Improving voter turnout in the upcoming municipal election

Outgoing mayor Fred Eisenberger can’t explain why municipal elections don’t attract voters.

The last Hamilton election saw only 39 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots. Eisenberger says the city is implementing tactics from the past and present in an attempt to hopefully boost ballots.

“First mailing votes that can be achieved here people can request a mail-in ballot online up until this coming Friday, September 23rd, and then they can mail it in,” Eisenberger said.

Attracting young voters continues to be an issue. McMaster students CHCH News spoke with weren’t even aware that municipal elections were a month from now.

Political science expert Zachary Spicer says when it comes to enticing interest, no structural changes compares to who is running and what they stand for.

“The municipality is going to do whatever it can to try to make the vote accessible and equitable. But beyond that, they don’t have a lot of tools at their disposal to meaningfully increase turnout,” Spicer said.

For many young potential voters say they don’t feel heard at all. “There’s a housing crisis in Hamilton, and if you want people to come out, then you need to actually come up with solutions for these problems and actually follow through on them.”

One would think taking voting online could entice younger voters, but professor Spicer says digital voting actually doesn’t increase turnout by much, it only really allows already committed voters to cast their ballots easier.