Where were the voters? Low turnout at the polls in Hamilton and Niagara regions

If you live in Southern Ontario, there's a good chance you didn't vote in the municipal election. 

Based on the unofficial ballot data from each city, voter turnout was low across the board. In Toronto, just 29 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot. Voters in Ottawa were much more engaged with 43.79 per cent voting. Citizens in the Hamilton and Niagara area fell in between:

• Hamilton - 35.38 per cent
• Burlington - 27.22 per cent
• Niagara Falls - 27.53 per cent
• St. Catharines - 26.31 per cent
• Grimsby - 37.54 per cent
• Norfolk County - 36.33 per cent

As one of the only municipalities in the region to break 40 per cent, Witteveen feels that the key to high voter turnout was to make the election process more accessible through methods like phone or online voting.

"I think we've got to move the community into the 21st century and allow flexibility for those that have mobility issues or when [the election] may not be timed well," he said. "Anything to get greater participation is basically money well spent from the taxpayers."

"I think a lot of people may be busy in their lives and they forget about it, but with online voting, they get the card. They could just sit in their house and log on and it's a very simple process," he said.

According to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, out of the 417 governments holding elections only 217 chose to include a combination of phone or online voting to their ballots.

Overcoming voter apathy

Liam Midzain-Gobin, assistant professor of political science at Brock University said that much of Hamilton's low turnout stems from dissatisfaction with the councillors and local government. 

He said events like Chedoke Creek's "sewergate" and the Red Hill Parkway inquiry damaged the city's public image and didn't help already disengaged people reconnect. 

"Lower voter turnout for the most part is a result of when people are kind of turned off… they're just very tired of paying attention to a municipal election that they're already been turned off from," said Midzain-Gobin.

Peter Graefe, associate professor of social sciences at McMaster University said that the way these elections were lacking in advertising or handling of mail-in ballots undercut the perceived importance of the government.

"I think compared to a number of other municipalities, Hamilton maybe does less in terms of trying to advertise voting and participation… I've seen comments that other municipalities seem to do more to remind their residents that there's an election and to encourage them to vote," he said.

Graefe says that one way to improve the electoral image would be for electors to work in teams or political parties similar to how federal elections are organized. In this method, Graefe said that a sense or organization would resonate stronger with potential voters than individual candidate campaigns and allow these candidates to lower their costs of campaigning.

Witteveen says "I don't know why people don't see this as their chance to elect somebody that will have a say, at a level of representation that can make a difference."