Voter turnout

With municipal elections around the corner, the Human Development Council is launching a new initiative to boost voter participation in Saint John.

Partnering with its special project, Civic Tech Saint John, HDC has launched the campaign Saint John Votes 2026, which will feature six community-led forums and education sessions.

According to Randy Hatfield, HDC’s executive director, the events aim to connect residents with candidates, highlight the importance of local elections and remove barriers to voting.

Hatfield said Saint John’s last municipal election had a voter turnout of fewer than 35 per cent, which he described as a “stark statistic.”

With the city facing mounting social issues such as high rates of poverty and homelessness, he said HDC wants to ensure “there’s a voice” for people who may not have voted in the last election.

“Local governments are the closest to the people, and while they don’t deal with big issues like national defence or international trade or huge economic issues,” he said, “they do deal with concerns that are immediate, that affect people who reside in the city on a daily basis.”

Hatfield added HDC is also concerned about which groups are voting. He said academic research on federal elections shows older people, people with university degrees, people who are employed and homeowners are more likely to vote in local elections than their counterparts.

If certain groups are not participating, he said, their concerns will not be heard.

As a social development council, HDC has hosted municipal election forums for Ward 3 for the past 20 years, where the organization is located, but with this initiative Hatfield said it will expand the forums to all wards and make them more accessible by streaming them.

The six forums, which began April 20 and will run until April 28, will allow residents to connect with ward candidates, councillors-at-large candidates and mayoral candidates, said Hatfield.  

“We just want to inform people about the importance of voting, the challenges in this community and the role municipal government can play in addressing those concerns for the most part,” he said.

Residents will also be able to submit questions for the forums.

Hatfield said HDC has already received several questions, mostly related to housing and homelessness, civic engagement, social inclusion and participation, and the strength of the community nonprofit sector.

Most of the ward and councillors-at-large forums have already taken place. The mayoral forum is the final event and will be held April 28 at the Imperial Theatre.

Municipal elections are set to take place on May 11.