Hamilton to introduce new measures to make voting more accessible in municipal election

On the heels of the Ontario election, which saw the lowest voter turnout in the province's history, the City of Hamilton is introducing new measures to encourage eligible individuals to vote in the municipal election this fall.

A spokesperson with the city says that Hamilton is continuing to focus on "increasing access and decreasing barriers" for individuals who are eligible to vote during the Oct. 24 municipal election. The day will see residents vote for city councillors, mayor and school board trustees. 

Those efforts include new ways to vote, such as "by mail, as well as voting polls located at post-secondary institutions and other locations to provide easy access for students, equity-seeking groups and vulnerable populations," city clerk spokesperson Andrea Holland wrote in an email to CBC Hamilton.

Holland says the city will begin a focused engagement program within the next several weeks that will continue in the lead up to the elections.

On Thursday, Cameron Kroetsch, a candidate for Ward 2 city councillor, tweeted about "huge changes" he said he learned of during a virtual call with the city clerk.

While Kroetsch listed seven changes in his tweet, CBC News has only confirmed the changes detailed by Holland.

Early data from Elections Ontario suggests the June 2 provincial election may have seen the lowest turnout in the province since Confederation.

According to Elections Ontario data, about 43.03 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot — or about 4.6 million of the province's 10.7 million potential electors. The Progressive Conservatives received about 40.8 per cent of that vote to send  83 MPPs to Queen's Park, albeit with roughly 414,000 fewer total votes than in 2018.

According to the data, the June 2 turnout also looks to be the lowest by a considerable margin. The previous low came in 2011, when roughly 48.2 per cent of eligible voters went to the polls and Dalton McGuinty's Liberal party won a minority government. It's also down considerably from 2018, which saw a final turnout of about 57 per cent.

Role of voting logistics

Clifton van der Linden, an assistant professor of political science at Hamilton's McMaster University and founder of Vox Pop Labs (the makers of Vote Compass) says while accessibility is a frequently-cited factor in voter turnout, "it is a complex issue."

Van der Linden says notwithstanding some complaints — largely in Toronto — about access to polling stations during the recent Ontario provincial election, he believes the election was conducted "quite efficiently and effectively" by Elections Ontario.

"Nevertheless, we saw the lowest voter turnout for a provincial election in Ontario's history, despite Elections Ontario offering many of the measures that may be extended to municipal voters in Hamilton this fall," van der Linden told CBC News.

"It seems unreasonable to attribute this outcome exclusively — or even predominately — to voting logistics."

But van der Linden believes the measures proposed by the City of Hamilton "may effectively enfranchise segments of the population for whom voting in municipal elections has to date been inaccessible and this could tip the scales in certain wards."

Van der Linden said "the more deep-seated issue plaguing voter turnout is a sense of apathy borne of lapsed faith in the integrity and promise of our democratic system. This is especially pronounced at the municipal level, where knowledge of the candidates is particularly low."  

The City of Hamilton says individuals interested in running for mayor, city councillor or school board trustee must register before Aug. 19.

Eligible voters are encouraged to ensure they are on the voter registration list. 

Information regarding the municipal election will continue to be released on the city's website.