I hope my vote matters

This election was somewhat frustrating. I say this because it’s obvious Albertans want change, but it seems like many don’t want to take a risk. I voted Liberal today, not because I feel that Kevin Taft and his redcoats best represent by views, but because I believed that Aman Gill of my riding has a better chance than NDP candidate Stephen Anderson of unseating the incumbent PC. Every NDP sign I saw on the way to the polls (since I live at the edge of the Edmonton – Mill Creek riding I don’t get to see the signs all the time) counted for one less vote for Aman to win. I say that it was more likely for Aman to win based mainly on the 2004 results (which put Aman 2500 votes ahead of the NDP candidate then, and a mere 800 behind the PC candidate).

What would be better?

Some form of ranked voting or proportional representation natrually. If I could have voted:

1. Stephen Anderson (NDP)
2. Aman Gill (Liberal)
3. Naomi Rankin (Communist)
4. Glen Argan (Green)
5. None of the above (if listed)
6. Gene Zwozdesky (PC)

Unfortunately, such a system isn’t in place here, so I voted strategically instead of personally (although I do support the majority of the Liberal platform, I’m just a bit more left than that).

So it will be interesting (I hope) tonight to see if anything changes, but by all opinions in the news right now, the PCs will have a slightly weaker majority for another 4-5 years. (I’ll likely comment on the results tomorrow, or later tonight).

Update: I should have mentioned a while ago, but my vote really, really didn’t matter.  Gene Zwozdesky won by a much larger margin than in the last election, but you already likely knew that by now.