Watchdog fights for right not to vote

Democracy Watch pushes Ontario to better inform voters they can decline ballot

With more Ontarians than ever flex- ing their non-voting rights, a national democracy watchdog is fighting to get those choosing “none of the above” to the polls this spring.

In a letter penned to Elections Ontario this week, Democracy Watch co-founder Duff Conacher threatened to launch a court challenge over allegations that information about declining a ballot was buried on the provincial agency’s website.

Citizens who aren’t inspired by any of the choices on the ticket in the June 7 election have the right to formally forfeit their vote, and Elections Ontario will count it separately in the final voter turnout tally.

Unlike staying home or spoiling a ballot by doing things like crossing out the name of a candidate, declining a ballot distinguishes voter intent.

A protest vote sends the message that someone is dissatisfied with their political options.

Ontario’s last election saw the highest number of declined ballots since at least 1975.

“Some voters may not support any party that has a candidate in their riding, or may not support any of the parties’ platforms, and they have the right to be informed by Elections Ontario that they have the right to vote for ‘none of the above’ by declining their ballot,” Conacher wrote in the letter to Chief Electoral Officer Greg Essensa on Monday.

Hours later, Elections Ontario’s website was updated.

Information on picking none of the above was added to a handful of pages, where previously it was only mentioned once out of at least a dozen documents on the site concerning voting, according to Conacher.

Elections Ontario said it regularly refreshes content “to ensure that our information and services are up-todate, helpful and easy to access.”

“As we move toward the 2018 general election, we will be making on- going improvements to our communications tools to better inform voters on the many days and many ways to vote,” spokesperson Jessica Pellerin said in an email.

Conacher wants the non-partisan body to go further and include declined ballot details in ads about the election, education materials distributed in schools and on information packages for new voters and registration cards.

“If it fails to do so, (Democracy Watch) will challenge in court Elections Ontario’s negligent and undemocratic failure to inform voters of their full voting rights,” said Conacher, who penned similar requests ahead of the 2011 and 2014 elections.

A record 29,937 Ontarians declined their ballot in the last vote, re- presenting 0.6 per cent of all those who turned up at the polls.

That was a significant spike compared to 2011, when just 2,335 people, or about 0.05 per cent of ballots cast, were forfeited.

Many at the time attributed the jump to awareness campaigns informing voters of their rights.

The previous record was set in 1990 — the year Ontarians elected Bob Rae, the province’s as-yet only NDP premier — with 20,795 people officially opting out.

Elections Ontario also recorded 22,885 rejected ballots and12,124 unmarked ballots in 2014. Overall turnout that year ticked up slightly to 51.3 per cent, from 48.2 per cent in 2011. That said, turnout in 2014 was the second-lowest recorded since at least 1977.

Ontario is one of four provinces that allows citizens to formally forfeit their vote, along with Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba.

Manitoba also reported historic highs for declined ballots in 2016.

There is no option to do so in federal elections.

A record 29,937 Ontarians declined their ballot in the last vote, representing 0.6 per cent of all those who turned up at polls