Ontario election had second-lowest voter turnout ever, after only 2022 election

More Ontarians turned out to vote in Thursday’s election than they did three years ago, but only barely.

Source: Facebook

More Ontarians turned out to vote in Thursday’s election than they did three years ago, but only barely.

Elections Ontario reported that 45.40 per cent of registered voters took to the polls this year, making it the second-lowest voter turnout in Ontario’s history.

It represents a slight improvement in voter turnout when compared to the historically low 43 per cent turnout from the 2022 election.

With 99.93 per cent of polls reporting as of 12:49 AM, Elections Canada reported just over 45 per cent of the province’s 11,065,813 registered voters came out to vote during the winter election.

Some speculated that the low turnout numbers from 2022 were based on the fact that it was held during the pandemic, which could explain a difference in advance voter turnout.

Elections Ontario announced on Monday after 678,789 voters cast their ballots during advance voting, accounting for 6.14 per cent of eligible voters.

This is a decrease from the previous year in 2022, when 1,066,545 voters, or 9.92 per cent of eligible voters, voted early. This could result from the Ontario government and media encouraging alternative ways of voting, such as mail-in ballots or advance voting, to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Early voting data this year are more aligned with the pre-pandemic voter turnout in 2018, when 698,609 voters, or 6.8 per cent, showed up during five days of advance polls.

Despite Premier Doug Ford calling an election to secure a “strong mandate” from all Ontarians, just over 45 per cent of the voters turned out.

Ford won a third consecutive majority Thursday night – the first premier to do so since 1959, with 80 seats. The PCs secured at least 2,158,452 votes, or 42.97 per cent.

The NDP 931,796 votes and 18.55 per cent of the vote, once again securing their place as the official opposition with 27 seats. The Ontario Liberals brought in 29.95 per cent of the vote and 14 seats.

The Greens received 4.83 per cent of the vote with 242,822 votes, winning two seats.