Why Green is NOT a wasted vote
One of the big obstacles that the Green Party will face in the next election is that of the strategic voters. Those people who share our values and agree with our policies, but who are swayed by the scare tactics of the big parties that claim “If you don’t vote for us, then THEY will get in!” as they point their fingers at the other big parties.
Here are some arguments to help persuade the strategic voters to cast their vote with the Greens:
1. Casting a vote for one of the big parties tells them that you approve of their policies and political games. You get one valuable vote, something that people around the world are willing to die for. When you use it to support a party you don’t really believe in, they still will make the assumption that you used your valuable vote to support what you believe. “Canadians have spoken!” was the cry heard from many Conservatives after the last election, even though 63.7% of Canadian voters chose someone other than the Conservatives. Every vote cast for the Green Party sends a message that Green values and policies are important. Every vote cast for the Green Party will cause the big parties to raise their eyebrows and think “Hmm, maybe Canadians really DO want something other than our policies!”
2. The parties that receive over 2% of the national vote get $1.75 per vote cast from taxpayers. When you cast a vote for a party, you are not only saying that you approve of their values, but you give them your $1.75 to support their policies and future campaigns. This translated into about $9.4 M for the Conservatives in the last election, and only about $1 M for the Green Party. If you support Green values, why not also support them with your tax dollars? Your funding will be available to lobby the government in power to support Green policies, even if your Green Party candidate does not win the seat.
3. The electoral districts (ridings) that receive 10% or more of their local vote receive 50% of their campaign spending back from the taxpayers. This means that your vote not only counts for the present election, but also puts support behind that party for the NEXT election! The Green Party did make it past 10% in some ridings, but most ridings fell short. If the strategic voters had cast their votes with the Greens in the last election, then there would be more funding available in many ridings to get out the all-important message that the Green Party has values that are worth supporting.
4. With the rise of the Green Party in the polls, and the increasing interest in environmental and economic sustainability, it is highly probable that the Green Party will edge out the other parties in a number of ridings in the next election. For some ridings, it will be the choices made by the strategic voters that tip the balance for or against the Greens. For those Canadians who really want to see change in the next election, the best strategy will be to vote Green.
Perhaps the next election will have the big parties waving their fingers at the Green Party candidates, exclaiming, “Vote for us, or else THEY’LL get in!” Hopefully, Canadian voters will hear this, and say, “Really? Then I’M voting GREEN!”
- Alina Abbott's blog
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Comments
Careful of item 4
Lambton Kent Middlesex EDA (SW Ontario)
Whn we start to play the polling statistics game, we discover that we are encouraging voters to evaluate the likeliness of our win based on such things as our local polling data at the start of the campaign.
We are really saying that this is a consideration when we would prefer to have voters send a clearer message of what matters to them.
A strategic vote as you mention tells the winning party, and the other losing party something about what issues, what arguments, what bribes were successful in getting votes. We have seen a significant greening of the political map, with all 4 majors giving it a lot of attention since LNC by-election, so the urgency many voters might see in voting Green Party may be more muted. But the message that a Green Party vote in any riding, the message to the winning and losing parties alike is a powerful incentive to move toward the green centre of the spectrum.
The financial benefit to the Green Party is not a very strong card, but it can clinch the deal if the voter is close. However, asking the person for a personal donation to the campaign may accomplish more, not only in terms of raising funds, but also of solidifying the intent of that voter to vote Green.
Incidentally, more of us should be carrying donation booklets, buttons to share with those who support our cause, invitations to hear the cancidates speak, even all party meetings.
Top Ten Reasons to Vote Green (from '06 election)
This is the text of a press release that went out last election. I'm not sure where the tenth reason went, and there were links in the text that went to reference web pages.
Top 10 Reasons to Vote Green on Monday
I want to feel good about my vote. I want to vote for someone, not against someone.
The Green Party has the best platform. The Green Party platform has earned positive reviews in the media, has done well under analysis by non-partisan organizations.
My great grandchildren will be proud of me. I want them to have a sustainable future, a green economy, and better democracy.
I want my vote to have an impact on the legislative agenda of the next parliament. MPs will spend the next session trying to look good for the next election, so they will be looking at who they lost votes to. Vote Green and Green priorities will set the agenda.
People are saying good things about the Green Party.
I am nobody's fool. I refuse to let Martin, Harper, Layton or Duceppe think he can scare me into "strategically" voting for him just for not being the worst among them.
Green Parties around the world get elected, govern countries, and make the world a better place.
Whoever I vote for will get $ 1.75 in public funding, per vote, per year. I feel good about the Green Party putting it to good use defending my values.
