As disturbing as the low voter turnout (around 40%) in yesterday’s provincial election is, I don’t think that’s the most disturbing aspect of the ridiculous political process in this ridiculous province. There’s no reason to think that the people who stayed away from the polls would have voted against the Conservatives; maybe they would have voted Conservative but realized the Conservatives could easily sweep the election without their votes. So there’s no point in bemoaning lost opportunities for change due to voter apathy. All voter apathy shows is how many people here (and across Canada, also in the US) take the power to vote for granted. I’ve never (until yesterday)* voted for a winning candidate, in any election at any level of government. But I don’t find that discouraging. The point has never been to vote to win, the point is to vote out of an appreciation of and respect for the democratic process. You live under a form of government that recognizes your voice: use it, for Christ’s sake! Less than a hundred years ago, I wouldn’t have been allowed to vote; how could I possibly not vote now? Even as I write this, of course, I recognize my idealism. I don’t actually have any respect for contemporary democratic process, any of the political parties, the political party system, campaigning, rhetoric, spin. I sometimes respect some of the candidates, but rarely the ones who get an opportunity to effect anything.

The most disturbing aspect of the electoral process is how many seats the winning party can take with a disproportionate percentage of the popular vote. The Conservatives won 72 of 83 seats across the province with only 53% of the votes. How is that possible? It shouldn’t be. The Liberals, with 26% of the votes, ended up with only 8 seats. Why should the Wildrose Alliance, with 7% of the vote, take no seats, while the NDP has 2 seats with 9%? I think it’s awesome that the Wildrose Alliance lost its seat, but it’s not really fair. Here’s how the legislature should look, if seats were allocated according to the proportion of voters who support each party**:

Conservatives 44
Liberal 22
Wildrose 6
NDP 5
Green Party 4
Other 2

Granted, the Conservatives would still hold sway, but at least other perspectives would have more of a presence.

There are alternatives to the first-past-the-post system. They been the subject of referenda in BC, PEI, and Ontario, but so far they’ve failed. Maybe partly because the various systems of proportional representation are so complicated, and maybe flawed. But I still think any system of proportional representation has to be better than our current blunt, simplistic method of determining who represents us. The federal NDP is a proponent of proportional representation, largely because it would give them significantly more power in Parliament. I don’t know whether the Alberta NDP party supports proportional representation, but even if it did, it would be an uphill battle trying to get the issue on the table. The Progressive Conservatives would never support proportional representation, at least not while the first-past-the-post system guarantees them landslide victories, and as long as the Conservatives don’t recognize the issue, neither will most Albertans, sadly.

* I voted for the successful Liberal candidate, Kent Hehr, because he seems like the most intelligent and reasonable choice, also because I figured he might actually win. I’m so glad to live in a Calgary riding with a non-Conservative MLA, but I feel a bit queasy about voting Liberal. Oh well.

** I’m curious about the 96 people who voted for the Communist party of Alberta, and the 51 people who voted for the Alberta Party (whatever that is).