In praise of a democracy on paper
It’s a ritual as old as Confederation, dating from Canada’s first election in the summer of 1867.
Canadians enter a polling station, wait politely in line, perhaps chatting a bit. A poll worker, a volunteer most likely, directs voters to a table where their names are checked against a list.
Then a deputy returning officer hands each voter an initialled paper ballot, their part of Canadian democracy. A few strides to a voting booth (or cardboard kiosk, if you prefer), where a decision must be made.
Some voters take a few seconds, some longer. But each has a chance to contemplate in silence, accompanied only by their own thoughts. The ballot is marked, and handed back to the deputy returning officer, who after removing a tab, hands the ballot back. And then the voter puts their ballot into a ballot box, joining the ballots from their fellow citizens.
Later, those ballots will be counted by hand, one by one.
Other countries have other ways to vote (indeed, there are variations within Canada, with some provinces and municipalities using electronic tabulation or even voting).
A paper ballot and a hand-counted vote is not the fastest way. It does not use the most up-to-date technology. Electronic votes, tabulated by machine, would be far faster.
There are, of course, practical arguments in favour of the system used for federal elections. Paper ballots cannot be hacked. A hand-count allows for maximum transparency.
But the best reason for a paper ballot is not practical at all. It is more fundamental. A paper ballot gives physical form to democracy. The choice literally sits in a voter’s hand.
A hand count renders the proper respect – reverence, even – for democracy. Each ballot, each voter’s voice, is examined and recorded by human eyes and hands.
And then, once counted, a ballot joins those of other voters. Their voices are joined together. Within a few hours, the verdict is known. Those many voices become one.
Millions of Canadians have already voted, millions more will do so on Monday. And every one of us will have that moment of solemnity, to ponder the names on the ballot, to make a choice – and to take part in a ritual stretching back 158 years.
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