VICTORIA - Voter turnout in the British Columbia election dropped to around 50 percent, despite efforts by elections officials to encourage voting and predictions the figure would rise.
Headed into the May 12 vote an Elections B.C. press release said there were 3.2 million eligible voters in the province, of whom some three million were registered to vote.
Preliminary results show just 1.54 million people cast valid votes, about 220,000 fewer than in 2005.
That works out to 51 percent of registered voters, and 48 percent of those who were eligible. It is unclear from Elections B.C.'s website how many ballots were spoiled.
That turnout is down sharply from 58 percent in 2005 and 55 percent in 2001.
Chief Electoral Officer Harry Neufeld told the Globe and Mail in April he expected turn-out to rise in this election, adding he hoped it would be as high as 62 percent. “I am cautiously optimistic that B.C. may be leading Canada out of the voter turnout recession,” he said.
Neufeld was unavailable during the morning of May 13.
The election was the first conducted in B.C. with tightened voter identification requirements the B.C. Liberal government introduced last year. The Liberals made the change, the Tyee reported, even though Neufeld had advised making it easier to vote.
Similar voter identification laws may have prevented as many as 450,000 people voting in the October, 2008, federal election.
Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Reach him here.
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Skywalker
3 years ago
We're all pawns.
Most of the phony polling just before the election was showing the liberals winning by a wide margin. That would cause anyone to focus on the local scene and if you were in one of the Liberal strongholds, why would you bother voting. I suspected and I think I am right that polling was more to influence voters than to reflect their preferences. If we had a run-off ballot where the last person dropped off, you would see a greater turn out and even the Greens could then claim they had an influence as political parties would have to pay attention to then just in case their candidate did not get 50% plus one on the first ballot.
It was all part of the Liberal strategy in concert with CanWest. Even the hype about a useless carbon tax was part of the spin. Most people view the manipulation of the message and the bias as a reason not to bother. Nothing will change for their daily living.
Even the NDP has modified its policy to cow tow to the southern media. Not realizing that it would do no good in the end. These days the Media has far too much influence and power over our options at the ballot box. I'll be glad when CanWest finally goes under.
becchius
3 years ago
BC election turn-out
It is sad to see that the turn-out for yesterday's election had fallen to around 50% or so. But compulsory voting is not the answer either, as those who take no interest will waste their ballot one way or another. We can hardly call it 'democracy' when only a half of eligible voters actually vote.
Have we become so cynical, disillusioned, and blasé that we squander the one legal opportunity we have to effect our society?
When we see the turn-out in third world elections, of eager and excited voters, we should pause to consider that 'democracy' is something we have to work hard at and for.
Representative government demands an intelligent, efficient and informed electorate. We need to take care in selecting those who have the necessary training, and are intellectually competent, socially loyal and morally fit.
Perhaps our representatives should be recruited for public service, with no personal financial remuneration, except for actual expenses, to make sure they understand that they are to SERVE the people, and not the other way around.
And we, the people, need to brush up on our civic duties, get informed and do our part in creating a vibrant and healthy society.
'Some one should do something about...' is not really an option in a true democracy.
dave49
3 years ago
How disappointing...
How disappointing that when there are so many important issues on the table that people don't even vote. It's the same trend south of the border.
Vancouver's seen voter turnout jump around depending how angry people have been at the NPA. I guess British Columbians were not angry enough at the Campbell LIberals.
Just wait until the 'made in BC' recession hits in mid to late 2010 when we have to pay all kinds of bills.
Rod Smelser
3 years ago
Quarter of a million fewer voters than in Federal Elections
Yesterday, 1,546,000 Canadians went to the polls in the 39th BC provincial general election.
That's a quarter of a million fewer people than the 1,800,000 Canadians who voted in BC electoral districts in the 40th Federal General Election last October 14th. And than in turn is less than the 1,832,000 voters who turned out to vote in British Columbia in the previous federal general election in January of 2006.
Something is very, very wrong with this picture. It's time some of the pundits took this into account in their writeups on BC politics, and time that BC NDP provincial strategists took a look at what's happening in terms of turnout.
