With a bumper crop of campaign signs sprouting along
every street, it’d be easy to conclude that Windsor-Essex is ready
to head to the polls in droves. Historically, however, that’s not
been the case; on average, less than half of eligible voters have
cast a ballot during municipal elections, with some variation
from ward to ward.
“It’s actually pretty good for our size of city,” says Charles
Scarpelli, of Windsor’s voter turnout. As Manager of Records and
Elections for the City of Windsor for 35 years, he says we stack up
pretty good next to other municipalities of our size. “We see
between 38 and 46 per cent turnout.” Other cities the size of
Windsor generally see closer to 30 percent.
Canadian voter turnout at every level doesn’t fare much
better. In June, just over half of registered voters in Ontario
headed to the polls; while that number reversed a 20-year
decline, it’s still an indication that citizens aren’t placing
exercising their democratic right very high on the priority list.
Nation-wide, the last federal election in 2011 saw just under
fifty-four percent cast a ballot, the second lowest in Canadian
federal election history.
The reasons for the lack of interest at the polls vary, and are
often open to speculation. Locally, there have been some definite
patterns. “The numbers change across the wards,” says Scarpelli.
“There’s a definite difference when you move west to east, with
the lowest turnout typically being in the west side wards.” Those
wards see turnout in the 20 to 30 per cent range; moving east,
turnout increases, and Wards 1 and 10 (primarily South
Windsor) has been as high as 60 or 70 percent.
Scarpelli speculates that resident stability plays a role.
“Where there are more people moving in and out and more
often, they may be less concerned with local issues.” With
property ownership often comes an investment in community.
“The east end and South Windsor tend to be very issue-driven.”
Who’s running also plays a role. “When there’s a lively
mayor’s race, turnout goes up,” says Scarpelli. When big name
candidates are in a close race, more people turn out to vote, as
opposed to less interesting race.
“When Windsor elected its first female mayor in 1982, there
was more than 50 per cent turnout,” says Scarpelli. “That’s the
highest in recent memory.”
Many organizations and government departments, including
Statistics Canada, have repeatedly studied voting participation
rates in Canada, in an attempt to understand why the population
behaves the way it does. In an Elections Canada post-election
survey in 2008, more than half of those who didn’t vote indicated
they were “too busy,” with lifestyle demands like work, family
and recreation preventing them from getting to the polls.
Proponents of online voting point to this response as justification
for implementing new technologies in the voting process.
This fall, Leamington voters will only vote online, as part of
Quick Facts
Windsor’s typical voter
turnout is between 38 and 46
percent
In the Ontario 2014 election,
only half of registered voters
cast a ballot
The 2011 federal election saw
the second lowest turnout in
Canadian history
People ages 18-25 are least
likely to vote, followed by
people ages 26-34
A 2008 Canadian survey
showed that more than half of
non-voters said they were
“too busy”
September 2014 - The HUB 29