Competition, diversity may be key to combating voter apathy in municipal elections: Research centre

Elections Regina is working to try to increase voter turnout from 20 per cent in 2016 during the 2020 civic election, but it's a difficult task. 

Jim Nicol is the city clerk and returning officer for the 2020 municipal election. He said he felt disappointed in the 20 per cent turnout in 2016.

"My office, we had worked hard to ensure that citizens were aware of the many options they had to vote," Nicol said. "Just from a participatory democracy, I find it disappointing that people don't take the time to vote."

There may be a number of factors as to why people may not take the time for municipal elections, but do for provincial elections, according to the Samara Centre for Democracy, Hope and Justice. The Samara Centre is a non-partisan, charitable think tank that conducts research with the goal of strengthening Canadian democracy. 

"Turnout in municipal elections always lags other elections by quite a bit … It's certainly no surprise," Mike Morden, interim executive director of the Samara Centre, said. 

In the 2019 federal election, 71.7 per cent of registered voters in Saskatchewan cast a ballot. In Regina specifically, 73.7 per cent of registered voters took part. 

Morden said when it comes to municipal voting, people are less likely to vote if they're renters, younger people or if the election is not competitive. As well, people may not vote because city councils aren't always representative of communities so people don't feel ownership in the democratic process, he said. 

"People are more likely to turn out when they see themselves reflected in some way. They're more likely to feel like they belong to the political community when they see that representation among candidates," Morden said. 

"There's a bit of a vicious cycle," Morden said. "People from underrepresented communities don't feel ownership in local politics, don't see that invitation to participate. And as a result, you know, there is less pressure from below to address underrepresentation."

As well, "incumbency advantage" in municipal politics can prevent younger, diverse people from getting elected, Morden said. 

"There's this  problem that if you're in, if you already hold office, you're very likely to be reelected," he said. "Just having that name that people know is often enough to get re-elected over and over again."

Competition may help voter apathy: Elections Regina

Nicol said he hopes the number of people running for some spots — such as nine people running to be Mayor of Regina — may help people show up to the polls. 

"When it's believed that there is a particular race that is either being highlighted or seems to be quite in a contested mode, that tends to bring people out," Nicol said. 

Another factor is that people may underestimate the importance of municipal elections, Morden said. However, as cities grow in size and complexity, some critical issues are dealt with at the local level, he said. 

"Think about transportation, everything connected to it from the ease with which we live our lives, too, to our efforts to contend with climate change as one example," Morden said. "It's not just about garbage collection. There are bigger issues that are being played out at the local level."

To combat voter apathy and inspire more people to run for public office, Morden said energetic outreach and public engagement early is key. Instead of putting out information when it's election time, Morden said there should be informal training offered for people wanting to run, and diversity should be established on organizations, non-profits, city boards and commissions in the city. 

"Those can be on ramps to participation in electoral politics," Morden said. "We have to try to get out the issue earlier."

Regina city council did recently expand the Police Board of Commissioners to include more civilians and at least one person who is Indigenous. 

Nicol said Elections Regina is working hard to combat voter apathy on social media and on their website. 

Pandemic may inspire more municipal voters

The COVID-19 pandemic may discourage some from heading to the polls, but Morden said it may actually help get more people involved in the democratic process. 

The Samara Centre conducted a survey of Canadians and found people had greater trust in federal institutions, greater cohesion and greater satisfaction is how democracy works nationally and locally. 

"I actually think that we have this unique civic moment that's borne of the crisis," Morden said. "We also have this unusual moment where Canadians are feeling a little bit more connected."

That means municipal and other elections will be interesting to watch during the pandemic. 

If people are concerned, Nicol said they could take advantage of the other ways to vote, including: mobile polling stations, drive-thru voting, curbside voting and mail-in ballots. 

The demand for mail-in ballots has shot up this year, Nicol said. For the 2020 election, people do not need to prove they will be away during the election and can apply for any reason. 

Nicol said typically no more than 100 people sign up for mail in ballots, however this year more than 700 people have applied for mail-in ballots. Nicol said he hopes the interest in mail-in ballots may mean more voter participation. 

Nicol said Elections Regina is prepared for 100 per cent voter turnout, but in reality he would like to see voter participation well above 50 per cent. Nicol knows that he may be criticized for having lofty goals. 

"I really wish, though, that people would take a very small amount of their time on Election Day or the three days of advance polls or the few minutes it takes to fill in a mail in ballot application, exercise the right to vote."