Despite the call by the Nigerian Canadian Newspaper for eligible electorates to fully participate in the electoral process to curb the mass apathy,a large majority of Ontarians decided not to bother heading to the polls in the just concluded Ontario election.
Alarmed by the mass apathy in the 2018 election, the NCNC had in her May 2022 editorial, strongly made a case for active participation in the electoral process – urging the electorates to be fully involved in the process.
However, according to preliminary Elections Ontario results, the province recorded the lowest voter turnout in history during the 2022 election, with just about 43.5 per cent of eligible voters casting a ballot.
Sadly, of the just over 10.7 million registered voters in the province, this equals just over 4.6 million votes cast.
That’s about 13.5 percentage points lower than the 2018 provincial election turnout.
It could be recalled that the last time voter turnout was below 50 per cent was in 2011 when just 48 per cent of Ontario residents over the age of 18 voted.
No other time in Ontario history has the voter turnout fallen that low.
Harping on the negative development, a strategist in the Prime Minister’s Office, Vandana Kattar, attributed the low turnout to a lack of engagement between politicians and Ontario residents, which may have led to a lack of motivation come election day.
She said “I find that voters didn’t understand what they were voting for. I think more so than negative politics, people don’t want to hear what the other guy isn’t going to do. They want to hear what you are going to do for you. And that goes back to not getting your message out and not sharing it”
According to the result released by the electoral body, Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives won with just over 1.9 million votes, leading to 83 seats in the legislature.
The New Democratic Party, who formed Ontario’s Official Opposition in the election, held onto 23.7 per cent of the votes (31 seats) while the liberals gained a bit of ground with 23.6 per cent of the votes (eight seats).
The Green Party obtained about six per cent of the votes, resulting in one seat in the legislature.
In a post-election chat with newsmen, Ford didn’t seem concerned by the low turnout, stating that Ontarians made a strong choice on election day.
He said “I think it is pretty clear the people gave us a mandate with 83 seats and we’re going to focus on our mandate. We travelled across this province for the last four to five weeks, setting a clear direction”
The Premier also averred that he would not be focusing on election reform, an item that other parties touched on in their campaign platforms. He said the system has worked “for over 100 and some odd years.”
Ford added that “It is going to continue to work that way”.
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