Saint John's high child poverty rate blamed for low voter turnout in byelection
A Saint John city councillor isn't surprised by the low voter turnout in a recent Ward 3 byelection that boasted seven candidates.
According to Elections New Brunswick, out of 11,852 eligible voters, only 2,251 cast ballots Monday — a turnout of just 19 per cent.
David Hickey claimed 758 of the votes, more than twice the number for his nearest challenger, Andrew Costin.
But Coun. Donna Reardon says a byelection is a lot different from a regular municipal or provincial election.
"When you have the election across the whole city, across the whole province, you have a lot more hype about it," said Reardon, the other councillor for Ward 3. "There's signage everywhere you go."
"This was limited to the ward."
Children living in poverty a factor
There are also challenges get people out to vote in this part of the city.
According to Saint John's Human Development Council, 48.7 per cent of children in Ward 3 were living in poverty in 2016, The ward's overall poverty rate was 34.3 per cent.
Reardon said poverty puts a lot of stress on parents.
"A lot of times, voting is probably the last thing on the minds of their parents, who are in a lot of cases just trying to keep their heads above water," she said.
Literacy can also affect turnout. People who can't read don't feel comfortable voting on their own, Reardon said. They will only get out to vote if they have someone who can help with the voting process.
According to the 2016 census, 23.8 per cent of residents in the area haven't graduated high school.
A lack of transportation to polling stations is also a problem in the ward, which includes a lot of retail and commercial businesses.
"It has that transient population that comes in everyday but is gone in the evening as well," Reardon said.
Despite the low turnout, Reardon was still impressed by the number of candidates who ran.
"I think that is a real sign that things are changing and that people want to get involved."
Reardon thinks Hickey's win could be a reflection of who's moving into the ward and of the campaigning he did over social media.
"It demonstrates that someone who is relatively new to the ward can get out there and make a difference and can attract a population that's maybe migrating into that ward as well," she said.
Byelection results
The byelection was held to fill the seat vacated by Liberal MLA Gerry Lowe, who left city council to run in the September provincial election. Here are the results:
David Hickey: 758
Andrew Costin :370
Brad Mitchell :318
Katelin Dean: 312
Frank James : 299
Adam Salesse : 110
Anthony Capson: 75
