My Roommate and I went for a walk today, we wandered by the advance poll station and peeked in, had a look at the map and chatted for a moment. It was quiet, but there were people certainly around.
On the way back, I asked him if he'd made a decision on who to vote for. He told me he had, and then I asked him something which my ever curious mind has been pondering of late (and actually is the poll question to your right). Did he know, when the election was first called whom he would vote for? Did he have a good idea, or what party or platform or leader he chose to support? He said he didn't know then, that he only came to a decisive decision when he saw the sign I had requested from the NDP.
For him, knowing how and for whom I would vote helped to crystallize in his mind his decision. In a way, he mentioned, he felt it most appropriate to follow my lead, that I was better researched and informed, and evidently my reasoning and logic had prevailed on him to vote in a similar pattern.
On one hand, a part of me was concerned that he had not made an informed decision, that he was following in my own choice. Then I realized that he was indeed, actually free to do so. That was an essence point of Democracy in and of itself. It was his choice. It was his choice to be as informed or not as he saw fit, to make as necessary a decision as he felt needed attention, or not. Sometimes I wonder at the influences on myself and whom has led me to certain 'platforms' or 'political points' that I deem important for a party or candidate to address.
And by extension of that, I wonder what we all consider fundamental to what we believe represented?
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