I am socially progressive, fiscally responsible, and committed to environmental sustainability - just like the Green Party.
One hundred and thirty nine years of Liberal and Conservative governments. Albert Einstein said it best: "The significant problems of our time are not going to be solved by the same level of thinking that got us into them."
Speaking in the Positive
It is good to discuss the subjects we will be facing (yet again) this election - including the tendency of (some) citizens to vote, as they see it, "strategically".
But I'd like to point out our tendency to discuss this and other subjects 'in the negative'. We're so worried about the perception that a Green vote is a wasted vote that we miss the plain fact that a Green vote is the best investment of one's democratic voice.
As you so well point out, there are many reasons to vote Green. These are not reasons, though, that a Green vote isn't wasted. These are reasons that voting Green is a wise and responsible choice. Really, the only choice of someone who cares for their planet, their society, and their fellow creatures.
Speak not of "not a wasted vote" but of the responsible, caring, just, long-term, or wise choice, or any other way you'd like to frame it.
The following argument is fairly simple:
If you don't support a party's policies or actions then voting for them is wasting your vote. What's more is that you've told them that you're NOT about to stand up for your values; you can be bullied into supporting their cause.
A vote for your Green Party candidate is a message about your values. Even if your candidate is not elected, your vote sends a message about your values to those who are in Parliament. With their popularity slipping you apply pressure for positive, sustainable change. Green votes count.
Decide NOW to stop voting for people who don't represent you. Vote only for candidates you respect and parties who's policies and practices are similar to what you want for your world.
voting grey is a wasted vote
Instead of defending the Green vote from assertations that is is a wasted vote, let's turn this around and ask the question - what have the grey parties done for us lately? Neither the conservatives nor the liberals have done much to alleviate our global crisis, so why waste another vote on them - vote Green before it's too late!
Time for progressives to stick together
Many of the reasons given to vote green were great, I thought, and this one from Patrick Meyer really stands out for me:
If you don't support a party's policies or actions then voting for them is wasting your vote. What's more is that you've told them that you're NOT about to stand up for your values; you can be bullied into supporting their cause.
Voting Liberal simply to avoid Mr. Harper is a terrible idea; the Liberals are about as 'green' as Mr. Harper's Conservatives. Both have subsidized Big Oil, both have signed or continued corporate trade agreements that limit Canada's independence, and neither has done a damn thing about reducing our greenhouse gas emissions - both parties have increased them substantially, in fact.
The Liberals are not progressive except in reputation, and we should stop supporting this misconception. Mr. Dion does not 'get it' when it comes to the climate crisis: he will not support a carbon tax, when it is plainly obvious that both a carbon tax and some form of cap or cap-and-trade will be necessary. I do not believe that the Liberals will 'cooperate' with other parties to, for example, switch taxes from income to pollution. They are simply too beholden to major corporations, as are the Conservatives. Here's what Stephen Harper had to say about the 2004 Liberal budget: "The budget's priorities are conservative ones."
As uncomfortable as it may be for some of us, the time has come for progressives to come together and agree to support certain shared values. There are some progressive Liberal and NDP members who we could easily work with, and we need to start creating some bridges. We have to do more than simply defeat Mr. Harper; we have to create a winning solution. The way we do that, and become much more electable in the process, is commit to cooperating with anyone who puts forth progressive policies.
Brian Gordon
Nominated Candidate, Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca
Green Party of Canada
Trained Presenter
An Inconvenient Truth
People - Planet - Prosperity
The New Green Economy
Greater rebates
The vote-based rebates Alina mentions are actually higher than stated.
Our per-vote funding is indexed. It is nominally "$1.75", but that number is actually higher - by now, well above $1.80, I believe. (It should be close to $1.89, depending what base year is used.)
Any party that gets more than 2% of the national vote (like us) gets a 50% rebate of all election expenses. But any candidate who exceeds 10% in their own riding gets a 60% rebate of their local expenses - which may be part of the reason behind the Conservative's 2006 'in-and-out' scheme, because that would give them 20% more rebate (funded out of your taxes, of course).
Of course, as Donald notes, the most generous rebate is the 75% our donors get. And that one is guaranteed from the day you write the cheque, it does not depend on any particular vote total.
When people offer me "best wishes" in the election, I like to remind them (with a smile) that their phrase is most effective when written on the memo line of a contribution cheque.
Erich Jacoby-Hawkins
Barrie, ON
The views I express on this blog are purely my own and should not be construed to represent the official position of the Green Party of Canada - the same goes for all other people's posts & comments.