Ontario Election: Voter apathy? Low turnout at Windsor advance polls

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Windsor West might be seen as a “highly contested” election battleground — but that doesn’t mean everyone is paying attention.  

Only 3.4 per cent of registered voters turned out last week over three days of advance voting in Windsor West, the only riding in the region not currently held by the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.

The turnout wasn’t much better in Windsor-Tecumseh, where 3.89 per cent of registered voters cast advance ballots.  

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University of Windsor political science professor Lydia Miljan said the apathy is no surprise, and likely an indication of what is to come on Thursday for election day. 

“I expected a lower voter turnout overall, and I thought the best indication would be the advanced polls,” Miljan told the Star. “This is a really short election cycle. It’s a snap election.

“The advanced polls were during a cold snap. And you have to be pretty motivated to get out of the house and vote in an election that looks like is a foregone conclusion.” 

Elections Ontario told the Star that 3,289 Windsor West voters cast ballots during advance polls on Feb. 20, 21, and 22. In Windsor-Tecumseh, there were 3,792 advance ballots cast.  

The numbers were slightly higher elsewhere in the region.  

Polls in Chatham-Kent—Leamington saw 7.14 per cent of registered voters show up, with a total of 6,310 ballots. 

In Essex, 8.69 per cent of voters took advantage of advancing voting, with a total of 9,477 ballots. 

The apparent lack of interest in advance voting was a theme across the province. 

Elections Ontario said 678,789 voters cast their ballots over three days of advance voting. That accounted for 6.14 per cent of eligible voters in Ontario, which was a considerable decline from the previous election when there was more time to get to the polls. 

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Elections Ontario said 1,066,545 voters, or 9.9 per cent of those eligible, voted over 10 days of advance polling in 2022. The agency did not provide local advance polling numbers for the last election before the Star’s print deadline.  

PC leader Doug Ford called a snap election in late January, setting in motion Ontario’s first winter election since 1981. The next Ontario election had previously been scheduled for June 2026.  

The Tories are gunning for Windsor West in hopes of clinching every riding in Essex County. Windsor-Tecumseh and Essex went blue in 2022. 

Ford launched his campaign in Windsor West, making clear his desire to oust NDP incumbent Lisa Gretzky, who has held the seat since 2014.  

The Liberals didn’t enter a candidate there, making way for a showdown between PC candidate Tony Francis and Gretzky, whose margin of victory narrowed from 2018 to 2022.  

But the high stakes have so far not translated to keen voter interest.  

“That’s a highly contested riding,” said Miljan. “So I think at least for the Conservatives and the NDP, they’ve got all hands on deck. I think there’s just more of the nature of it being a winter election.” 

She said the low turnout in Windsor West might also be a reflection of the fact there is no Liberal candidate on the ballot. 

“So there’s that group of potential voters that are either not being canvassed as heavily as Conservatives or NDP, or they have little motivation to go,” said Miljan. 

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