When it comes to voter turnout, being in line with the provincial average isn’t much to celebrate — especially not in the case of municipal elections.
In 2011, only 29 per cent of eligible voters in Kamloops cast a vote for a new mayor and council, in line with turnout across the province.
As the city goes back to the polls tomorrow, a number of groups are hoping to see better results.
Kamloops Vote 50 co-ordinator Will George is confident the city will make a better showing than last time.
“I think we’re reaching out to a lot of people that haven’t been talked to about voting in past elections,” said George, whose grassroots vote-promotion group has held a series of mixers across the community, including an event at Thompson Rivers University.
It also worked with ASK Wellness to bring in candidates to speak with the centre’s clients.
While the group is optimistic after the city’s advance polls brought out more voters than in 2011 — 2,562 people voted this year, compared to 1,615 three years ago — George said he’s not making predictions about the exact turnout on voting day.
“We’re aiming for 50 per cent, but any increase is a good increase,” he said.
The city of Kamloops made its own push to improve voter turnout in the wake of 2011 and will be watching the results with an eye to participation as well.
Among the changes are a special poll at TRU and new polling locations at McArthur Island Sports Centre and the Sahali Centre Mall on general voting day (the latter will only be open during the mall’s regular hours of 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m, rather than the usual 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.).
“We’re trying to go where the people are this election,” deputy corporate officer Stephanie Nichols said.
The city also sent out 39,000 voter-information cards containing poll locations and will run radio ads in partnership with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.
Nichols said the city is also watching the efforts of other municipalities to see if there are any get out the vote ideas Kamloops should copy for its next civic campaign in 2018.
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