Voting In Canada

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Voting is an essential part of being a member of society, it connects citizens with the political process. It allows individuals to make a change by taking a stand for what they think is right. Every four years elections occur in Canada and “every person who is a Canadian citizen and is eighteen years of age or older on polling day is qualified as an elector” (Government of Canada 2000). After four years the elections have occurred once again, and voters could cast their vote early or wait until election day. There is a difference between the law-on-the-books and the law-in-action for voting rules and people’s perspectives on those are different from one another, resulting in different ways of enacting the laws. The law operates in a way that …show more content…

As stated by Kitty Calavita in Invitation to Law and Society: An Introduction to the Study of Law researchers “who study legal consciousness are interested in people’s beliefs about law and how they act on those beliefs” (Calavita 2010, page 46). This is because whatever an individual perceives as being correct has a greater chance of occurring. The way people are brought up impacts their beliefs and ideas about right versus wrong. The vote made is the “way to choose someone to represent the district in Canada’s Parliament. By expressing their choice, voters are exercising a democratic right that is the key to democratic processes of government” (Elections Canada 1970). This is impactful because it outlines rules and conditions for individuals to follow and by doing so they are engaging in something that helps society. Another reason would be that “voting connects citizens with their political process, as well as other citizens, it also helps safeguard our freedoms, and it also leads to other forms of involvement with political processes” (Historica Foundation). The experience of casting a ballot in the elections helps me understand law and society further because it helps me understand why elections occur and what the benefits of voting, resulting in being more legally conscious. This contributes to a law and society perspective more broadly because it contributes to the legal consciousness of law and society, which is about being aware of your surroundings and beliefs and acting upon what you believe is right. This occurs when the population is allowed to vote in elections according to their belief of what is right. When voting voters must keep in mind what they want to see change, if they want more liberal rights they can vote for the party they believe to have that platform, and if they want conservative rules they can vote for a party who has that platform. Legal consciousness is not limited to elections. A

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