Here in the Center of the New West ™, I sometimes feel that we are living in a banana republic. What with single party rule for 41 years, pockets of social conservatism, whack job political parties like the Wildrose, and questionable election practices.
The only difference between us and the typical banana republic is that their voter turnout rate typically better. Take Italia, for example. Here’s a country that lives in perpetual election mode, with 61 governments in the 63 years since World War 2.
When La Fille ™ and I were there in the spring of 2006, Romano Prodi had just beaten the incumbent Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi by a whopping 0.1% of the popular vote. That’s not the amazing thing.
The amazing thing is that, on average, 90% of eligible Italians come out to vote. In fact, the Czech Republic (83%), Brazil (81%), Cost Rica (80%), and Romania (76%) all beat the participation rate of Canadians in national elections, which is 75%.
That’s not too bad, but honestly, 42% is pathetic.
When I was in Serbia in 2004, Beograd was in the midst of its municipal elections. Along Knez Mihailova Street (the big pedestrian mall), candidates had set up little stations surrounded by their young, enthusiastic supporters. Walking by, and showing a little bit of interest, I was surrounded by two gals clad in white t-shirts. The hooked the arms around mine, and jabbering on in Serbian, they led me to the table whereupon I came face to face with their candidate for Mayor, Jasmina Maric.
She shook my hand, and with a somewhat embarrassed smile, said to me “you’re not Serb, are you?” No, I admitted. “Well, welcome to my city”. We chatted about where I was from, and what brought me to Beograde. (She was the second person I met that day who was very surprised that I had come as a tourist.)
As it turns out, she didn’t win, garnering less than 6% of the popular vote. But to this day, I remain impressed by the enthusiasm and energy surrounding the idea of an election in this former east bloc country.
I wish we had some more here.