Voting

[Raygan]

Hello,

So in Ontario Canada, our provincial elections are in two weeks. In my riding there are five candidates, every single one of them are pro-choice, anti-marriage and want to end the funding of Catholic schools. Three of the parties are likely to win- our riding has no trends or political backbone.
So in this case who should I vote for- as we are obligated to vote! Should I vote for the candidate least likely to win?
There is a party that is pro-life, pro-family and for Catholic funding but, there is no candidate in my riding. I would run but, I’m still in school.

Thank you so much!
God Bless,

 

[Beryllos]

It sounds like your vote doesn’t matter, but if you have to present yourself at the polling place, here are a couple of ideas for a protest vote: If the voting process allows it, you could submit your ballot blank, without selecting any listed candidate, or, if the process allows you to “write in” another name, you could name a saint, or perhaps your pastor or bishop.

 

[DeFuret]

I’m in exactly the same situation. I was even considering running as a candidate for the FCP, but was past the nomination deadline. Anyway, the FCP is a dying party only running 6 candidates (compared to 30/40+ in earlier elections). My situation is even weirder of course, since the PC candidate in my riding is clearly a practising RC and a knight of columbus (thus more unlikely than most to be socially liberal), despite the party line on a whole.

I’m going to decline my ballot at the polling station. Not that one vote actually matters anyway. Note, do not submit a blank ballot or scribble something on it. It will be considered “spoiled” and won’t be counted. If you state to the scrutineers that you “decline”, they will be forced to count it and your protest (however minuscule and insignificant) will at least appear in the stats.

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Anyway, it would be odd if I ended up running for the CHP of all people (in a very urban riding) in the next federal election. Heck, I’m not even particularly right-wing fiscally and I’m no fan of protestant fundies. My (liberal) family would freak, and my name would probably be blacklisted at least somewhere.

 

[SuperLuigi]

Hello,

So in Ontario Canada, our provincial elections are in two weeks. In my riding there are five candidates, every single one of them are pro-choice, anti-marriage and want to end the funding of Catholic schools. Three of the parties are likely to win- our riding has no trends or political backbone.
So in this case who should I vote for- as we are obligated to vote! Should I vote for the candidate least likely to win?
There is a party that is pro-life, pro-family and for Catholic funding but, there is no candidate in my riding. I would run but, I’m still in school.

Thank you so much!
God Bless,

You may want to ask a priest about what to do if you want to be sure.

What I would is find the candidate who looks like they would do the least amount of damage. So, a candidate from the conservative party would probably be a better bet because they may not be as willing to fund pro-choice, anti-marriage initiatives as much, but that’s no promise.

I am suggesting this because while Catholics are ordinarily told (and rightly so) NOT to vote on political affiliation, I think this would serve you well here. Also look at embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, euthanasia, and even religious freedom for Catholics.

For instance, the wikipedia article on the Conservative Party makes me think that in better cultural times, they may be much more pro-life and pro-marriage. And I’ll just throw in there with the immigration situation, those times may be closer than you think. :yup:

In the West I think you need to understand that having such staunch social conservative views would mean they’d have zero chance of winning and in some cases I would imagine are told to cool their jets on it.

But it’s really up to the voters to become knowledgeable about these sorts of ticks and tricks when deciding who to vote for.

Also, if you find people who are anti-life or anti-marriage on the ballot without an opponent, write someone more qualified on Catholic teaching in; don’t just give them a free pass.

I really don’t know if there is an actual obligation to vote here, but I think it’s important that you do even if the candidates have very anti-Catholic views, because I’m quite sure that somewhere down the line, you can make your voice heard at mitigating the damage.

 

[DeFuret]

For instance, the wikipedia article on the Conservative Party makes me think that in better cultural times, they may be much more pro-life and pro-marriage. And I’ll just throw in there with the immigration situation, those times may be closer than you think

Are you looking at the federal Conservative Party or the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party? Federal and provincial parties are different and have different jurisdictions. That said, the same things could be said about both (mostly).

Also, if you find people who are anti-life or anti-marriage on the ballot without an opponent, write someone more qualified on Catholic teaching in; don’t just give them a free pass

There are no write-ins in Canada.