Undervoting

I was out visiting voters the other day and ran into one of my opponents. We had conversations with the voters independently and together. Near the end of the conversation, he suggested to a voter that she only vote for him. This is called undervoting.

You are not required to mark two names for City Councillor on the ballot. You, of course, are able to, but you don't have to.

Vote for the candidate(s) that you feel is best for the job. Don't vote for anyone you don't think is good for the job, especially if you're only voting for them because you feel compelled to vote for two.

Having said that, there are downfalls to undervoting as well. If you like two candidates, but you vote only for one because you like them better, by undervoting you could end up letting one of the ones you don't like to slip through the count.

Whatever you do, vote, and vote wisely.

On September 23, 2010, Linda Crouch, a current Niagara Voice for the St. Catharines Standard wrote an article about getting informed and voting. The link to it is: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2769991

Here is an excerpt of her article that is specifically about undervoting:

Knowing that, there is a pattern in voting that is both good and bad. It is called undervoting where a voter casts fewer ballots for an office than one is eligible to cast. It applies particularly here for regional councillors and school trustees, as we can vote for six of the former and four of the latter.

What is undervoting? You can vote for six people running for regional council, but let's say you don't know six good candidates. So just vote for the ones worthy of your vote

The good side to under-voting:
It's your right as a voter to under-vote;
Your ballot won't be discounted for an under-vote;
Hopefully only people worthy of elector's votes will be elected.

The downside to under-voting:
It's a shame when we get good solid voter turnout but so many potential votes don't get cast.

Yesterday (October 2, 2010), there was a great follow-up letter to the editor from Pete Morro. Here's the link to the letter: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2783413

Here is an excerpt from his letter regarding undervoting:

Linda Crouch's term "undervoting" is important. We do not have any obligation to fill out all the spaces on the ballot. If you only feel one of the candidates is worthy of your vote, just vote for them.

We need to read the information gathered in this newspaper. If we are so inclined, attend candidates debates, watch them on TV, etc.

I already know who I'm going to vote for; I hope we will have a turnout of informed voters that will reflect their interest in our city.