… costly election

Our last post comparing the U.S. and Canadian general election process mentioned that in Canada elections cost just about $6 per person. Mind you, not every person is eligible to vote or does vote. In the last general election (January 2006) out of 30mln people 23mln were eligible to vote and 15mln actually did. So, the total cost of the election would be around $9 per eligible voter or $13 per vote.

These numbers are even more impressive, considering that the government distributes around $1.75 for each vote back to the parties (new rules involve a very complicated formulas designed to undermine smaller parties).

So, the question that we have, rather than deducting all these funds from general budget, wouldn’t it make more sense to simply charge every voter $9, thus promoting participation?

Unfortunately, that is still a non-Existing Alternative, but we do encourage voters and policy makers to really think outside the box in making the democratic process more self sustainable.

All numbers are courtesy of Elections Canada