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v c n h i v economist 5uuiefederleeegtiqn 2000 matowaot voiersbalance ike party leader and candidate at the ballot box by roger varley staff writer i what directs a voter tomark an x beside the name of a candidate in the federal election y is the elector motivated by choice of party leader or candidate or is there some other determining factor such as name recognition or ethnicity according to robert macdermid professor of poliucat science at york university studies have shown its the party that- cbuntk jf about to60pefcent vote for the party730 tb0 per cent vote forl the leader while onlyabout 10 per cent base their vote on the candi date macdermid said candidates are generally not important he said when you think how many people can actual ly name their member of parliament its only about 30 per cent v however- that pattern can change ifa particular candidate has a high profile macdermid said why dp you think globe and mail columnist michael valpyis running as a candidate for- the ndp he asked rhetorically people know him its the v forleiughbbdd6fs1t6ufivme who will vote in the oak ridges rid- ing party platform arid leadership- are of equal importance v the canadiarr alliance and stockwell day- he v i looked at theparty platform over the summer and sonais a contributing factor r he said herated die local cahdi- dates qualifications much lower than party or leader in this particu- j lar election iz for some voters however it boils down to a lastminute deci sion probably based onrgut instinct vv j hx j i havent decided yet said orte woman vpterj whreferred to remain anonymous ill think about it when i gef in the booth l titiii i r people knowhim its the same k s f with liberal jofinmccallum in the partys platfoiin and its leader are of equal importance to hugh dodd ofstouffville will be voting markham he is known by thepeo- for oak ridges alliance candidate bob callowon monday although hedidnt place thelocal candidatesper pie wfioreadihe business pages f high on his list of reasons for voting ca tv- v mccauumisthe chief economist with royal bank financial group universityof toronto political some vote for a combination of factors he said some vote for- an hats goingl really esting riding he said of die match- up bvtweeh and canadianaluance jim jones jones received wide publicity earlier- tkis7year whenas the mcumbenti4- progressive convervatiye vmember- r- for markhamhe switched his alle giance to ca but fox added a cau tionary note v i m not really impressed with the choiceswe have he acknowledged the party draw isprobably more significant thanthat of a leader althoughhiv recent decades morefocushavv rs ic- been placed on the leaders rvbasically you either vote but he added ourrughtasga i is gender a factor is age a factor ness wiseman said its difficult to make that assess- people are cpmplex and there foment in a quantifiable way she are problems categorizing them said im not sure people think of these things separately dover thought it likely that a- portion of the undecided electorate 7 will become- involved- in the national campaign voters who arent yet decided might be looking atjhe parties father than the candi- polls 1 close af r l e- rforor against the liberals dates and what about ethiuayffr ivsarahtomlinson a voterin emnicity and religionjmighfvs- f thornhill riding said she usually- votes for the leader because i think tunate said bhadiiria liberals for falsifying his resiime- come into play it likely would be in nelsoa y cbmbiriation with some other fac- universityoctoronto professor was tor- ki lesscertamyoterjmotiyationcouldi but to explain and understand bedeteffniried accurately voting behaviour is a complex busi- fdryork north liberal candidate karen kraft sloan agreed it isnt easy todefine voters priorities especially based on doortpdpor canvassing the choices we have tomlinson said basically you either vote for or against the liberals or for or against the alliancethe other three dpnt seem to make any waves i byroger varley in a repeat of the way in which the 1997- federal election results were reportedinterested voters jnyorkregionwill begin-watch- ing monday nights telection t returns at about the same time as rauoaernadiahs- v poils at 930 prh est on monday after being open for 12 hours shortly afterwards results will begin rolling in from polling stations across the country michael kennedy returning officer for the riding of oak ridges said staggered voting hours across the country came into effect for the 1997 elections while polling stations open at 930 am est in ontario hesaid jvoting in bc runs from 7 am to 7pmpdt in effect he said polls close at the same time give or take about halfahhour themove was made irian attempt to eliminate a situation ciriwhickvpters jri western canada could learn of results the east via american radio and television stations pr r internet before their own votes werecast 1 j