Voter turnout in Windsor is trending downward

Monday's municipal election in Windsor showcased some of the lowest voter turnout in recent memory.

Unofficial city results indicate 31.57 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot in Windsor. It's down from 35 per cent in 2018 and 37 per cent in 2014.

Amna Masoodi is a University of Windsor student and political watcher. She said the city could have done more to improve voter turnout.

"Advanced voting polls were only in certain wards, the timing was changed and people weren't used to it," said Masoodi. "Even in front of me, I was at a poll at 8 p.m. and I saw people coming in thinking it would close at 9. They were told 'No sorry, it's already done. You can't vote.'"

In Windsor, voter turnout has been on a downward trend. In 2010, 46 per cent of the eligible population cast a ballot, which is the highest it's been in the last 16 years.

Weather, advanced polling numbers and the competitiveness of political races all impact voter turnout, according to the city's manager of records and elections Terri Knight Lepain.

Drive thru voting and three additional days of advance voting are a few initiatives she said were aimed at improving turnout.

However, there are alternative voting methods that were not used during this election — Internet, phone and mail. It's city council's decision in terms of how elections are conducted and paper ballots were the chosen method in 2022, Lepain said.

"That wasn't something we explored this time, just due to cost and resourcing constraints and the pandemic and the availability of technology," said Lepain.

New voters list technology is something that's been implemented "that could set us up" to use some of other methods of voting in the future.

In the middle of 2023, Lepain expects the city to engage with residents and candidates about what they want to see in the next election. This year also marks the first time voters could scan a QR code at the polls to fill out a survey about their experience. The survey is also available on the city's website until the end of November.

Given the prevalence of social media, people may use those platforms as a way to express their political views rather than heading to the ballot box, according to Gavin Adamson, associate professor at the Toronto Metropolitan University School of Journalism.

"When it comes to the polls, maybe sometimes they don't feel like their vote is going to count anyway," said Adamson.

Voter turnout across the province in the 2018 municipal elections hit a record-low 38 per cent, according to data published by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario dating back to 1982. In those 40 years, province-wide turnout in municipal elections has never surpassed 50 per cent.

Across the province, one-third of all mayors and reeves — many of them in smaller communities — have already been acclaimed after running unopposed, according to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.

In LaSalle and Tecumseh, both the mayor and deputy mayor positions were acclaimed as they ran unopposed. Tecumseh saw a voter turnout of 28.72 per cent.

In Essex, where Sherry Bondy was elected mayor, 40.95 per cent of those eligible cast a vote.