Why it’s tough to get out the vote

Campaigns are popping up across Canada encouraging people to vote, but often they are ineffective. “Obviously, they haven’t been too effective because the voter engagement levels have remained basically the same,” says Heather Bastedo, a former professor of political science at Queen’s University.

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Voter turnout in Canada has remained at around 60 per cent in the last few federal elections.

Less education, less chance of voting

Young people, older people and new Canadians with lower levels of education are less likely to vote.

In questioning people across the country for her thesis, Bastedo found that older people who didn’t vote sometimes had “less successful” interactions with government.  “So they were in a sense turned off of voting… They feel that they can’t make a difference and that their voice isn’t heard and/or their issues aren’t being talked about.”

Some feel ‘politicians don’t care about them’

Bastedo found similar comments from young people with less education, but in addition, many had never been to the polls, their parents never took them and they had never been enfranchised. “They don’t feel that anyone’s talking to their issues and, in particular, politicians don’t care about them.”

‘Could be quite grim for democracy’

As people get older, have families, pay taxes and have jobs they tend to become more politically engaged. But people who have never voted are less likely to vote in future and Bastedo is concerned that here are so many of them. “Voting at some point in time is a predictor of voting in the future and (if) they’ve never voted at all things could really be quite grim for democracy.”