There’s an election tomorrow and I’m scrambling. I was away for the last two weeks and, while it was nice to miss all of the unpleasant, negative advertising that’s crept into our elections, I feel out of the picture. We all need to vote – that’s our part of the agreement. If we don’t vote, we’re giving up the right to choose who governs us, and I don’t think I want to go down that road. So what should we do if we want to make a good choice? Well it’s obvious… get informed.
I’ve been watching the news, both TV and radio, and I’ve been surfing the net to see what else I could find. I decided to check-out CBC News, thinking I’m supporting them with my taxes, why not see if they have anything to offer. I found a lot of information – issues broken down; final projections; and a WikiLeaks article citing sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables revealing their behind-the-scenes take on Canada’s party leaders. There were also podcasts, just in case you missed something.
But that’s way too much information to sift through at this late date - it’s information overload! I need to identify what’s really important to me and who supports my issues. Then I came across something I thought I could use – Vote Compass – a 20-question survey that zeros in on a half-dozen issues, aggregating responses with each of the major parties to show who best matches your important issues. I was surprised with the results at first, but when I was able to compare each of my answers to those of the major parties I could see a pattern… and more importantly, I was able to sift out the political BS and simplify the process.
I like that, and now I feel that I’m able to make a more informed choice. I will vote tomorrow and I hope you will too.
