Apathy the rule, not the exception
National Affairs
Claire Hoy
For weeks leading up to Premier Dalton McGuinty's majority electoral victory, Elections Ontario sponsored a series of clever radio ads designed to convince more Ontarians to vote. The strategy failed. Miserably.

Only 52.8 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots, which means 47.2 percent couldn't be bothered. Shame on them.

It's not the fault of Elections Ontario, which at least tried to make citizens aware of the self-evident truth - well, at least it should be self-evident - that voting is not only a civic responsibility but a great privilege, a privilege still not enjoyed by millions of people throughout the world. (Ask the citizens of Burma, for example, if they'd like the chance to vote on the fate of their current military dictators.)

The idea of the radio spots was to place people in awkward positions and having somebody else speak for them because they hadn't spoken for themselves in the previous election. Also, Elections Ontario extended voting hours and dramatically increased the number of advance polling days.

Worse, last week's pathetic turnout is not an isolated result. For more than two decades now, the trend in Ontario elections has been sinking.

In 1975, when Tory premier Bill Davis was trying to protect his huge 1971 majority, only to end up with a minority government, the turnout was 67.8 percent.

Two years later, another minority result, it dropped two points to 65.6. In 1981, with Davis winning a resounding electoral minority, turnout was just 58 percent. It rose three points in 1985, another point in 1987, reaching 64.4 percent in 1990 with NDP Bob Rae's surprise victory, still not a great number, but the highest turnout since 1975.

Turnout has continued to slide ever since 1990, to 62.9 in 1995, 58.3 in 1999, 56.9 in 2003 and finally, 52.8 this time.

It's pathetic. It really is. True, turnout has been low from time to time over the years - only 54.7 percent voted in Ontario's 1923 election for example - and we've managed to muddle through.

But low turnouts were the exception, not the rule. No longer.

It's not just here in Ontario where this is happening. Nor is it related to our First Past The Post System - which voters roundly applauded in the referendum - since many countries with proportional representation systems are also witnessing declining voter turnouts.

Nobody really knows the reason. Some speculate there it's the jaundiced view of politics and politicians - how often do you hear people say 'it doesn't matter who wins, they're all the same (read 'sleazy and untrustworthy)?'

Pollsters continue feeding us with pre-election polls claiming that most people don't want an election. Of course they don't. Why would they? Unless you have a direct stake in it, why would you be hankering for an election? But once there is an election - and it certainly beats the alternatives - it 's hardly a big deal to expect people to get off their butts and toddle down to their local voting booth.

Some political scientists argue that low voter turnout is no big deal. Daniel Rubenson, an assistant professor of politics at Ryerson University, pointing out that it is a worldwide phenomenon, told the National Post that, "I'm not sure that it really signals the death of democracy, or the bad health of our democracy in Ontario."

Perhaps not. But it does signal the fact that almost half of the voting-eligible citizens of Ontario don't have enough interest, or are just too damn lazy, to exercise a franchise that many have died to protect and many people around the world today are willing to die to enjoy.

Yes, we carry on despite the low turnouts, but there is no excuse for most of those people who don't vote. Granted, some no-shows are confined to bed or something, and can't vote. But the vast majority of the noshows simply couldn't be bothered.

How much of a bother is it, really?

My wife an I wandered down to our local polling station, voted - as usual, my candidate lost - then walked back home, all in the space of about 15 minutes out of our lives, hardly a major sacrifice to perform what should be a civic duty.

Part of the problem is that our schools have virtually abandoned teaching kids about our history or the concept of civic responsibility. But that's only part of it. If you're looking for the main reason why people don't vote, and you're one of the 47.3 percent who didn't, here's a simple test: look in the mirror and ask if you're proud of yourself.

If the answer is "yes," you're hopeless. If it's "no" then do something about it.