Don’t take voting for granted By Gazette Editorial Board April 26, 2025

 

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Editorial: Don’t take voting for granted By Gazette Editorial Board April 26, 2025 5:00 AM Aislin Elections Canada reported that a historic number of Canadians turned up at advance polls to cast their ballots over the Easter weekend — a 25 per cent increase in early voting over 2021. It is heartening in an era of waning civic engagement that a record 7.3 million voters took the time to stand and be counted. The showing was particularly strong in Quebec, where 1.5 million electors came out to polling stations ahead of time. Let’s hope it portends a healthy turnout for election day this Monday. This is, after all, a consequential contest triggered amid unprecedented economic and existential turmoil for the country. U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats of annexation are upending Canada’s relationship with its biggest trade partner, ally and friend — and shaking up the political landscape in the process. But high stakes does not guarantee high participation. Even when facing stark choices, many voters have decided to sit out recent elections. Last November’s U.S. presidential race is an interesting example — although there is nuance. The 2024 U.S. election had the “second-largest total voter turnout in U.S. history in absolute terms,” according to an analysis by the Council on Foreign Relations, with 156 million Americans casting ballots. However, the participation rate of 63 per cent was actually lower than in 2020, when it hit 66 per cent. The University of Florida’s Election Lab showed that about 90 million Americans stayed home, or about 36 per cent of eligible voters. In fact, more of the electorate skipped voting than the number that cast a ballot for Trump or the number that voted for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. That’s a big pool of non-voters, given the races for the presidency and control of Congress were determined by extremely slim margins. Some breakdowns have suggested a significant chunk of those who declined to make their marks did so because they were disenchanted with the Biden White House’s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some Jewish voters were upset that the Democrats weren’t staunch enough in their backing of Israel, while some Muslim and Arab voters felt Harris wasn’t strong enough in her concern for Palestinians. This has echoes of 2016, when Hillary Clinton lost to Trump because a majority of the eligible voters who failed to turn up on election day were Democrats, including some who preferred Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the primaries. Trump emerged victorious, defying the predictions of pollsters. In Canada, turnout can also make or break outcomes. In 2015, the participation rate was 68.3 per cent when the federal Liberals of Justin Trudeau won their first and only majority, in part due to a boost from a cohort of young electors. It was stronger than the 61.1 per cent of eligible voters who cast ballots in 2011 and the paltry 58.8 per cent who did in 2008. But levels have been sliding ever since 2015. It slipped to 67 per cent in 2019 and 62.6 per cent in 2021 — both elections in which voters were deeply split, resulting in minority Liberal governments (although the pandemic may also have been a factor in 2021). Election outcomes can, indeed, hinge on no-shows. So Canadians thinking of abstaining — whether out of apathy, disillusionment or an assumption that the results are a foregone conclusion — may want to think twice. There are no perfect candidates, platforms or policies. But voting is a sacred right and duty that must not be taken for granted, especially when democracy around the world is proving fragile.

 

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