In almost any other political jurisdiction, a voter turnout of more than 77 per cent would be considered remarkable and cause for celebration. But not on Prince Edward Island, where anything below 80 per cent is cause for concern and sends pundits scrambling to find out why the electorate is becoming so apathetic. Yes, only on P.E.I., would people be scratching their heads and wondering how can we get voters more involved in the political process.
Do we have reason to be concerned? Well, when one considers that the usual turnout on P.E.I. for provincial elections has been close to 85 per cent for the past 40 years, then maybe there is cause for alarm. Both major parties suffered a significantly lower level of support Monday. The Liberals were down more than 4,000 votes and the Conservatives had more than 3,000 fewer votes.
A voter turnout in the mid 80 per cent range was expected Monday, especially in light of the record turnouts in three days of advance poll voting. A number of districts had upwards of 30 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots before the normal voting day. The average for the 27 districts was at 28 per cent.
So what went wrong? There was a strong element of negativity in the campaign which turned off some voters. The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) issue was thrown into the mix early, with unsubstantiated allegations of patronage and bribery.
Many people didn’t understand PNP, were just sick of hearing about it, felt that both parties benefitted, or that lawyers, accountants and agents in Charlottetown made the most money from the program. The issue turned off some voters who decided to wash their hands of the election process this time around.
Some Liberals might have taken the election for granted after a CRA poll last week suggested a big majority for the party. Perhaps they asked themselves “why vote?” The PNP issue caused a bit of a rift in the PC Party, with some supporters wishing that leader Olive Crane would stop her long-time campaign of hammering on PNP, when other issues were of more concern to them.
The weather may not have been great Monday, but light showers and drizzle should not have scared away too many voters. Not when you consider that 83.27 per cent of Islanders climbed over downed trees, skirted broken power lines and braved darkened polling stations to cast votes after hurricane Juan struck on Sept. 29, 2003. That huge turnout, despite major obstacles created by Mother Nature, earned P.E.I. national attention and accolades.
And then we have the issue of voter fatigue. We have been involved in a number of recent federal elections, including one this past May. And there were elections in the Island’s four major municipalities last November which occupied the attention of close to half the Island electorate.
Elections P.E.I. cannot be faulted in any way for the low turnout. The organization ran a professional operation from start to finish. There were some reports of people missed in the enumeration process but that has to be expected. The seven per cent drop in voter turnout was disappointing for Lowell Croken and it’s was not something that a chief electoral officer wants to see.
And if it is indeed a case of increasing voter apathy, then P.E.I.’s political parties had better sit up and take notice. Is this what they want to see as the end result after their campaigns conclude? It’s time they realize that trying to win at all costs does have consequences and the loser is our democratic process.
