By Katherine Svenkeson

N.B. voter turnout up 3 percent, but lower than provincial election

Oct 27, 2016 | 5:03 PM

Over 2,500 North Battleford citizens voted in last night’s civic election, three per cent from the election past. Those numbers, however, are low compared to the provincial and federal voter turnouts.

According to StatsCan, approximately 63 per cent of Saskatchewan voters took part in the 2011 federal election which is higher than the national average. Elections Saskatchewan reported that nearly 7,000 Battleford voters participated in the 2011 provincial election, out of nearly 9,500 eligible electorates.

Both Mayor Ryan Bater, and the city clerk Debbie Wohlberg, said the low voter turnout at the city level likely has to do with Bater’s acclamation.

“We didn’t have a mayor ballot this time around and we didn’t have a mayor ballot last time,” Wohlberg said. “It seems like when you have a mayoral race it brings out more voters. I think this is indicative of when there’s no mayor running for election, you don’t get as high of a turnout as you hope.”

She said it is a disappointment to not see more people, and it seems to be the norm in the city.

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“I’d like to see 50 per cent or more. It would nice to see over half of the people eligible to vote get out there,” Wohlberg said.

Mayor Bater said the turnout is really too bad because the municipal government is the closest to the people.

“The decisions you make have a direct impact to how people live their lives, everything from streets getting fixed, to how their garbage is collected, to how we deal with animal control,” Bater said. “All those issues are a forefront to people living here in North Battleford, and the local government impacts all of those.”

It wasn’t all bad though, according to the mayor. He’s happy for those who did turn out.

“The great thing about [an] election is it’s a great equalizer. Every person, whether you’re 18 or 88, whether you’re a man or a woman, whether you’re wealthy or struggling, everybody gets one vote,” he said. “Everyone has the same amount of power to impact the election as anybody else. It’s great that we had those great candidates and also people that did turn out and made sure that their voice was heard.”

In the Town of Battleford roughly 1,000 people cast their votes, a good turnout according to the town’s chief administrative officer, John Enns-Wind.

Katherine.svenkeson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @ksvenkeson