Scott Radley: The change came but where were the voters?

This was supposed to be The One. The election that drove a fed up and angry electorate to the ballot box in huge numbers to bring change. That was the theory, anyway.

The change part happened. No doubt about that. Council will have 10 new faces when it's sworn in next month. So that half of the equation lived up to the advance billing.

But the massive turnout? Not close.

A grand total of 35.4 per cent of eligible voters in Hamilton bothered to participate. Basically one in three. Kind of dismal, really.

The fact that things were down all across Ontario and we were ahead of Toronto (29 per cent), London (25.5) or Kitchener (20.2) might make us feel a little better but that should be muted. At a time when we heard there was such massive hunger for transformation around here, we should've seen swarms of folks motivated to cast a ballot. Because if that's not reason to vote, what is?

Instead the number actually dropped from 2018.

Of course, that election was the LRT showdown. The buildup to that had been long, nasty and heavily hyped, and everyone had an opinion. It was all anyone was talking about. So falling behind that one might be explainable.

But even that day could hardly be called a full-on celebration of the democratic process. Not when only 38.4 per cent bothered to have their say on what felt like the defining issue of this city's recent history. The election before that was no great triumph, either. Just 33.6 per cent.

And the one before that? That would be the stadium election, which was just as heated as the LRT race. Only 40.5 per cent came out that day. Which was still better than 2006 and 2003 when the totals were 37.3 and 38.

Clearly this isn't a new issue around here. Or more broadly across the province. The question is why.

There are as many theories as there are people offering them. Election fatigue? A loss of faith in politics? Not enough civics taught in school to burn voting into young peoples' DNA? Voting machine problems? Social-media rage tuning people out? You probably have one of your own.

A lack of online voting is a popular one. Though Brant offered that option this year and still drew just 27 per cent. Kingston did, too, and it staggered in at 30.6 per cent. And Thunder Bay got just 42.6 per cent with it. Numbers like those don't lead to the suggestion that technology is the magical solution.

One more possibility?

When federal MPs make $186,000 and provincial MPPs make $140,000 - much more if they're cabinet ministers in both cases - but councillors come in around $100,000, we send a strong message about where the latter stand on the food chain.

Forget that councillors have the greatest direct impact on their constituents' lives. This perception that they're the steerage class of the political Titanic might explain why the 2021 federal election saw 62.5 per cent turnout, the provincial election earlier this year attracted 43.5 and Monday's local vote in Hamilton barely passed 35.

Some have suggested this all points to one easy solution. Mandatory voting.

It's not. The only thing worse than having few people vote would be forcing people who have absolutely no interest in the system to cast a ballot. If you want any kind of good governance, you don't demand that those who don't pay attention and don't care suddenly make the decisions. That's like asking someone who doesn't watch movies to pick the Academy Award winners. It makes no sense.

Unfortunately, that leaves us where we are. Whatever the reason or reasons, we barely touch 40 per cent in a good year. It would be bleak to think that's our high-water mark but such seems to be our reality right now. As it has been for a while.

Complain a lot. Vote a little.

Maybe next time it'll be different.

Scott Radley is a Hamilton-based columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sradley@thespec.com