Notable jump in Hamilton voter turnout
There was 38.4 per cent participation in Monday’s election, compared to 33.6 per cent in 2014
VOTER
PARTICIPATION in Hamilton showed a notable upswing for Monday’s municipal election, four years after the worst turnout since the city amalgamated with its five suburbs in 2000.
Monday’s turnout of 38.4 per cent of registered voters across the city was about five percentage points higher than 2014’s dismal rate of 33.6 per cent.
The highest turnout was in the rejigged Ward 13, which now takes in Dundas and part of rural Flamborough. Nearly 44 per cent of voters there cast ballots.
By contrast, just 31 per cent of voters in the inner city’s Ward 3 cast ballots for Monday’s election. That’s a slight uptick from the 30 per cent turnout for the 2014 municipal election.
The reconfiguration of ward boundaries for this year’s election makes it challenging to compare results to previous years.
Voting patterns in Hamilton typically follow a social and income gradient.
Areas with higher rates of poverty tend to have lower rates of voter participation.
In general, that trend held true in Monday’s election.
Voter turnout in the lower former City of Hamilton was 35.8 per cent, compared to 40.3 per cent on the Mountain and 39.2 per cent in the five suburban communities.
There were encouraging signs, however, in the lower inner city, which usually experiences the lowest rates of voter turnout.
Downtown’s Ward 2 — which had the lowest participation rate four years ago at 29 per cent — jumped to nearly 36 per cent. Ward 4 rose from less than 30 per cent in 2014 to 35 per cent this year.
Since amalgamation, the highest turnout was 42 per cent in 2000, the year the municipalities merged.
Municipal elections in Hamilton traditionally attract lower turnout than federal and provincial elections.
The past two provincial elections have attracted more than 50 per cent of eligible voters in Hamilton, while 67 per cent of the city’s voters participated in the 2015 federal election.
In Burlington, voter turnout was just under 40 per cent, up significantly from the 34 per cent of eligible voters who participated in the 2014 election.