Still Processing The Election

What may end up disgusting me the most is actually the turnout number.

Here’s some background from an article, “Voter turnout: democracy’s dirty little secret“, that ran during the campaign:

In 1988, a healthy 75 per cent of the voters cast their ballots, but no turnout since then has come close to that level.

— 1993: 70.9 per cent.
— 1997: 67 per cent.
— 2000: 64.1 per cent.
— 2004: 70.9 per cent.
— 2006: 64.7 per cent.

Those years were not without political excitement. The voters threw out the remains of the Brian Mulroney Conservatives in 1993, and then in 2006 they spanked the Liberals for the sponsorship scandal and for just being around too long. Yet the turnout gives no indication of serious underground political tremours.

And this year, when people were supposed to be fired up–at least by the threat of a serious financial crisis, if nothing else–what happens?

Well, today’s headline is “Voter turnout appears to hit all-time low“:

But with just under 60 per cent of the votes counted at 2 a.m. ET Wednesday, turnout hovered around 59 per cent. That figure was slightly below the lowest turnout recorded in 2004 at 60.9 per cent when Paul Martin’s Liberals won a minority government.

Note that CBC’s got a typo somewhere about the turnout in 2004–I suspect it’s in the first piece.

Anyway, I want to go around and slap everyone that didn’t vote. Even if they would have voted for Harper.