New figures suggest Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s appeal with young voters helped vault his Liberal Party from third place into first and a comfortable majority in the October 2015 election.

New figures suggest Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s appeal with young voters helped vault his Liberal Party from third place into first and a comfortable majority in the October 2015 election.
Photo Credit: PC / John Woods/canadian Press

Youth voter turnout up sharply in 2015 election

The Liberal Party spent more than four times than the Conservatives did on digital advertising and voter contact in last October’s federal election, and it appears that paid off. The Liberals were voted into office with a comfortable majority in October 2015.

The Liberal candidate Justin Trudeau was famous for taking selfies with people and made extensive use of social media in the election campaign.
The Liberal candidate Justin Trudeau was famous for taking selfies with people and made extensive use of social media in the election campaign. © Mark Blinch / Reuters

Over half of young people voted

New statistics indicate that many more young people voted and the increase was the biggest since the agency, Elections Canada started counting in 2004. Of young people between the ages of 18 and 24, just over 51 per cent voted in 2015. That was up 18.3 per cent.

Voter participation on aboriginal reserves also increased. Some 61.5 per cent of registered voters cast ballots, up 14 points.

Voter turnout in general was up sharply at 68.3 per cent.

The biggest voter turnout is often among those between 65 and 74 years old. 78.8 per cent of those eligible cast ballots in the October 2015 federal election.
The biggest voter turnout is often among those between 65 and 74 years old. 78.8 per cent of those eligible cast ballots in the October 2015 federal election. © Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press

Why not vote?

As for why people did not vote, a survey by Elections Canada found almost one-third said they were not interested in politics. Nearly a quarter said they were too busy.

The Liberal Party spent 43-million dollars on the campaign. That was 1.2-million more than the Conservative party spent.

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