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Letter: There's nothing wrong with strategic voting

We can bring real change with strategic voting. There is nothing wrong with strategic voting. It is a politically savvy choice, especially in a battleground riding like ours. An Oct. 14 letter to the editor argues against strategic voting.

We can bring real change with strategic voting. There is nothing wrong with strategic voting. It is a politically savvy choice, especially in a battleground riding like ours.

An Oct. 14 letter to the editor argues against strategic voting. The letter’s author, Michelle Neilson of Squamish, says increasing turnout is more important than reducing vote splitting. As a 20-year-old political science student, I would like to tell you why I believe in strategic voting.

This past Friday, I voted in my first federal election. I voted for Pam Goldsmith-Jones, the Liberal candidate. I supported the Liberals because I believe in their vision for Canada and because I want to defeat John Weston, the Conservative candidate, and prevent another Harper government. Voting for something or against something is not a binary.

When voting, people consider many different things, such as the party policy, candidate likability and party leader. What is wrong with also considering electability? Condemning strategic voting as inauthentic or insincere seems bizarre.

Being an informed voter includes understanding how the system works. The Liberals are the only party that can beat the Conservatives here. As a former two-time West Vancouver mayor, Pam is uniquely positioned to win votes from West Vancouver, a populous Conservative stronghold.

In this riding, the only way to successfully vote for a non-Conservative is to vote Liberal.

For those wanting change, strategic voting websites, including www.votetogether.ca and www.strategicvoting.ca, inform Canadians how to vote Anything But Conservative (ABC). These websites suggest voters in this riding should vote Liberal, just as voters in other parts of Canada should vote NDP.

If people had voted strategically in the 2011 election, Stephen Harper might not have won a majority government with only 39.6 per cent of the popular vote (source: Elections Canada). In our riding, vote splitting meant a

Conservative win despite the majority of voters (54 per cent) voting for centre and left parties. This time around, many Green Party and NDP supporters I have talked to are voting Liberal. They understand electing a non-Conservative is worth it.

You cannot just vote with your heart and expect everything to work out. A Green Party vote would do nothing in a riding they cannot win. Such a vote indirectly supported the Conservatives. Instead of voting regardless of the candidates’ electability, you could vote strategically, with both your heart and your head.

Sophia Matthew
Squamish

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