My Voter Psyche Article

Voter Psyche

Dear Editor,

Though unable to write conclusively on the issue of voter insight -I haven’t polled them - I offer the following opinion.

The psyche of the voter is often omitted and somewhat underestimated in media coverage of election progress. But, in the end, it is the determining factor of the check mark position on the voting ballot. Sure, we are polled and surveyed, but the focus is usually on generalities such as, strongest leader, public speaking abilities and appearances. Unfortunately, those are not concluding factors for the electorate.

Voters absorb the whole picture. They assess the recovery from the gaffe, rather than the gaffe itself. Voters consider the ability to deliver a promise and the reason behind a broken promise. They also gage confidence by the candidate’s overall knowledge and understanding of issues. Narrow minded parties; usually receive narrow minded consideration from voters, case in point, the Bloc ever fielding a candidate outside of Quebec.

Language used by candidates, control of emotions, maturity and perceived honesty when facing hard questions, if they criticize issues rather than opponents, national agendas as a whole when compared to the competition and voter perception of a candidate’s ability to represent Canada in the international arena, these are all taken into account when voters place the check mark on the ballot. If surveys and polls are successful in predicting the outcome of an election, it is because voters have assessed the above criteria and have based their decision on sound assessment rather than superficial media guidance. So never underestimate the psyche of the voter, the 1958 General Election (Conservative 208, Liberal 48, Commonwealth 8, Labour 1) can attest to that.


Michel De Lottinville
Posted 2 years ago in the Barrie Examiner
http://thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=1221356