No snap! A case for the fixed election date

This column is an opinion by Sweta Daboo, executive director of the P.E.I. Coalition for Women in Government and co-host of the podcast Dialogue with Drake and Daboo. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

We are only seven weeks into 2023 — over six months from P.E.I.'s October 2 fixed provincial election date — and more than 30 candidates have already been confirmed. The energy also seems renewed within political spheres, as we see parties being more present and vocal over the last two months than they have been in the previous two years.

All signs point to the legislative assembly, yet again, being dissolved before the scheduled date.

But before we get carried away by debates and door-knocking, let us be clear: A snap election is fundamentally bad for democracy.

Fixed election dates are still relatively new — and poorly abided by — on Prince Edward Island.

The Elections Act was amended to include them in 2008, mandating a fixed election date every four years on the first Monday of October.

The only legislative assembly to serve a full term under this amendment was the one that voted it in, the date being respected only for the 2011 provincial general election.

With every subsequent failure to uphold it, our democracy has been weakened a little more.

Snap elections maintain the status quo

Snap elections take away time from potential candidates and voters alike.

Deciding to run takes significant preparation. Potential candidates need to sort out daily responsibilities, take leave from their workplaces for campaigning, raise funds and gain community support.

That preparation work takes longer and is even more difficult for those who are traditionally excluded from politics.

Youth, newcomers and women — three groups under-represented in our legislative assembly — are also the most likely to be in the low income ranks on P.E.I. It can take months of saving just to have the funds to take time off work to campaign.

A snap election call takes that opportunity away from marginalized voices and maintains the status quo.

Voter turnout higher, too

Women, especially, have additional concerns. They still shoulder most of the household and care-giving responsibilities, a disparity that has only worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The United Nations estimates the pandemic has threatened four decades of gender equality gains. Women-majority industries were also 1.8 times as vulnerable as traditionally male fields during the pandemic, increasing financial precarity.

This makes the possibility of mounting a provincial election campaign all the more difficult.

We have strong evidence that fixed election dates work right here on P.E.I. In municipal government, the proportion of female councillors reached a historic high of 42 per cent across the Island in November 2022, as compared to the legislature's 26.6 per cent.

Voter turnout is also higher with fixed elections.

The predictability of a set date gives more time to connect with different constituents, in particular youth — a demographic where voter turnout has been consistently dropping on P.E.I. since 2015.

A snap election also takes the opportunity to vote away from those who might have already planned to be off-Island during that timeframe and are unable to find alternate ways of voting.

For those who intend to vote, there is no time to fully analyze the positions of all parties on the issues and hear from the candidates, which means less preparation as they head to the polling station. Voters can't make fully informed decisions for their future and that of their communities. Is this what we want as a functional democracy?

As the Canada Games kick off on P.E.I. this weekend, I can only hope that the real P.E.I. games don't immediately follow, in the form of a spring election.

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