Perspective: Poor Voter Turnout in Canada is 61.4%
I found this too funny not to share. From Global News:
Monday night’s poor voter turnout was typical for Canadian elections this millennium.
Only 61.4 per cent of registered electors turned up at the polls for the May 2, 2011 general election, according to Elections Canada.
This places it just above average for Canadian elections since the year 2000. While not as poor as the turnout for the 2008 election, which was just 58.8 percent, this election’s turnout is still extremely poor when compared to other elections in Canada’s history.
The average turnout for all Canadian elections since Confederation is 71 per cent. The highest turnout ever was in 1954, when Conservative leader John Diefenbaker won a minority government after facing off against Lester Pearson’s Liberals. 79.4 per cent of registered electors showed up to vote that spring.
Turnout fell below 70 per cent in the 1993 election and has remained below that threshold ever since. The new millennium saw a massive drop in voter turnout, which has varied between 59 and 65 per cent of registered voters since the 2000 election.
I will note now that for the US 2010 General election, voter turnout was 41.6% and in 2008 was a “poor” 62.2%. I guess, at least when it comes to politics, our best is simply not good enough for our northerly neighbors.