Cast your mind back.
Way, way back.
To the dark, frosty recesses of history.
To the dawn of the modern world as we know it today.
To … May 16, 2019.
OK, it wasn’t so long ago. But May 16 was the date of the last provincial election, and as voters go to the polls today to pick this country’s next federal government, it’s worth remembering May 16 and, in particular, the provincial electoral district of Labrador West.
By the time all the counting was done and the judicial recount was finished in that district, Jordan Brown of the NDP had gotten 1,364 votes. Liberal candidate Graham Letto got 1,362. A total of 509 people voted for PC candidate Derick Sharron.
Don’t ever imagine that making that choice has no value, even if one candidate in a riding is a runaway winner.
There were 5,992 eligible voters in Labrador West. That means, if all of the eligible voters who didn’t actually get around to voting had voted for a mysterious fourth candidate, that candidate would have won hands down, trouncing Brown by a margin more than two to one.
But more to the immediate point: if even three of the 2,757 eligible voters who didn’t get around to casting their votes had bothered to go to the polls and had voted for Letto, the district would have had a different MHA.
The difference was down to 0.050066756 per cent of the district’s eligible voters, and an almost indescribably tiny portion of the province’s 350,799 eligible voters. (Well, OK, 0.00085519058 per cent.)
But draw yourself back from those ancient times to the modern miracle that is today: Monday, Oct. 21.
You’ve got another chance to change history — or at least to take part in it.
Today is your chance to go to a federal polling station, pick up a ballot and cast your vote.
It may not make the difference that three voters in Labrador West could have made. It might not be anywhere close to that.
But you will have taken part in one of the most important roles that citizens in a democracy have: choosing who will govern them. There are plenty of places where citizens don’t have that option. There are others where even the act of voting is dangerous, where people have to risk their lives for the opportunity to mark a piece of paper with their choice — and do it anyway.
We’re not telling you who to vote for — voting is a personal choice and, in a perfect world, one that should be based on a careful analysis of the party platforms and the individual attributes (or lack thereof) of each candidate.
Don’t ever imagine that making that choice has no value, even if one candidate in a riding is a runaway winner.
The only time your vote doesn’t count is when you don’t bother to cast it. Ask Graham Letto.
