Like a smell of cynicism | Press

In the head of the events of the year 2022, we find the elections in Quebec. If the trend continues, the question we will ask ourselves above all else will be: what will be the magnitude of the Caquist wave?

But let us dare to suggest another crucial question: are Quebeckers going to vote in large numbers?

We are far from playing the prophets of doom, but the extent of citizens’ disaffection with the elections is a worrying issue.

And the year 2021, in this regard, will have been anything but reassuring.

According to preliminary data released by Elections Canada, the turnout in the federal election last September was 62.5%.

The situation was even more demoralizing during the municipal elections in Quebec, a few weeks later. Province-wide, a participation rate of 38.7% was reported. A notable drop compared to 2017, when it was 44.8%.

Even in Montreal, where there was yet a heated fight between two divisive candidates, the participation rate did not exceed 38.3%.

It would be wrong to believe that the voters were simply not there at the federal level because the ballot was deemed unnecessary. Or to attribute the disaffection of the electorate in 2021 in Quebec solely to the health crisis as well as to the conduct of two close ballots.

The diagnosis is more complex.

And the evil is both more serious and deeper.

Moreover, shortly after the municipal elections, the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec Pierre Reid publicly signaled his disappointment with the drop in the turnout.

“As responsible for holding the polls, I sincerely tell you that it concerns me,” he told us recently.

So much so that Pierre Reid is thinking of a possible “major project” which would allow the question to be addressed. “I think we’ll have to dig more; Shouldn’t we think of a citizens’ forum to understand the reasons? He asks himself.

At the start of the year, allow us to support this idea. And to add that it is urgent!

Note that in the 2018 provincial election, the turnout was 66.45%. This was a drop of almost five percentage points from the poll held four years earlier. It was also the lowest rate in Quebec since 2008.

In short, in Quebec as in Canada, citizens now obtain the passing grade, but not much more …

Our first instinct could be to question the electoral mechanics. There is something a little archaic about having to go in person, on one or more given dates, to a polling station.

There is certainly room for improvement. But let’s not believe that if we went to internet voting, we would solve this problem once and for all.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs has asked the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec to examine the possibility of implementing it as early as 2025. So much the better.

However, before you sip the champagne, it should be noted that experiences elsewhere indicate – especially during Ontario municipal elections – that the gains are marginal.

It is important to identify the causes of the decline in our citizens’ interest in elections. It is also important to find solutions – they will have to be multiple and mobilize several actors in our society.

Three researchers from Laval University who examined “the individual determinants of electoral participation in the 2018 Quebec general elections” recently provided us with relevant insight into the challenges to be overcome.

In particular, they listed the reasons given by voters who did not vote that year.

The same study also shows that age and level of education are crucial determinants of electoral participation. The oldest and most educated Quebecers generally vote more.

It will not be easy either to make a precise diagnosis or to find the remedies.

We already understand that it will be necessary to simultaneously fight against cynicism, disinformation and the disaffection of the voters. Just that !

But the complexity of the challenge should not especially intimidate us.