May’s riding experiences near 80 per cent turnout
By Chandler Walter, Humour Editor
In 2008, the Vancouver Island riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands had a modest voter turnout of 70.40 per cent. This year’s election saw this number rise to 79.61 per cent, the highest in BC. This is due in part to the popularity of Green Party leader Elizabeth May, says political scientist David Moscrop.
Regaining her seat with an impressive 55 per cent of the vote, it looks as though Elizabeth May was a key factor in convincing almost four-fifths of eligible voters in Saanich-Gulf Islands to participate in democracy this past October.
Moscrop said that May’s popularity and status as a party leader was a probable factor in this rise in voter turnout, saying that May “has a deep base of support [in Saanich–Gulf Islands], and was likely to be the only Green MP, so there would have been some incentive to go and be a part of that. Especially if you were in support of the Greens.”
Not only was it the candidacy that influenced the turn out, but the voters themselves, said Moscrop. “It could also be that in smaller, tighter knit communities, where everyone knows everyone, there’s some pressure to go and to participate, because people are talking about the election.”
Nicole Aleman, a student at Camosun College and resident of Saanich, knows first-hand about feeling the responsibility to go out and cast a ballot: “There was definitely a sense of pressure. I had teachers, friends, family, coworkers, etc. talking about the importance to go vote.”
Aleman said that she was not at all surprised that her riding had the highest voter turnout in BC this general election. “Almost everyone in the community seemed pretty informed. It felt like the election was brought up in almost every conversation. The signs were on just about every piece of land that they legally could be.”
Debra Eindiguer, Elizabeth May’s Chief of Staff, also spoke of the voters residing in the Saanich–Gulf Island riding: “You have an electorate that is very informed, that stays engaged, and doesn’t throw their right to vote away.”
Eindiguer said that it was the combination of a dedicated candidate (May) and the democratically involved riding that may have been what filled ballot boxes on October 9–12 and 19.
“Elizabeth has kept her constituency very engaged over the years,” Eindiguer said. “She’s moving around the ridings. She’s hitting all the islands, she’s hitting all the different corners of the Saanich peninsula, making sure that she’s accessible to her constituency by being as close to where they live as possible.”
While Saanich-Gulf Islands did not take the top spot in Canada for voter turnout, they still landed well above the British Columbia average of 70.36 per cent, which in turn was still above the 2011 Canada wide average of 61.4 per cent.
