Editor:
Attempts have been made to explain why all polls were wrong for our May 14 general election.
The total votes cast was about 1,630,000. Assuming a 52-per-cent turnout, then the total number of eligible voters must have been around 3,134,000 voters — or 1,504,000 voters stayed at home.
These stay-at-home residents could have elected a totally different government of any political party.
The pollsters may have polled many voters who preferred to stay at home. Instead of complaining about the various inequities with the current results, we should accept that democracy not only provides us with rights, but it also gives us responsibilities, and therefore move to compulsory voting.
Australia, using the Westminster form of government as we do, has implemented a compulsory system of voting since 1924. Are we afraid of compulsory voting? We shouldn’t be.
George R. Weiss
Ladysmith