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Submission BELIVEAU-0022 (Online)

Submission By Wes Beliveau
AddressCache Creek, ,
Organization
Date20031202
CategoryElectoral system change
Abstract
Voters should have the choice of 'none of the above' printed on ballots at election time.  This would increase the accountability of politicians to the public. [2 pages]

Submission Content
I am sure that you are very aware of the feelings of many of the population with respect to the political system. I heard an elderly man use the following expression, ‘same shit different pile’. Recently in an election in eastern Canada they had a 65% turnout and it was suggested that the normal turnout was 75%. That means that 35% of the people simply did not care enough to vote, and that did not include those that were forced to vote for the  best of the worst.

The important question is what happened to that additional 10%? The jokes run rampant on talk shows, but in reality the political system is reflective of corruption and a total lack of respect for the public. Words like honesty and integrity are just words and are used at election time. Governments make statements but when it time to deliver on these promises you find yourself facing new laws. The disabled people of this province found that out very quickly with reforms that somehow replaced ‘assured lifetime’ designations.

The question is why? Democracy is suppose to consider the viewpoints of all the people in a society. Let’s suppose that in an election we have a rapist, a child molester, and a murder running for office. By present standards you are asking the electorate to elect one of these people to run you life. An intelligent person would make an intelligent choice and elect ‘none of the above’. This however is not offered as an option. What we have is an entrenched system for elections without consideration for the feelings of the electorate. It’s time to ask the many that do not participate in elections if they simply are not voting for a reason or if they are not voting because they do not wish to have their lives dictated to by people that promise you what you want to hear when they are attempting to be elected but quickly forget one day after they are elected.

In the last election I voted Liberal, yes it turned out to be a mistake, but I believed that the person in question was what he said he was, I had no reason to doubt him. However today I would wish to vote for ‘none of the above’. However I will be denied that right because of this entrenched system. They have elections in communist countries, the problem is only a small percentage of the people belong to the party but it is democracy in some aspects. Well, 35% of the populace is a large enough percentage for your reforms to consider. How many people would vote for ‘none of the above’? I really have no idea, but I know one thing it would force the political parties to become far more accountable to the people that they are suppose to serve.

In the real world people work for governments, governments no longer work for people. That’s why we have a tax free day. In the United States there is a very strong movement for a concept called recall. One quote is  ‘The politicians are fiddling, fumbling and failing’. Yes they are failing because they do not have to be accountable by today’s standards because its taken for granted that you have to elect a ‘politician’ to run your life. He said  ‘We just see things declining and declining and declining. ... California now is being run by special interests. We have to stop that’. Yes, special interest groups are the ones that run government we can see that and that is in British Columbia as well as California. Do not be afraid to serve the people of the Province of British Columbia. I wish to see ‘None of the above’ on the ballots because I think its my democratic right to be represented by a person that knows that he or she is accountable, and the electorate can say to these enshrined politicians that they are indeed expendable. Its time to ask the voters if they really support the political system and trust me, ‘none of the above’ would send a very clear message to the politicians of this province.


Thank you


Wes Beliveau

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