By Nadya Repin
Editor, the Gauntlet,
Re: “Vote-splitting–The phenomenon that lost good seats,” Nov. 25, 2004,
I was under the impression that politicians were required to earn my vote. I was not aware that the fine print in my right to vote in this province said “vote PC, but if that fails, vote Liberal”. I vote for the party that addresses my concerns, if this means that a so called “mini-party” gets my vote then so be it–the Liberal Party did not convince me that they would be my best representative and hence the Liberal Party did not get my vote. The marginalization of these parties (not “mini-parties”) worries me, because they address a very real dissatisfaction with the current choices provided. Only in Alberta would the NDP even be labeled as a mini-party, as they have held viable governments in other provinces. I think that the article missed the main point of an election, that is choice, and I am adamantly opposed to anyone suggesting the removal of my choice, this is not a two party province for a reason. It saddens me to hear people say that we should be compromising our political “ideals” for the sake of their perceived “liberal opposition” ideal. The real issue here is not the alleged “vote-splitting” but the fact that a party receiving less then half of the popular vote retained a majority government rule, instead of attacking the ideals of voters, attention should be paid to the flaws of an electoral system that could distort such results.