Mississauga, Brampton aiming to boost voter turnout in 2018 election

Mississauga opens its advance polls on Friday, with the goal of driving up voter turnout in a fast-growing city where just over one-in-three had their say in the last election.

Neighbouring Brampton isn't much better, despite the fact that the city is entering its second high-stakes election in a row.

• In Brampton, 30.8 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot in 2006, 33.1 per cent voted in 2010 and 36.2 per cent voted in 2014.
• In Mississauga, the numbers climbed from just 20 per cent of eligible voters in 2003 to 33.1 per cent in 2010 to 36.2 per cent in 2014. 

Mike McGregor, the principal investigator with the Canadian Municipal Election Study — a nationwide project looking at why people don't pay more attention to local elections — says many voters don't realize the importance of city governments.

"It comes down to the fact that there's this widespread belief that municipal government doesn't matter as much as the other orders of government," he told CBC Toronto outside Mississauga city hall.

"We're doing focus groups in Mississauga, and that's the answer we're getting every time."

McGregor said lower turnout can also be partially attributed to the large number of immigrants living in the city — 57 per cent of Mississauga's population identify as visible minorities.

"There's a lot of evidence that suggests visible minorities and new Canadians vote in lower levels, particularly in local elections, than do white and Canadian-born residents."

Currently, there are no visible minorities on Mississauga's city council.

But while some avoid getting involved in local democracy, others never miss a chance.

Lily Maharaj said she's voted in every election since she moved to Canada 45 years ago.

"When you take citizenship that's what you do," she said.

"I do it because I believe everybody gets a better life here. I don't know why they take citizenship if they're not going to do it."

Some just 'not interested,' no matter how fierce the race

Mississauga's low voter turnout may also stem from the power of incumbency. In 2003, when just one-in-five voted, Mayor Hazel McCallion was in office and running virtually unopposed (McCallion served as mayor from 1978 until 2014),

High-profile mayoral races have led to higher turnouts, McGregor said.

For example, Toronto's last mayoral race between John Tory, who is seeking re-election this October, Doug Ford and Olivia Chow brought some 60 per cent of the city's voters to the polls. 

In this election, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie is seeking to defeat seven other candidates to win a second term in office. 

Meanwhile in Brampton, Mayor Linda Jeffrey is facing off against the former leader of the provincial Progressive Conservative party, Patrick Brown. 

• 5 issues to watch as Brampton approaches a 'watershed' municipal election

Journalist San Grewal, who runs the Brampton news website The Pointer, told CBC Radio's Metro Morning he's expecting a big turnout this time around. 

"If there aren't close to 50 per cent of the electorate coming out to vote, I would be disappointed," he said.

But Mississauga resident Stan Augustyn said he's staying away from politics, no matter who's running.

"I'm not interested," he said. "There's a saying: … Politicians are crooks … so that's why I kind of don"t vote."

Online voting eyed as a solution

Victoria Jnatiuk said she thinks online voting could improve the numbers.

"People just don't have time," she said of the low voter turnouts.

"It would be convenient and much much faster without any traffic."

More than 200 municipalities in Ontario do offer voting over the Internet, including Markham, where voters have been able to cast an online ballot since 2003. 

During that time, Markham has seen its voter turnout climb from 28 per cent to 37.1 per cent. 

McGregor said widespread online voting could become a reality in the future, but cautioned that some voters may still feel like it won't be as secure.

Getting out the vote

So what are city officials doing about this?

Mississauga is launching the "Vote Anywhere" initiative, which allows eligible voters to use any polling station in the city during advance polls.

Those will be open on Friday, Oct. 5 and Saturday, Oct. 6 at the Mississauga Civic Centre and Saturday, Oct. 13 and Sunday, Oct. 14 at 22 locations across the city.

They are also using paid advertising and targeted social media posts to raise awareness about the upcoming election.

The city of Brampton has launched an ad campaign of its own, urging voters to cast a ballot.

"Roads, parks, public transit, emergency services, recreation, libraries … if even one of these services matters to you, your vote counts," the ad says.

They've also set up a street outreach team to attend community events and engage public transit users.