Some things just need to be said...

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Wyse Voter makes a difference

In the Cariboo South constituency NDP candidate Charlie Wyse is leading by just one vote over Liberal incumbent Walt Cobb. That could change in a recount and when absentee ballots are counted. I have heard a few election stories out of Williams Lake over the last 24 hours.

I called a couple of friends on election day and it was a good thing I did. It was the encouragement they needed to get out and vote. Without that the results would been turned around. In another case, I heard from a friend this election drama. His son, 25 years has voted in every election since he was old enough, asked his buddy if he had voted yet. His friend said it was not important and he did not know what was going on anyway.

The young voter convinced his buddy to vote and enroute to the polls explained the two main candidates and what they stood for. When they came out it turned out they voted for different people. Asked who the novice voter voted for he replied that he marked the first name on the ballot. His friend shook his head.

These two young guys now understand the importance of each vote. Their lesson was magnified by the one vote win. One plus was the new voter voted. The young men then gathered with a few more of their buddies to discuss this experience. They spent the better part of the day talking about voting and discussing the candidates and how they decided they election. The second bit of good news here is the guy who did manage to vote feels he should have taken time to inform himself of the differences, marking the first name was not the best way to mark a ballot.

For two 25 year old young men in Williams Lake, elections mean more today, a lesson in real life has likely turned them into life long voters, something elections BC and the Political parties haven't managed to do yet.

Some 5,500 other people in Cariboo South who voted in 2001 did not vote this time. Each one of them can say they helped decide the election.

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