Only about half of us vote in elections and some say officials should be 'ashamed'

After weeks of promises and pamphlets, door knocking and debates, it's time for Ontario to vote.

And other than who wins, the big question is: how many ballots will there be to count?

Turnout was up in the last provincial election in 2018, hitting 57 per cent after 52 per cent of eligible voters marked a ballot in 2014 and just 48 per cent in 2011.

In northeastern Ontario, 56 per cent of voters participated in 2018 and turnout was up in all ridings, ranging from 61 per cent in Parry Sound-Muskoka to 48 per cent in Timmins. 

The Democracy Education Network is trying to reach the roughly half of the citizenry who don't vote in most elections with a campaign called Vote Party, which is encouraging citizens to make a vote date with someone who wouldn't go to the polls otherwise. 

Duff Conacher, the group's co-founder, says research shows that reaching non-voters on a personal level is the best way to get them to participate in elections. 

"Just by creating that conversation, by asking people 'Do you vote?' Will increase voter turnout," he said. 

"Non-voters are not watching ads about voting. They're skipping them."

Conacher says he feels that most efforts and money spent on trying to boost voter turnout over the decades have missed the mark. 

"Every election agency should stop wasting the millions of dollars that they waste, Elections Ontario about $4 million each election," he said.

"You don't have educate voters, they're already voting. You need to be urging voters to reach out to non-voters. It's a shame and they should feel ashamed."

Elections Ontario declined an interview, but says in a statement that they have held dozens of voter registration events and have 80 public engagement officers spreading the word. And the agency also pointed out that turnout has been rising recently. 

"I have been going on vote dates without knowing they're vote dates since I was born," said Amanda Kingsley Malo of Greater Sudbury.

When she was a kid, her entire family would pack into the mini-van and go to the polls on election day, whether they could vote or not. And she does the same for her children. 

Kingsley Malo, who has worked on political campaigns and started PoliticsNOW to get more women to run for office, has dragged many non-voters to the ballot box over the years, including her now husband. 

She says we have to spend more time listening to why some people don't vote. 

"And many of them for very good reasons. I'm not going to discount the reasons that people choose not to vote. Because some of them are incredibly valid," said Kingsley Malo. 

She says we do a "disservice" to non-voters by not better explaining the role of government in their daily lives and by even using language that is "convoluted and inaccessible."

"Politics is the air that we breathe," Kingsley Malo said.