Deciding Votes 2019 – Voter Turnout and the Upcoming Federal Election
The 2015 federal election had a significant increase in voter turnout overall with 68.3 percent of registered voters
casting a ballot. This was 7.2 percentage points higher than in 2011 and the highest turnout in more than 20
years. Much has been written about a young, media-savvy Justin Trudeau running an optimistic campaign. His
campaign was combined with a desire for change among voters that inspired not only shifting allegiances in favour
of the Liberal Party, but also previously
disengaged voters to cast a ballot.
Many factors drive the results we see in a
riding race: voter turnout, party platforms,
issues in play, desire for change, quality of
local candidates and, of course, the party
leaders themselves. If we focus on voter
turnout, the question for this election is
whether those who turned out in
larger-than-usual numbers in 2015 will
show up at the polls again in this election.
First in a series.
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