Windsor-Essex gears up for local elections after city's flat provincial voter turnout

It's the dog days of summer but staff in the City of Windsor's clerk's office are already looking to October. 

They're busy planning for municipal elections on Oct. 22, when residents across Windsor-Essex will elect their new mayors, council members and school board trustees. 

But the office has their work cut out for them, after Windsor saw some of the lowest voter turnout numbers across the province in June's provincial election. 

"We try and encourage voters to come out and vote, it's a very important thing," said Chuck Scarpelli, the city's manager of manager of records and elections. "The clerk tries her best to make sure the voters are actually informed."

The last municipal election in 2014 saw about 37 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot. Scarpelli said that the city sees anywhere from 38 to about 43 per cent of voters turn out — which is a "very typical for a city our size."

In June of 2018, Windsor-West had a 44 per cent voter turnout while Windsor-Tecumseh saw a 48 per cent turnout. Those two ridings were among the lowest turnout numbers in Ontario's provincial election. 

For Windsor resident Hillary Peters, she wants to see more young people voting.

"There's a lot of talk these days about young voter turnout and the capacity that young voters have to make real change and I think some young people don't think that happens on a municipal level so they don't think it's that much of a priority," she said.

Scarpelli said voter turnout can vary for a number of reasons, but the proximity of the provincial and municipal elections might have an effect on this upcoming election's numbers.

"There's also election fatigue after we had the provincial election when there's a lot of advertising for that, people voted there, and then along comes a municipal election and people could just be plain tired of voting," he said.

Laura Moy, clerk for the Town of Tecumseh, said local issues can affect whether people vote or not.

Tecumseh saw a high voter turnout in 2014 at a whopping 52 per cent, something that Moy hopes they can recreate again this year. 

"We had great success, we would love to see voter turnout as significant as it was last time," she said.

Moy said the types of races can also affect voter turnout. For example, a mayoral race tends to bring out more people.

Bringing the ballots to you

But the clerk's office in Tecumseh, much like in Windsor, is working to make sure their residents know about the election and know how and when to vote. In 2014, the town introduced voting by internet and telephone for the first time.

"We've tried to make voting as accessible as possible for our eligible electors," said Moy. 

Scarpelli said his office is focused on making it easy for people to vote and have access to ballot boxes.

This fall, five travelling advanced polls will hit the streets of Windsor over five days. Anyone from anywhere in the city can use these poll stations to vote and their name will be marked on the voters list electronically. 

Two of the stations are accessible for people with disabilities. The units are equipped with a keypad and hands-free "sip and puff," or rocker paddle so that people can mark their ballots. 

Scarpelli said the city will also bring advanced polls to places like the Downtown Mission, to encourage voters there to register and cast a ballot. It's something the city has done in previous years, too. 

On top of that, Scarpelli said his office has organized a "shop and vote" night at Devonshire Mall for Oct. 6.

"You don't have to live in the area, you don't even have to have your voter information card," said Scarpelli. "If you happen to be there you can just stop in."

The city will be sending out voter information cards in September and October, as well as brochures explaining how and when to vote. 

More information on the municipal elections can be found on the city's website, or on the website of your town or municipality.