Low P.E.I. voter turnout 'cynical response to an early election call'

Fewer than 70 per cent of registered voters turned up at the polls for the 2023 Prince Edward Island election, by far the lowest voter turnout of the last six decades.

Unofficial results from Elections P.E.I. late Monday showed a turnout of 68.5 per cent, including advance polls, mail-in ballots and regular election day voting.

"That's something that I hope this government looks at because, quite frankly, that was a cynical response to an early election call," said political scientist Don Desserud.

"My gut tells me that they were not engaged, that this was not an election that they thought was necessary."

Desserud also ties the low turnout to fatigue, saying Islanders are tired of winter, tired of COVID, and still recovering from post-tropical storm Fiona.

Going back to 1966 (the year after Elections P.E.I. was launched and started keeping centralized records), the next lowest turnout was in 2011, at 76.9 per cent.

Despite a growth in the number of registered voters of more than 2,000 since the 2019 election, 5,529 fewer ballots were cast.

The last time fewer votes were cast in a P.E.I. provincial election was 1989. The population at the time was about 130,000, as opposed to more than 170,000 now.

Voter turnout has been on a downward trend in the last few elections on P.E.I. In elections from 1996 to 2007, turnout ranged from 83 to almost 86 per cent. It has never managed to hit even 82 per cent in the years since then. 

Asked about voter turnout late Monday, Premier Dennis King said he had not had much time to think about voter turnout.

"That's still a pretty big number when you look at voter turnout across the country," said King, who was re-elected with a resounding majority.

Voter turnout for the 2021 federal election was 62.6 per cent. The four P.E.I. ridings had the highest turnout of any province in that election, at 71.7 per cent.