The numbers are out and Manitoba’s latest election points to a similar voter turnout as previous years.
Just over half of all registered voters in the province headed down to the polls this year. As of Wednesday afternoon, Elections Manitoba had the number penned at 55 per cent =– parallel with the stats from the province’s previous run with election season in 2019.
The final tally comes in the aftermath of an advanced polling campaign that saw just over 200,000 Manitobans cast their ballots before Election Day.
And while all it all pointed to a possible rise in voter turnout, one expert said he actually expected it to be lower.
“I had a brief look at the last four provincial elections and they’re all roughly in the mid-50s (in voter participation),” said Malcolm Bird, an associate professor at the University of Winnipeg’s department of political science.
“I was expecting it to be a little lower by a few points, just because I thought it was a relatively quiet campaign… I thought maybe that (translated) into lower-than-average interest in the election.”
Bird said all this was based on his personal take on the campaign. But he did point to how the voter turnout has been about the same in most recent elections.
According to him, the numbers can be viewed under a multitude of different ways, from wanting to push more people to participate in voting to viewing the current turnout as a good thing — based on the idea that people don’t want to participate because they’re happy or satisfied with how things currently are.
As for the upwards trend related to advanced voting, Bird said that its now easier than ever to cast a ballot.
But just because the process is easier, this doesn’t mean it would translate into more public participation.
“Many people, and myself included, have incorporated advanced polling into their voting behaviour… many people I think just find it more convenient,” said Bird.
“(There was) a big jump in people casting their ballots early but that didn’t translate into a higher proportion of the electorate turning out to vote.”
Ultimately, for Bird, the whole process of voting is a reminder of the “will of the people” being able to bring in a new government.
Premier-designate Wab Kinew and the Manitoba New Democratic Party will form a majority government following Tuesday’s results. A timeline of the NDP’s plans has not yet been released.
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