Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Things They Should Invent: "Are you knowledgeable enough to vote?" quiz

I'm really struggling with the fact that I have to vote for a school board trustee. I've looked at all my candidates' websites and have some vague thoughts on the matter, but I don't know enough about the issues affecting TDSB and its students. I'm a generally politically aware person, I've been to school myself, and I've read all the candidates' websites. Is that enough? I have no idea. I've never even set foot inside a TDSB school except when I go into one to vote. There could be vast amounts of stuff I'm missing. I think it's inethical for me to vote if I'm doing it in ignorance, and I think it's inethical for me not to vote if I can do it informedly. And I have no way of knowing whether or not I can do it informedly.

I want someone to make an internet quiz that will tell me (and other people) whether I'm knowledgeable enough to vote. Then I could use that information to either choose not to vote, or educate myself some more. Maybe there could be like a total of 100 questions but the quiz randomly selects 10 each time you take it, so you can study up and take the quiz again, but you have to learn more than just the answer to 10 simple questions.

5 comments:

laura k said...

I know what you mean. There are municipal elections in Mississauga, too, but I don't know a thing about any of the candidates, and I can't find good, nonpartisan information (not that I've spent a huge amount of time searching). So I'm not voting. It seems bad not to vote, but worse to vote blindly.

impudent strumpet said...

If you can't find good nonpartisan information, can you find information about what's good for librarians?

laura k said...

Hey, good point. Anyone who believes in funding quality public services will be good for librarians. I wonder how I could cut through rhetoric to find out who that would be. Probably ask my union/activist/socialist friends out here, all two of them.

impudent strumpet said...

Are the librarians unionized? If so, their union's website might be helpful, depending on how activist their union is.

laura k said...

Yes, they are! They are CUPE. Good thinking, I will look.

You'd think I might have known this already. I've just been so focused on federal politics, I rarely think of municipal.