In advance of next year's municipal election, the Town of the Blue Mountains (TBM) wants to increase public awareness and draw out more eligible voters.
According to a recent staff report, the average voter in TBM is in their 60’s and on election day in 2018, there were 12,066 eligible electors - an increase of 1,272 over the 2014 voter numbers.
Resident voter turnout in 2018 was 3,316, accounting for 55 per cent of the overall voter turnout. Non-resident voter turnout was 1,469 electors, accounting for 25 per cent of the overall voter turnout.
“You can see that there is a huge difference in turnout between our residents and non-residents,” said TBM Mayor Alar Soever. “So, the non-residents would be people that have a mailing address, I assume, somewhere else other than in the Blue Mountains.”
Unlike the provincial election, individuals are eligible to vote in TBM even if they reside in another town or city – as long as they own property in TBM.
"I realized that some people feel that [if they] own property in the Blue Mountains, but live in Ancaster, [they] can't vote in the Blue Mountains. But that's not true,” said Corrina Giles, town clerk for TBM.
In order to be eligible to vote in TBM, an individual must reside in TBM, or be an owner or tenant of property, or be the spouse of an owner or tenant.
“You must own property individually… corporations cannot vote,” Giles explained, noting this was a common question in the last election.
“If my home were owned by a number company, and I owned the numbered company and I reside in that home, I wouldn't be able to vote unless I can provide something that would link me to the property,” she said, suggesting a utility bill.
Voters must also be Canadian citizens; at least 18 years old; and must not be prohibited from voting under the Municipal Elections Act, or otherwise by law.
“It's obvious that either the people that don't live here full-time don't care, or they're not getting the information,” Soever said. “I think it's very important that, when considering voting methods, we look at ways of being able to reach out to these voters as well.”
According to Soever, if TBM were able to acquire an additional 934 eligible voters, it would give the municipality one more vote at the Grey County Council table, giving TBM more say on the larger, upper-tier issues.
In an effort to increase voter turnout and gather a better understanding for how electors would like to vote, TBM will be launching a survey in April.
The 2018 election was the first time TBM used a telephone and online voting system. Previous elections in 2006, 2010 and 2014 were conducted by mail with the use of tabulators. The 2018 election also saw the highest voter turnout of those four elections with 39.6 per cent.
The election is set for Oct. 22, 2022 and the deadline for council to adopt a bylaw for alternative voting methods is May 2022.
“The survey will go out to the public and basically asks what method of voting they would like to see for the election,” said Giles.
Town staff are expected to release a survey in April with a report coming back to council with the results in early May.
