as valid as a seat won in a constituency with 100 voters. So…follow me here…your vote would be worth half as much in the constituency with 100 voters.
Example time. Let’s look at this hypothetical data for my hypothetical country, Daniellopublic. There are two parties: Party Blue and Party Red.
This is often how voter information is displayed to us on election nights because this shows what really matters: who won the seat.
In Danielleopublic, Party Blue is the clear winner of the election, because they won two of the three seats. But let’s look at voter turnout:
| Constituency | Votes | |
| Party Blue | Party Red | |
| A (Blue won) | 550 | 450 |
| B (Red won) | 100 | 900 |
| C (Blue won) | 300 | 100 |
| Total votes | 950 | 1450 |
Party Red actually got the most votes. But yet, Party Blue will form the Government and Party Red will become the Opposition.
This isn’t something that’s even remotely far-fetched. This video explains how this same phenomenon manifests unfairly in US elections.
And while it may not be directly affecting the outcome of our elections (although it may be) the implications of this system are broad and far-reaching.
It allows politicians to use “tactics” to win elections, because they know they aren’t vying for electoral votes, but rather for seats. It allows entire constituencies to go ignored until election time and legitimizes the famous “curry goat” manifestos that we’ve become so accustomed to. It minimizes the important work of an MP who should be acting on the interest of the people, but is unfortunately acting out of the interest of the party.
But worst of all, it sort of makes a mockery of the democratic process. Because if your vote is worth more than mine, are we really equal?
- A two-party system is
favouredensured.
Our current system of voting also does a pretty good job of ensuring that only two parties are ever really options.
The person with the most votes wins, no matter how many other people are running. So a vote for anyone other than the winner OR the runner-up is pretty much inconsequential. Over time, voters who dislike these two choices will see that their votes for other options are literally wasted, and so will come to accept that they must vote – not FOR the party they want to win, but AGAINST the party they want to lose.
As you can imagine, this is a terrible system of democracy.
This video explains the problem perfectly and I really recommend watching it.
Basically, this is the reason why political party campaigns seem to be centered around the negative qualities of the other candidate, rather than highlighting their own strengths and what they will bring to the table.
Because if you didn’t vote for the winner, you might as well not have voted.
This might be okay when it’s either Burger King or Tastee, but shouldn’t we have a truly representative body as elected leaders?
We don’t really vote for representatives.
Probably the biggest irony about our “representative” system of government is that, in actuality, it’s not representative at all! On the surface, voting for a local representative is an excellent idea; the problem is that this representation also happens to determine who will run the entire country.
Because voters are forced to use ‘electing an MP’ as a proxy for ‘electing a leader’, this method is entirely undermined. As a result, you see voters supporting NOT who they want as a representative for their local constituencies, but whoever happens to be representing the party they want in power.
This already happens.
Why are we even using a system that no longer functions in the way it is supposed to?
***
These issues aren’t just grouses to complain about and use as more excuses to sink further into apathy. The fact is, if we know exactly what’s wrong with our current system of voting, we’re much better able to choose a better one that is more effective, fair and representative.
Other countries make use of different voting systems and it works fine for them. For example, in Australia, a preferential system is used where voters rank candidates based on their preference.
These problems CAN be addressed, and I’m sure this generation will be the one to do it.
But my major issue is not even with the electoral system itself, but the way it’s packaged come election time.
Problem #2: Elections are primarily a media spectacle
I think that the people who benefit the most every election season are TVJ and CVM.
Elections serve as a convenient time for angry people to get pissed off, scared people to be reminded of how many reasons they have to be fearful, and – most of all – people who love drama and excitement to get enough of it in a few weeks than they would ever get in a whole year.
All this under the noble guise of said anger, fear and drama being important for the running of your country and the future of your children! Who could resist???
Let’s face it: elections don’t determine what happens in a country any more than one day determines the outcome of your life. Sure, you could have one insane 24 hours that changes the course of your life FOREVER, but more often than not…it’s your day-to-day habits and behaviours that really matter most.
As with so much of life, what really matters … is actually what’s really boring.
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Look, I am not at all partisan; I’m practically apolitical. I’m not here to paint more doom and gloom and add to the boiling pot of cynicism overflowing among online discourse surrounding politics.
Actually, I’m here to give you a glimmer of hope.
Elections…don’t matter.
You can absolutely choose to opt-out of the whole circus – the crazy discussions, the campaigning, even voting itself – and still be a good citizen. Voting on one day does not influence the government as much as our behaviour throughout the intervening four years. So, what are you doing to bring about change?
By Danielle Thomas – Check out her blog HERE
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