Murphy's Logic: Timing, voter cards, apathy caused low turnout in N.S. election

Murphy’s Logic: Voter turnout Steve Murphy looks at why voter turnout varies in the Maritime provinces.

With a nod to Charles Dickens, provincial elections in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia this fall have produced a tale of two turnouts.

It wasn’t exactly the best of times when 66 per cent of New Brunswickers voted in October … but it most certainly was the worst of times when only 45 per cent of Nova Scotians voted a month later – the lowest turnout ever.

In two provinces with so many things in common, this is a notable difference. In New Brunswick, a clear majority voted; in Nova Scotia, a clear majority didn’t.

We need to look at why.

A voter turnout with a perilous drop to below 50 per cent may be explained in part by the timing of the election – it was eight months early and held in late fall. There was also a complete lack of suspense; polls correctly foretold the Progressive Conservative landslide and may have even helped create it.

But Elections Nova Scotia’s decision not to send out voter information cards because of the threatened postal strike was an obvious mistake. Those voter cards remind people when to vote and where.

It also seems likely that the overall trend toward lower voter turnouts is a reflection of what Dickens characterized as “the epoch of incredulity” – an era of unwillingness to believe in our institutions, in elections and even in democracy itself.

Those who chose not to vote might well ask themselves what they do believe in, in the best of times and the worst of times.