A vote — from anyone — is a terrible thing to waste, The Toronto Star
By Martin Regg Cohn, Ontario Politics Columnist
Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017
Every political party gets out the vote on voting day.
Their vote. And only their vote.
GOTV, as it’s called, is an axiom of democracy. And yet the better that parties get at GOTV, the less democratic the turnout tends to be. From one election to the next, a political movement masters the technique or musters the technology to outhustle all rivals on voting day. But do we really want elections decided on the strength of a well-oiled electoral machine rather than a well-honed democratic impulse?
What if we got out the full vote (GOTFV) with a full pull — motivated not by partisanship but participation?
That’s what the Canadian Muslim Vote tried in the last federal election — and plans again for the coming provincial ballot. Mindful that Muslims vote far less than others, the group’s volunteers focused on their own faith group — but without trying to divine anyone’s partisan loyalties.
“We didn’t care who they’d vote for,” said Seher Shafiq, part of the leadership team at the non-partisan, non-profit organization. Read the full article >
Watch the panel discussion
| Article Type | News |
| Campaign Areas | Community & Alliances, |
| Topic | Diversity in politics, |