Opinion: Four reasons why voter turnout is so much lower in local elections compared to provincial, federal

In municipal elections there are often endorsements and slates, but no easy-to-identify labels to help push up more turnout

October 17, 2026

Today is local election day across British Columbia, the outcome of which voters won’t know until Saturday night.

What we do know in Chilliwack is that we will have a new mayor since Ken Popove did not run for re-election.

The city will also have at least four new city councillors with only two on the ballot for another term. 

As for school board, only three members of the incumbent board put in their name up again so we will have at least four new trustees.

What we also know, if history is any guide, is that we will have a voter turnout lower than federal or provincial elections, if maybe not as bad as recent years.

There’s a saying in politics in Canada: the federal government has all the money; the provincial government has all the power; and, the municipal government has all the problems.

Local elected officials in their communities are on the frontlines of problems faced by citizens, while MLAs and MPs spend much of their time in Ottawa and Victoria.

Some numbers: Over the last three federal elections in 2019, 2021 and 2025, there was an average of 65.8 per cent voter turnout in Chilliwack.

In the last three provincial elections, 2017, 2020, 2024, the average turnout was 57.8 per cent.

While in municipal elections in 2014, 2018 and 2022, average voter turnout was 29.8 per cent, which is actually an average skewed up by the huge turnout in 2018 of 39 per cent caused by a contentious mayoral race between incumbent Sharon Gaetz, upstart Sam Waddington and eventual winner Ken Popove.

The average turnout in the last five municipal elections was about 25 per cent when you add in 2008 at 25 per cent and 2011 at 16.9 per cent due to the fact that Gaetz was elected unopposed.

Why aren’t we voting?

There are essentially three main reasons why I believe voter turnout is so low in municipal and school board elections.

1. No party. I’m convinced, and I’ve heard this before, that at least half of voters who chose a BC Conservative candidate in the 2024 provincial election thought they were voting against Justin Trudeau’s Liberals. Get to the local level and confusion is even greater. While there are political parties in Vancouver, people know who they are but even there, the Vancouver Liberals caused some confusion as the party has no connection to the federal Liberals at all. Without a brand to stick to, local voters often leave polls befuddled by it all as most people do not have the time to pay attention, which is absolutely understandable.
2. Media mute. Most media coverage has always gone to the federal level then provincial politics followed by local. With the financial decimation of local news outlets, that problem is even worse now. Without local news coverage, local stories in Chilliwack are unlikely to garner provincial media attention.
3. Misunderstanding. Many people know broad things such as the federal government controls income tax and the RCMP and military and Corrections Canada. But I’m not sure how many people quite understand that there is also provincial income tax and municipal property tax. There is also a provincial jail system and in most cities in B.C., the RCMP are the police but in others they have local police forces, e.g. Vancouver, Abbotsford, Delta. In most other communities, the RCMP are contracted to run police service and are paid out of municipal coffers. Voter confusion is absolutely understandable. A lot of people do not know what jurisdiction covers what area of their lives.
4. Penalizing competence. While many people have complaints about city hall, if their garbage is picked up, water is coming out of the taps, most aren’t paying attention to what else city council is doing. Without concrete gripes, some people just figure that things are good enough so this, combined with the other above issues, some are left to say, why bother voting?

All that being said, it is very important for citizen to get out and vote today, Oct. 17, 2026. 

You can pick the mayor out of four candidates. You can pick up to six city councillors out of 19 candidates. You can pick up to seven school board trustees out of 18 candidates.

Then there is the Cultus Lake Park Board, a governance body with a five-member board made up of three people who live at Cultus Lake and two who live in Chilliwack. 

General voting day is today, Saturday Oct. 17 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

There are five voting locations:
• Chilliwack Heritage Park - 44140 Luckakuck Way
• Chilliwack Landing Sports Centre* - 45530 Spadina Avenue
• Cultus Lake Community School - 71 Sunnyside Blvd
• Rosedale Traditional Community School - 50850 Yale Road
• Yarrow Community School - 4595 Wilson Road

(*Note for those new to Chilliwack or unfamiliar, this is not the Chilliwack Landing Leisure Centre, which is on the same large community use block.)

As a caveat of course, I am a school board candidate. Take that as you will, vote for me if you like what I’ve said and you trust me, or vote for others but please, just vote.

For more on me and my campaign, visit my website VotePaulHenderson2026.ca

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Paul J. Henderson
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