Municipal election polling station (Image credit: CFJC)

By Connor Gunn

LOW VOTER TURNOUT

Voter turnout drops in 2022 election to 29 per cent, leaves city staff disappointed

Oct 17, 2022 | 4:07 PM

KAMLOOPS — Only 29 per cent of eligible Kamloops voters turned out to the polls on Saturday (October 15) and during advance voting days, a number that dropped by one per cent compared to the 2018 election.

The percentage of participation is low, according to the city, but it’s consistent.

“We’re really on par with the turnout in Kamloops traditionally and it can be — in a sense demoralizing — or surprising but I’m still very happy with how the election went, we had a very high turnout at the advanced polls, we had a new poll in Juniper and we had mail ballots open to everybody,” says Chief Election Officer Amanda Passmore.

“I was kind of hoping it would be more. I really did. It seems to be consistent around here. It’s pretty much on par. We get what we get and people are going to get what they’ve elected,” adds Councillor-elect Stephen Karpuk.

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Current mayor Ken Christian says the low voter turnout issue stretches farther than just in Kamloops.

“It’s not just a Kamloops problem. I think we need to talk to the Government of British Columbia to look at other options for voting — but we also need to do a better job of advertising how important it is.”

He added people may be hesitant to get out and vote and the importance of voting is not nearly expressed enough.

“People are very quick to click ‘Send’ on a complaint but they seem reticent to actually get up and go and vote, it’s only something we ask of them once every four years,” says Christian.

“It’s disappointing because I know people care, and to see only 29 per cent of people go out to [show that they] care — it can feel disheartening. But when we walk around at the Farmers Market or something, people care so much about this city,” adds Passmore.

Slightly more than 23,000 ballots were cast in the election out of just more than 80,000 eligible voters.

Incumbent councillor Mike O’Reilly says a positive takeaway was the increase in advance poll voting.

“We saw great success at the advance polling station at McArthur Island. Having that extra accessibility really made a difference and what we’ve seen in 2014 and 2018 is that the advance polls grew in all of those years.”

As another election has come and gone, Christian and city staff say the onus needs to be on public engagement before the next election comes around.

“Hopefully, in this term [the city] will make some changes that will drive more Kamloopsians to the polls at our next civic election,” Christian adds.

“One of things we’re going to look at is adding another poll to the Aberdeen neighbourhood. Aberdeen Elementary was exceptionally busy all day. I mean the numbers were virtually the same but that team needed more hands throughout the day, so we might put something up at Pacific Way,” says Passmore.

She added that the city may look into adding another polling station on the North Shore to create a fourth station and potentially allow more residents to cast their ballots.