I was talking with a friend the other day about the upcoming election.
Out of 15 council candidates he was very familiar and impressed with three. He didn’t know much about the others although he recognized three names. He incorrectly thought that he needed to vote for six councillors, so those would likely be his choices.
I pointed out that there is no obligation to vote for all six councillor positions.
You can vote for as few as one or as many as six councillors. Your ballot is valid and will count regardless of the number of councillors you vote for.
This is where the concept of plumping the vote comes in. The idea is to focus the vote on those candidates who impress you as potentially good councillors and not feel obligated to also vote for those you know little about and perceive as less desirable. In this way, the effect of your voting is not diluted by adding to the total votes of less attractive candidates.
As an example of how plumping can work, consider the results of a previous Salmon Arm election.
In that year, the candidate who received 2,551 votes won the sixth position on council.
The candidate who came in seventh had 2,458 votes, a 93 vote difference. Consider the possibility that 94 or more people who voted for candidate seven regarded this candidate as their top choice. Then consider further that maybe they also voted for candidate six, perhaps only a name they recognized just to fill the ballot, similar to what my friend had thought.
If these people had only voted for candidates they truly wanted on council and thus not voted for candidate six, then candidate seven would have won instead.
So, on Nov. 15 do get out and vote.
Make your vote count even more by voting for only those candidates that support your vision.
Bill Remphrey
