“The most important office, and the one which all of us can and should fill, is that of private citizen.”
I’m leaning toward “most probably,” but still hoping for “possibly not.” Intrigued? Well, the topic on my mind is voter turnout. Ontario experienced historically low voter participation in the last provincial election, with just 43.5% of eligible voters casting a ballot in June 2022. With such a disappointing turnout, I find myself wondering: will voter participation increase in the upcoming provincial election on February 27th, or will it continue to decline? Faced with a winter election date and polling data which suggests a projected winner, raises for me a concerning question: “Will Ontarians be motivated enough to exercise their right to vote, or will voter apathy win out?”
The availability of advance voting and mail-in ballots is an encouraging sign that the government is trying to make voting more accessible, but the challenge lies in motivating people to take that step to actually do so.
“Voting is the expression of our commitment to ourselves, one another, this country, and this world.”
I deeply hope that eligible Ontarians won’t be discouraged from exercising one of their most fundamental rights, the right to vote, nor neglect one of their essential civic duties. Our democracy which we were quick to want to defend when President Trump questioned its viability and continuance, depends on engaged citizens. As citizens we have a responsibility to participate in the election process. I hope an increased number of eligible Ontarians will take this election seriously and make a personal commitment to cast their vote for the candidate and/or party of their choice.
-Sister Nancy Wales, CSJ
Image: Element5 Digital
