A younger demographic appeared to make up a large number of people who took to election-day polls.
The snap election called by Premier Doug Ford initially saw lower advance voter turnout than in previous years.
Notably, the window for advance voting was shorter than in previous years, lasting only three days due to it being a snap election, while set-date elections see 10 days of advance voting.
Elections Ontario said 678,789 people cast their ballots in those three days. This number makes up only 6.14% of all eligible voters in Ontario.
Despite the low advance voter turnout, voting staff from one station said there was a decently steady flow of voters coming in; those who headed to the polls on election day appeared to be mostly from a younger demographic.
Buses of students and groups of friends entered the voting line to cast their ballots.
We asked a large demographic of all ages why they turned out to vote today, and those willing to speak with us largely swayed to the left.
“Doug Ford does not know what he is doing… Housing prices are up, food prices are up, Doug Ford needs to get out of office. It was very important for me to vote for the first time because that guy does not know what he is doing,” shared one Fanshawe student.
Despite some people expressing strong distaste towards Ford, Glen Morgan, a political professor at Fanshawe College, shared that the Conservatives may push through.
“I think Ford’s going to be okay in this election. You look at the polls, they’re going to get another majority. He might actually increase his seats. And again, this is an election that not a lot of people are paying attention to. Turnout, I think, is going to be surprisingly low in comparison,” said Morgan.
The timing of the election, with recent U.S.-Canada tensions, may be in Ford’s favour.
“It was an advantage for Ford because it kept everybody’s focus off the election and made it easier for him to just sort of keep coasting and do nothing and get re-elected,” said Morgan.
Nonetheless, young voters were passionate about their votes and voices.
“It’s important, you know, I find it hard to not be pessimistic about the state of the government and the state of all of our infrastructure, but voting is still important nonetheless because you don’t get change by doing nothing,” said one Fanshawe student.
