Hamilton municipal election advance polling increases by 86%

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Published October 17, 2022 at 1:04 pm

Whatever the reasons of each individual, far more Hamilton residents turned out to advance polls for the municipal election.

Local voters are electing a new mayor, city council — with six open races after retirements — and trustees for the two largest Hamilton-Wentworth school boards, with Election Day set for Oct. 24. Per the city, 31,719 people cast ballots at the advance polls, which were held on the past two Fridays and Saturdays (Oct. 7-8, 14-15).

That represents an 86-per-cent increase over 2018, when there were fewer open council seats and an incumbent mayor. Four years ago, 17,052 advance ballots.

Advance turnouts do not correlate with higher overall turnout. The Public Record noted that was the case the two previous instances that Hamilton residents elected their political representatives. The Ontario election, held last June 2, had record-low 43.5 per cent turnout, even though more than 1 million voters went to advance polls, representing a better than 50-per-cent increase in early enthusiam. In September 2021, there was 62.3 per cent turnout for the federal election.

Generally, federal elections draw the highest rate of participation, followed by provincial elections, and municipal elections lag in third. In Hamilton, that has translated to turnouts ranging from 33.5 to 40.5 per cent over the last five cycles.

This time around, the city introduced a vote-by-mail option. About 3,500 people availed themselves of that option. But there was a privacy breach by the city last week. There was also a discrepancy between the promised delivery date for vote-by-mail ballots and when the city says they were sent. The voting guide said the ballots would be sent out by Sept. 26, four weeks out from election day, but electors who asked for them were told they had been sent by Oct. 3.

Former mayor and member of Parliament Bob Bratina, former Ontario New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath and former Hamilton Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Keanin Loomis are considered the three major mayoralty contenders. Former taxi driver’s union head Ejaz Butt is also a second-time candidate.

Wards 4, 5, 11, 12, 14 and 15 have open council races. Nine incumbents are running for re-election.

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