Strategic (sic) Voting

[c9]

Everybody in Canada goes on and on about strategic voting, which is actually misnamed. It should be called tactical voting, since it's a single tactic contrary to your overall interests, exercised individually, not an overarching strategy commanded centrally and consistently over time.

But anyway. The gist is this: You like Party A, then party B second, then Party C third. A has no chance of winning, so you vote B to ensure that C doesn't win. Most commonly, A=NDP, B=Liberal, and C=Conservative.

The problem is most people forget that a Canadian election is really 308 little elections, and the national polls don't matter. So Joe Canadian thinks A has no chance *nationally*, so he votes B, even though in his riding A would have won if they had his vote. This happened all over last time, to the NDP's detriment (and the Liberals' amusingly, since a stronger NDP would have meant they could form a stable coalition).

So if you must vote "strategically," please make sure you know what you're doing. Learn more here.

Comments

[rostin79.livejournal.com]

Do you also have other parties possibly helping to aid exposure of the groups that people feel "won't win"? LIke C paying money to the A party, so some people will vote for A and some for B, but a majority for C?

I wish all political crap could be taken out of it and people could actually vote for what they wanted. hmph.

[c9.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I understand. Like A bribing people to vote differently? Or more like federal subsidies?

[rostin79.livejournal.com]

Either or both, i'd guess. I hear of it happening here (though I haven't seen actual proof, but it woudln't shock me). In whatever legal ways possible, if the race really is between A and B, yet C is competing, where either group B will indirectly help out group C to pull away votes from A. Basically the dirty politics that becomes some sort of misrepresentation of what people actually want (since it is easy to sway people when you have nough money).

[c9.livejournal.com]

Well, very indirect stuff happens sometimes. It's so tricky though, since every riding is different. Probably it's one of those under the table things in isolated ridings.

FYI

[sassy-red-head.livejournal.com]

Hi. I was just browsing the friends of friends and liked this so I added you.

Also, I wholeheartedly agree!

Re: FYI

[c9.livejournal.com]

Welcome!

Re: FYI

[sassy-red-head.livejournal.com]

If only I came bearing gifts....

[bcboi.livejournal.com]

This is interesting.
In 2004, I was in the Ottawa-Vanier riding, and was pro-Liberal on the count of the same-sex marriage issue being the hot-topic of the day. This election, I'm in the Skeena-Bulkley Valley riding and have high hopes for the (hot) incumbent NDP MP, Nathan Cullen. www.nathancullen.com

I think he's safe...but I'd love to see your analysis of my riding.

[simplisticton.livejournal.com]

I don't think Joe Canadian is dumb enough to vote tactically because his chosen party has no chance nationally. I sincerely hope that most Canadians understand that they're only electing the MP for their riding when they go into the polls (the fact that only the candidates' names' and party affiliations appear on the ballot should be a dead giveaway).

[c9.livejournal.com]

Dear, sweet, naive Ben.

The NDP lost seven seats to the Conservatives last time due to people voting Liberal, due to national polls. Seven.

People are really fucking stupid. You know that in your heart.

[zedinbed.livejournal.com]

Actually, what you're saying doesn't make any sense. If I want the Conservatives to not come to power, it doesn't matter if I'm voting based on a national or a local basis. In the end, one extra seat in the NDP's hands instead of the Liberals means the Conservatives are one seat closer to winning.

Therefore, if I absolutly did not want the Cons to come to power, it would be in my best interest to vote for the Liberals. So, if you're a strategic voter, the best tactic is to vote Liberal.

Of course, this doesn't apply to the non-strategic voter who votes based on their personal political affiliations, presumably you in this case.

[c9.livejournal.com]

Actually, what I'm saying did make sense.

Example riding:
NDP at 35%
Conservatives at 33%
Liberals at 29%
Green at 2%

If some NDP voters get scared and vote Liberal, the Tories could win. This actually happened last time, where people looked at the national polls and got worried, and actually made the Tories win more ridings because of their misunderstanding of the system. It's important to know what your own riding can do. What is happening overall has no effect: it's just something to talk about.

Strategic (sic) Voting

[(Anonymous)]

Actually, it is strategic, if you are doing it for the sole purpose of reaching an objective. The tactical part of it would be actually using your vote to complete your strategy. But it's an interesting play on words either way.