It’s easy to get lost in the crowd these days.
With a civic election just days away, voters have the daunting challenge of trying to sort through the 43 candidates that are running for mayor, councillor and school trustee. Those 43 hopefuls have the daunting challenge of trying to get noticed by voters.
Senior government elections are relatively easy for voters as they feature just a handful of local candidates as well as easily identifiable party leaders and platforms. It’s a whole different ball game when it comes to local government elections where there are typically enough candidates to stage a production of Les Miserables.
It’s so overwhelming, in fact, that some people just don’t vote or they choose the names they recognize, reasoning that city hall hasn’t fallen off its foundation so those running it must know what they’re doing. Getting to know all the options takes effort, and when you consider only one in three voters can even find the time to cast a ballot, it’s not difficult to imagine that many skip the homework assignment.
That’s a shame because there are often a lot of good, well-meaning people seeking political office, including many independents who don’t have the resources or networks to reach the required number of voters.
I suspect pretty much everyone now knows the name of the candidate that finished 13th in the school trustee race in the last civic election because a year after that defeat Carla Qualtrough was elected as Delta’s MP and then chosen for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet. It’s an extreme example, for sure, but it’s indicative of the kind of talent that exists if you’re willing to look.
The election before that I remember being impressed by Brad Sherwin at a school trustee forum but knew as an independent he’d be a longshot to get elected. Sure enough, he fell short, but we gained a Community Comment columnist out of the deal so even though Brad lost, at least our readers won.
I realize not every qualified candidate is going to get elected but the fact that some have little to no hope because they’re adrift in a sea filled with other hopefuls is a discouraging aspect of an election that’s supposed to hit closer to home than any of the others.
