The Problem With the Strategic Voting Campaign

As with every election lately in Canada where a Conservative party is leading in the polls, there are calls for “progressive voters” to vote strategically in their riding to deny the Conservative candidate a seat in government. The upcoming Ontario election on June 2, 2022 is no different.

Dr. David Fisman, is one of many leading the charge on social media.

The calls for Strategic Voting to defeat a party are problematic for many reasons:

First: It assumes a common cause of what is the highest priority. You must believe that a Conservative government will be a disaster and must be defeated above all else. (For the record, I agree that the Doug Ford led Progressive Party of Ontario is a disaster.)

Second: It assumes that the other parties are all similar enough to each other that it doesn’t matter which one you vote for.

Third: The people running for office do not matter. All that matters is that they are not Conservatives.

I should not need to explain why all three of those assumptions are false. But, people are arguing strenuously for strategic voting, so I guess the explanation is needed:

First: Your priorities are not my priorities. This is the whole point of a democracy. If we all thought the same way, we wouldn’t all be given our own ballot. My reasons for my vote are my own, and are not for you to choose for me, or for anyone else. You are campaigning for a particular outcome, and we are all free to ignore you. And you cannot blame us for that. It is not our fault if we disagree with you and the electoral outcome is not what you desired.

Second: The reason why the NDP, Liberal and Green Party and others exist is because they disagree with each other on key principles. If they were the same, they would be one party already. So voting NDP is not the same as voting Liberal or Green.

Third: We elect people to represent us, to represent our riding, in the Legislature. This point has been ignored for many elections now, but it’s the whole foundation of our representational democratic system. Who we vote for matters as much as what party they are members of. Voters do agonize over the fact that they do not like the local candidate as much as they like the party platform (or vice versa.) Representation matters. And that we keep ignoring this every election is harmful to our democracy.

Strategic voting to defeat a party is a negative vote. It is a vote against something. It is not a vote for something. Each voter should be voting for what they believe. If that belief is “stop the Conservatives at all costs” then fine, that’s your belief. Cast your negative vote.

But you have to understand, that is your reason. Your belief. And you speak for no one else but yourself. And many people will exercise their right and choose to vote for something. And we all have to live with that result.

That’s what we call democracy.