Fewer people turned out to vote in Montreal’s 2017 municipal election compared to 2013.
Pierre Laporte, with Elections Montreal, told Global News Monday about 42.46 per cent of eligible voters went to the polls.
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It was 43 per cent in 2013.
“But that’s the final score we have. We did expect more people.”
The small slide in voter participation is in spite of various measures taken by Elections Montreal during this campaign.
These included improving the accessibility of voting locations, distributing flyers with voting instructions and a $500,000 advertising blitz on radio, online and ads on public transit.
More people were registered to vote this election than last, and 91,218 voted in advance polls – representing about eight per cent of the electorate.
More than 11,000 ballots were rejected.
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Turnout was higher, over 70 per cent, for the last provincial and federal elections.
Some experts say people don’t think municipal government matters.
“They think the issues are too small for them to take an interest in,” McGill doctoral student Chris Erl, who studies municipal elections, told Global News before the election.
“Sometimes it is garbage collection and sewer pipes and parks, and they think these are issues better dealt with by bureaucrats.”
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Erl says the reality is municipal governments directly affect people daily, with issues like garbage collection, bike paths and public transit at the forefront.
— With files from Amanda Jelowicki
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