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Voter turnout in Canada

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Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. The following presents voter turnout figures for Canada's general elections as compiled by Elections Canada.

  • The median voter turnout for Canada's general elections since 1865 has been 70.3%.
  • The average voter turnout for Canada's general elections since 1867 has been 70.7%
  • The highest voter turnouts were in 1958, 1962, and 1963, when voter turnout was over 79%.
  • The lowest voter turnout on record was in 2008, when voter turnout fell to only 58.8%.
  • Voter turnout in the 2011 federal election, at 61.4%, was the third lowest in Canadian history.
  • Voter turnout rose sharply in the 2015 federal election to 68.5%, the highest turnout since 1993.

When low turnout reflects cultural values of disenchantment or indifference, the election may not be an accurate reflection of the will of the people. Low turnouts can lead to unequal representation among various parts of the population. In developed countries, non-voters tend to be concentrated in particular demographic and socioeconomic groups, especially the young and the poor.

Voter turnout in Canada's general elections

Voter turnout in Canada 1867-present

Voter turnout in Canada 1957-present

(Inaccurate graphs - graphs do not reflect data below)

Table - Voter turnout in Canada 1867–present

Date of election Population Number of electors on list Total ballots cast Voter turnout
1867-08-07 3,230,000 361,028 268,387 73.1%
1872-07-20 3,689,000 426,974 318,329 70.3%
1874-01-22 3,689,000 432,410 324,006 69.6%
1878-09-17 3,689,000 715,279 534,029 69.1%
1882-06-20 4,325,000 663,873 508,496 70.3%
1887-02-22 4,325,000 948,222 724,517 70.1%
1891-03-05 4,833,000 1,113,140 778,495 64.4%
1896-06-23 4,833,000 1,358,328 912,992 62.9%
1900-11-07 4,833,000 1,167,402 958,497 77.4%
1904-11-03 5,371,000 1,385,440 1,036,878 71.6%
1908-10-26 5,371,000 1,463,591 1,180,820 70.3%
1911-09-21 7,204,527 1,820,742 1,314,953 70.2%
1917-12-17 7,591,971 2,093,799 1,892,741 75.0%
1921-12-06 8,760,211 4,435,310 3,139,306 67.7%
1925-10-29 8,776,352 4,608,636 3,168,412 66.4%
1926-09-14 8,887,952 4,665,381 3,273,062 67.7%
1930-07-28 8,887,952 5,153,971 3,922,481 73.5%
1935-10-14 10,367,063 5,918,207 4,452,675 74.2%
1940-03-26 10,429,169 6,588,888 4,672,531 69.9%
1945-06-11 11,494,627 6,952,445 5,305,193 75.3%
1949-06-27 11,823,649 7,893,629 5,903,572 73.8%
1953-08-10 14,003,704 8,401,691 5,701,963 67.5%
1957-06-10 16,073,970 8,902,125 6,680,690 74.1%
1958-03-31 16,073,970 9,131,200 7,357,139 79.4%
1962-06-18 18,238,247 9,700,325 7,772,656 79.0%
1963-04-08 18,238,247 9,910,757 7,958,636 79.2%
1965-11-08 18,238,247 10,274,904 7,796,728 74.8%
1968-06-25 20,014,880 10,860,888 8,217,916 75.7%
1972-10-30 21,568,311 13,000,778 9,974,661 76.7%
1974-07-08 21,568,311 13,620,353 9,671,002 71.0%
1979-05-22 22,992,604 15,233,653 11,541,000 75.7%
1980-02-18 22,992,604 15,890,416 11,015,514 69.3%
1984-09-04 24,343,181 16,774,941 12,638,424 75.3%
1988-11-21 25,309,331 17,639,001 13,281,191 75.3%
1993-10-25 27,296,859 19,906,796 13,863,135 69.6%
1997-06-02 27,296,859 19,663,478 13,174,698 67.0%
2000-11-27 28,846,761 21,243,473 12,997,185 61.3%
2004-06-28 30,007,094 22,466,621 13,683,570 60.9%
2006-01-23 30,007,094 23,054,615 14,908,703 64.7%
2008-10-14 31,612,897 23,677,639 13,929,093 58.8%
2011-05-02 33,476,688 24,257,592 14,823,408 61.1%
2015-10-19[a] 35,749,600 25,638,379 17,559,353 68.5%
  1. ^ 2015 results preliminary and population projected (Source: Elections Canada,[1][2] and latest Statistics Canada population estimate[3])

See also

References