On April 19^th, Winnipeggers head to the polls for the third time in two years. What can Peg tell us about trends in Voter Turnout in our Municipal, Federal, and Provincial elections?  

Municipal Voter Turnout (green dots)

Voter turnout has increased significantly over the past two elections. Turnout was 38.2% in 2006, 47.1% in 2010, and 50.2% in 2014. The highest turnout in the past twenty years was in 1992, at 58.4%.

Provincial Voter Turnout (red dots)

Provincial voter turnout dropped from a high of 71.6% in 1999 to 59.3% in 2011, however, turnout has increased over the last two elections.

*This data represents voter turnout in Winnipeg ridings only

Federal Voter Turnout (blue dots)

The 2015 federal election saw the highest voter turnout in ten years. Turnout climbed from a low of 57.6% in 2008 to 69.4% in 2015. 

More facts available at: http://www.mypeg.ca/explorer/WellBeing/Governance/VoterTurnout/

Why is this important?

• Elections are the most fundamental processes of democratic engagement, and high turnouts are generally considered to be positive - voter turnouts are an indicator of the overall health of the democratic system.
• Voter turnout varies across the population, with some groups better represented at the polls than others. Age, education, and income are three major factors that influence voter turnout.

Peg data reflects only registered voters, not those eligible to vote.

Source of the data:

• Voter turnout data for all of Canada's previous federal elections can be found at: http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=ele&dir=turn&document=index&lang=e
• Voter turnout data for all of Manitoba's previous provincial elections can be found at: http://www.electionsmanitoba.ca/downloads/HistoricalSummary.pdf.
• Voter turnout data for Winnipeg's previous municipal elections can be found at: http://winnipeg.ca/clerks/election/election2014/pdfs/officialresults.pdf

Media inquiries:

For interviews on Peg, the data, or to be connected with organizations making a difference in the community, please contact:

Sumeep Bath, Media and Communications Officer

International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)

(204) 958-7740 | sbath@iisd.ca

About us:

Peg (mypeg.ca) is a community indicator system that measures the health of our community year over year – in ways that count. Peg is led by two partnering organizations – the International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD) and United Way of Winnipeg (UW).

Regularly, the team at Peg releases data and facts that help us understand our city better. This is one of those regular reports. Others can be found at http://www.mypeg.ca/blog.

Peg is the starting place for Winnipeg citizens, educators, policy makers, and many others to learn more about our city so we can lead change to create a better city for our children and their children. At Peg we can all learn how our lives, our neighbourhood and our city is changing – for the good and the bad. Learn more at www.mypeg.ca.