How community organizations are trying to fight voter apathy in this Toronto election

Music blasted through speakers as people chatted enthusiastically outside a Toronto venue, moving between tents, a hotdog cart and an ice cream truck on a sunny October day.

What looked like an outdoor festival at Lawrence Heights Community Centre was a fair held to raise civic engagement and encourage the city’s residents to vote in the Oct.

26 municipal election.

The non-partisan event, organized by North York Harvest Food Bank, was attended by several groups including Voice the Vote, a joint initiative by Toronto Metropolitan University’s Democratic Engagement Exchange and United Way Greater Toronto.

Jonathan Dong stood behind a table, a mock ballot box and papers laid out in front him, talking to people and handing them Voice the Vote election handbooks.

“I think that participating in our democratic process, especially considering … how many people around the world aren't able to cast a vote, is incredibly important,” Dong said in an interview.

“Showing up is how people know that you're important, and if you don't show up, you don't get a say in what happens in the country, in your city, in your own backyard.” In previous municipal elections, the city has seen what observers described as a worrying downward trend in voter participation.

In the 2023 mayoral byelection won by Olivia Chow, 37 per cent of eligible voters participated.

Turnout was less than 30 per cent in the 2022 municipal election and about 41 per cent in 2018.

Across the province, overall voter turnout was nearly 33 per cent in the 2022 municipal elections and roughly 38 per cent in 2018, according to Association of Municipalities of Ontario data.

The turnout at Toronto's advance polls in the upcoming election was robust, however, with more than 222,000 people casting their ballots early – the highest number in more than a decade.

Dong said he wants to do his part to battle voter apathy.

As a Chinese Canadian who lives in Richmond Hill north of Toronto, he said many voters in his community are particularly disconnected from the electoral process and as a result they don’t have enough representation in government.

“I think it's very important to have the conversations within these communities to increase that representation and increase our voter turnout,” he said.