'Bottom of the barrel': London, Ont. sees historically low voter turnout

The City of London saw historically low turnout for Monday's municipal election, according to local political science experts.

According to the city's unofficial results, roughly 71,000 ballots were cast in total, out of an eligible population of about 280,000. It adds up to a little more than a 25 per cent turnout.

"This is the bottom of the barrell," says Matt Farrell, a political science teacher at Fanshawe College.

Typically, municipal elections see lower turnout than other levels of government, he says, but even then, a low number would normally be considered in the 40 per cent range.

"It's not representative if only a handful of people are voting," says Farrell.

It is a significant drop-off according to Andrea Lawlor, a political science professor at King's University College.

"That is a lot in a type of election that already doesn't draw a majority of voters to the polls," she says.

Contributing factors primarily include voter fatigue, they say. Ontario has seen two federal elections, plus a provincial election, since the last round of municipal votes in 2018.

There is likely some voter apathy, where there were not significantly divisive issues on the campaign trail, they add.

"I just don't feel confident in anybody right now," says Dan Cross, an eligible voter who did not cast a ballot. "I just didn't want to go and just throw a vote down, just to say I did my civic duty."

With only a 25 per cent turnout, it means roughly three in four eligible voters chose not to have their say in who governs them.

"That does raise some big questions about how representative the council really is," says Farrell.

The successful candidates now have some catching up to do, says Lawlor, in order to connect with Londoners who did not vote.

"They're fatigued, they're tired of politics as it is," she says. "Or they want change, but they didn't think voting was the best mechanism to produce that change."