‘Shocking’: Nova Scotia has lowest voter turnout of all 2024 provincial elections

CITYnews halifax / By Cassidy McMackon, The Canadian Press

HALIFAX — The weak voter turnout in Nova Scotia’s election is “shocking” but not a complete surprise, says a political scientist after almost 66,000 fewer voters cast ballots than in the 2021 vote.

Elections Nova Scotia’s unofficial elections data says just 357,048 — or 45 per cent — of 788,427 eligible voters turned out to the polls for the general election that gave Tim Houston’s Progressive Conservatives their second consecutive majority.

That’s down 10 per cent from the 2021 provincial election when 422,712 Nova Scotians cast ballots.

Alex Marland, a professor and political scientist at Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S., said in an interview Thursday that the voting numbers are disappointing, and he called for measures to bring citizens back to the polls.

“This is shocking and frustrating and disturbing given that the last election (in 2021) occurred when there was still a lot of social distancing still occurring and people were fearful of things because of COVID,” he said.

Marland said the snap election call on the heels of the United States presidential election, a lack of drama and polarization during the campaign period, and the decline in local media all contribute to less voter engagement.

“It’s a real recipe for lower involvement, lower awareness,” he said in an interview Thursday, adding that opposition parties were particularly disadvantaged by the short notice to generate election readiness for their campaigns, in the media and among voters.

Another notable concern for Marland was Elections Nova Scotia’s “baffling” decision not to send voter information cards when the election was called. The provincial elections agency said the decision was based on the threat of a strike by Canada Post workers.