Do you believe in (election) signs?

But here’s the bigger point: election signs are necessary and they work.

Particularly during a municipal election, there are many reasons for the abundance of election signs, the most obvious being that there are more candidates running for more seats in a smaller region. Unlike a provincial or federal election, in a general local election there aren’t a limited number of parties with a nomination process to narrow down the field, so the number of contenders is inevitably far greater.

Factor in that both city council and school board hopefuls need to gain name recognition, as well as the consideration that municipal elections are personally funded/fund raised — often making smaller, more cost-effective signs a candidate’s best option — and it’s no mystery that there is an abundance of signage.

Many studies have shown — as does common sense — that election signs not only raise the name recognition of the individuals running (and the parties represented when applicable), encouraging education about candidates ahead of the polls, but also that they increase awareness of the ongoing election itself.

Because it causes a minor inconvenience to their day every four years, people enjoy claiming ignorance so they can justify abdicating their most fundamental and critical democratic right to vote. Yet it is impossible to deny knowledge of an upcoming election when you have seen 57 signs between work and home every day for the last month.

It would be lovely if people independently chose to educate themselves about the candidates and issues and cast an informed vote without aggressive cajoling, but alas that does not seem to be the current level of civic engagement in our North American culture, much less in Kamloops.

In the last regular municipal election in 2014 Kamloops could boast of a voter turnout rate slightly higher than the provincial average, which was still a pathetic 33.14 per cent, but that number seems downright laudable considering that in our 2017 by-election the voter turnout rate was a shameful 21 per cent.

I can only imagine how those already abysmal percentages would decline even further if people could fully indulge their ignorance because of the absence of election signs.

In addition to the electorate, there are also a select few candidates who don’t seem to understand the value of election signs and would like to ban them in places that are easily visible to the public. Whether they claim environmental awareness or whether they would actually just prefer to not have to fundraise for or place/maintain their signs, the fact remains that signs serve an important role in both the democratic process and the most important job interviews of their lives.

If candidates are legitimately concerned about waste or clutter they can always find innovative ways to reuse signs, select more environmentally friendly materials or choose not to hypocritically place signs on public property themselves. The fact that there are appropriate and reasonable regulations around when, where and how election signs can be displayed make arguments against them fairly transparent.

If the small price we pay for attempting to have a functional and engaged democracy is a few signs temporarily placed as visual prompts every four years, then I think most people can agree that the cost is not too high.

On the other hand, if you think that the negligible inconvenience of election signs interferes with the aesthetics of your life enough to warrant their removal, then feel free to encourage your friends and family to independently become educated and vote so that signs are no longer necessary.

Election day is Saturday, October 20, 2018 and advance voting will be available on Oct. 17.

More information:

City of Kamloops Municipal Election Information

Provincial Signage Regulations

CFJC Today Candidate Information

by Refraction

Do you believe in (election) signs?

Our Community