Skywalker
3 years ago
Blame the Opposition
If you can't capture the imagination of the voter, if the voter can't see any reason to think things will be different they won't bother. Maybe the NDP platform had some good things in it but these election are about personalities and the superficial. Carole couldn't do it and so people stayed home thinking nothing will change. The media helped create this mentality so it would have taken something very bold. The NDP has stopped being bold and left of center. Now it is just another middle of the road party. With the liberals in the extreme right and wandering to the middle from time to time just to confuse that is a real problem.
Skywalker
3 years ago
Blame the Opposition
If you can't capture the imagination of the voter, if the voter can't see any reason to think things will be different they won't bother. Maybe the NDP platform had some good things in it but these election are about personalities and the superficial. Carole couldn't do it and so people stayed home thinking nothing will change. The media helped create this mentality so it would have taken something very bold. The NDP has stopped being bold and left of center. Now it is just another middle of the road party. With the liberals in the extreme right and wandering to the middle from time to time just to confuse that is a real problem.
dorothy
3 years ago
And hey, there's more...
"the one legal opportunity we have to effect our society?"
There is one more, which a lot of people forget: Where we place our consumer dollar. It is a pretty powerful statement to simply NOT BUY IT.
"these election are about personalities and the superficial"
That again is our decision as voters:
DON'T BUY IT.
driftwolf
3 years ago
With a political system that
With a political system that is THIS corrupt, can you really expect people to give a flying fornication about it?
I used to, but after this election, I really, really don't think I'll bother voting again. I just don't see the point of it anymore.
edoherty
3 years ago
Axeing the turnout
Carole James' axe the tax campaign, and cynical flip flop on Gateway kept many regular e-day volunteers at home. Getting out the vote is how left of center parties win, and you can't do that without volunteers.
You can't lurch to the right (or towards climate change denial)without consequences.
Dan the socialist
3 years ago
Politicians have managed to
Politicians have managed to turn so many people off over the years.
Even the last Alberta election was a record low, the last federal election in Oct 2008 was also the lowest in history..so obviously we are seeing a pattern here....
It seems to me many people are fed up with politicians or is it something else?
asp
3 years ago
voter id
If the voter id requirements were a factor, I suspect that media misrepresentation -indicating that photo id was needed- may be to blame.
In fact, no photo id is needed. For instance, I used my hydro bill and my credit card as id.
Dan the socialist
3 years ago
Well since it is obvious
Well since it is obvious from this election, the last Alberta and last federal election people think their vote does not count.
What I would like to see so people think their vote means something and they get the representation they want is for a start when the election s over the percentage of seats you win in the house is the percentage of cabinet seats you get.
We have 308 seats so if party 'A' wins 154 seats on Election night which is 50% of the seats then they get only 50% of the Cabinet positions, then the next party if they get 25% of the seats in the House get 25% of cabinet spots and so on and this way all parties will have representation in Cabinet. Regardless whether the party that won the most seats gets a majority or minority.
The way it is now, especially federally 40% will get you a majority with all the cabinet seats etc and the 60% that did not vote for that party get no representation period. People feel left out, we have so many people with different ideas who support different parties and they should be represented instead of the same two being con or lib depending on who wins getting all the representation.
I don't think that idea is too far fetched. Lowering the voting age to 16 may be another idea to look at......
Rod Smelser
3 years ago
Someone's being extremely cynical alright!
edoherty
Carole James' axe the tax campaign, and cynical flip flop on Gateway kept many regular e-day volunteers at home. Getting out the vote is how left of center parties win, and you can't do that without volunteers.
Eric, you may fool many people with this type of thing.
But it's clear what David Suzuki and others environmental leaders like Tzeporah Berman were up to over the last several years. Pressure was placed on the BC NDP to oppose a popular policy, expanding the province's highway and freeway system, and to support an unpopular policy, the carbon tax. That's not a coincidence, it's a clever piece of political entrapment that was put together by Liberal and ENGO strategists hoping to maximize their mutual set of benefits.
Part of your role in this game is to keep heaping cheap and cheesy scorn on Carole James for refusing to swallow your bait. As for the charge of flip-flop, that's really just on construct on your part and you know it.