A surprise on election day!

By Srijit Roy

Image credit: Element5 Digital on Unsplash

Provincial elections are to be held in Ontario in June, but there’s hardly anything to show that it is so. The province attracts the largest number of newcomers and people from other parts of the world are likely as surprised as we were during the first election we witnessed in Canada many years ago.

We weren’t eligible to vote at the time, but we watched the developments – or lack thereof – with great interest. It was all so different compared to where we come from. No posters plastered on every available surface, no loud electioneering from loudspeakers on vehicles, no noisy “debates” on television. Even the ads released by various parties were more or less polite. Oh, they did point out that the other party was no good and promised all kinds of change themselves, but there were no catchy couplets attacking the opponents.

And then on election day, I saw no evidence of anyone having voted. I finally asked a colleague why no one was voting and he looked surprised. “Well, I did, this morning, and I am sure many others did, too, or will in the evening after they get home,” Dave said. “Why? Why do you ask?”

I stole another quick glance at his hands. Where was the ink mark  to show he had voted?

During our morning coffee break, I broached the topic again as I was very interested in learning how things worked in Canada.

When I told him that voters in India got an ink mark on the nail of the index finger to show they had voted, Dave wanted to know why that was so. Turns out he was equally interested in discovering how things worked in other countries.

We continue to have lively discussions on different practices related to how people live and work and in different parts of the world.