Georgina's voter turnout bottoms out, significant drop across York Region

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 1, 2018
Heidi Riedner

Voter turnout for the municipal election was down significantly across York Region, with Georgina bottoming out the list at 26.7 per cent.

That is a significant drop from 39.6 per cent in 2014.

Changes to voter locations and cards, reports of people leaving polling stations without casting a ballot due to long delays or not being on the voter list, three acclamations to council and voter apathy are all being blamed for the poor turnout in Georgina.

 

While the switch from voter cards to vote anywhere location notifications mailed out this year may be a good thing in the long-term, mayoral candidate Boris Godzinevski suggested it may have been the “X factor” in terms of voter turnout.

 

Studies on voter turnout suggest while older voters are affected by issues related to illness and problems with the process, such as registering and/or knowing where and when to vote, middle aged and younger voters cited being too busy with work and other commitments to make it to polling stations.

People who have voted for decades reporting not being on the voter list was another issue.

Some have suggested a complete overhaul and update of the voter list is required, but whether at the municipal, provincial or federal level is up for debate.

But the highest percentage of those polled specified disinterest as the main reason for not voting.

Residents either don’t like any of the candidates, don’t care about the issues or feel their vote won’t have much effect on the outcome.

When clocks fall back, check smoke and CO alarms,...
The fact that the average voter turnout in York Region was down five per cent this election from 38 per cent in 2014 didn’t come as a surprise to York University associate professor of politics Dennis Pilon.

Voter turnout at the municipal level is traditionally low, he said, because voters find it more difficult to navigate compared to federal and provincial levels of politics, where people can vote for a specific party.

While some area residents suggest the convenience of online voting may help boost voter turnout, that didn’t translate in Newmarket or Markham.

Research in the field points to little impact on voter turnout from online voting or increased days of advanced polls, Pilon said.

Things that do increase turnout are scandals or a big issue, he added.

A scandal-plagued Whitchurch-Stouffville supports that theory, with its turnout numbers increasing by a couple of percentage points.

Fewer candidates running is another issue as it is a difficult task to knock off an incumbent.

In Georgina’s case, three of the wards went unchallenged.

According to statistics from the Association of Municipalities, 120 of 444 municipalities had their mayors acclaimed.

In addition, 536 of the 3,273 total council positions up for grabs were won by acclamation, with 26 municipalities having their entire councils acclaimed.

More public debates and the potential for adding referendum questions on the ballot for key issues were also floated as potential tools to boost voter engagement and turnout moving forward.