Get Out and Vote! How You Can Shape the Future

Get Out And Vote! takes a novel approach to the subject of elections as practiced in western democracies. A prolific and acclaimed writer, Elizabeth MacLeod has produced an excellent primer on the importance of elections in the lives of Canadian and American students and their societies. MacLeod uses examples of student elections to make the act of voting more relatable to readers who are too young to vote in municipal, provincial/territorial/state and federal elections. She includes stories of teenagers who got involved in politics and electoral matters before they reached legal voting age. Extensive use of photographs and Emily Chu’s colourful illustrations featuring a diversity of people should also appeal to young readers. Although geared to a North American audience, there are many interesting examples of practices in other countries around the world.

The first chapter, “Politics are Everywhere”, recalls historical developments in the Americas during the last two hundred years as more people gained the right to vote. It also briefly explores the nature of different forms of government from constitutional monarchies and other representative democracies to dictatorships. Many important concepts are introduced: the role of governments at different regional levels, the use of secret ballots, and some challenges of voting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these ideas are expanded upon in the second chapter, “Election Day”, that provides more information about ballots, voting booths, ballot boxes and the importance of the secret ballot. The exact methods of voting may vary as some people use advance polls to vote, mail in ballots, or vote in person at polling stations on election day. The ballots, themselves, may be counted manually or scanned with computer technology. Novel ways to include voters with disabilities include braille ballots used in Spain and telephone voting in Australia for people with vision disabilities. As with other books in the “Orca Think” series, many new or key words are highlighted in bold and included in a glossary. Perhaps the desire to keep the glossary to two pages explains why some words are given this treatment and others are simply italicized and explained in the text of the book.

MacLeod addresses the main reasons why people do not vote in the chapter entitled “Can’t Be Bothered”. The nastier elements of politics, such as gerrymandering by changing voting boundaries to the benefit of one political party, can turn off voters, but others may face voter suppression measures that make it very difficult to vote. The lack of diversity in the candidates may give electors the impression that their specific issues do not matter to politicians. In contrast, the chapter “Have a Voice” emphasizes reasons why people should vote. One interesting observation that MacLeod notes is that voting is habit forming and one more reason that it is important to inspire young voters to exercise their right to vote. Compulsory voting laws exist in some nations, but others tried this approach and abandoned it in favour of voluntary voting. The importance of every vote is evident in close races where one candidate squeaks past their nearest competitor.

The final chapter, “Choosing Change”, discusses the future of voting. Change might be a move away from the “first past the post” system to one of “proportional representation”. Another possibility is lowering the voting age to 16 as has been done in some nations. Supporters of this move can refer to studies that show “that teens are as well informed as other voters.” The future will likely see more voting by mail and adoption of online voting. It is still important to get more of the population to vote in order to get their issues addressed. Currently, it is the “older, richer, white people [who] are more likely to vote”. More diverse candidates and more women candidates may also help inspire voting.

Get Out and Vote! provides a very good foundation for understanding civics that appears in the secondary school curriculum. The book’s contents also tie in with elementary social studies about communities.