This map shows the individual polling stations in each of the Ottawa wards. Data found on the City of Ottawa website.

This map shows a heat map of Ottawa’s wards. The darker the shade, the higher percentage of ward voter turnout. Data found on the City of Ottawa website.

With the next municipal election set to take place during October 2014, I’d like to examine voter turnout rates in Ottawa.

I have collected data on the 2010 municipal elections, from the City of Ottawa database. I plan to look at voter turnout percentage rates, how many voting stations there are per ward and the spread of voting stations geographically.

I hope to see if any of these factors have an impact on voter turnout, be it positive or negative. It would make sense that if the closest poll is difficult to access for one reason or another, voters could be deterred. My next step would be to talk to elections officials, to see what changes could be made to rectify any issues that might be uncovered from the data.

This data has shown that even the highest rates of voter turnout in the Ottawa election (52 per cent turnout in the Capital ward) were much lower than the 61.1% federal turnout rate reported by Elections Canada in 2011.

I cite Federal electoral statistics because there aren’t many examples of Ottawa-specific municipal research or reporting on what factors contribute to voter apathy.  Looking at the geographic elements would be the first step in finding ways to increase voter turnout, as it id probably the easier one to rectify.

For example, preceding the 2010 election, Voter Assist terminals were established to make it easier for people with disabilities to vote. However, there were only 168 of these voting stations established throughout the city, meaning they could still be hard to access for the people that needed them.

Further, to fully round out the research I would take into account advanced polling locations and turnouts, and whether they positively impact voter turnout rates. I’d also like to look at municipal turnout rates compared to other Canadian municipalities, to compare and see what initiatives have been successful in increasing the voter turnout rate.

On a Federal level, approximately 50% of eligible voters who did not cast a vote cited “not caring” and “being too busy,” as reasons to abstain from voting.  A follow up assignment might be to see what would need to be done to change these perspectives.