Reasons for not voting
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Of the 7.5 million eligible voters who reported that they did not vote in the May 2, 2011, federal election, 28% said they were not interested (includes feeling their vote would not have made a difference); the percentage was highest in Quebec (35%). Another 23% said they were too busy, while 10% said they were out of town or away and 8% said they did not like the candidates or campaign issues. Roughly 4% said they forgot to vote, while 1% cited religious beliefs.
Among young (aged 18 to 24) non-voters, 30% were not interested in voting, while another 23% were too busy. Virtually identical shares of non-voters aged 25 to 34 were not interested (31%) or too busy (30%). Among seniors aged 65 to 74, the two most common reasons for not voting were their own illness or disability (22%) and not interested (21%).
Among non-voters without a high school diploma, 30% were not interested, 17% reported an illness or disability that kept them from voting, and 14% said they were too busy. In contrast, 28% of non-voters with a university degree cited too busy and 22% were not interested.
Unemployed non-voters were most likely to indicate that they were not interested in voting (39%).
| % | |
|---|---|
| Not interested | 27.7 |
| Too busy | 22.9 |
| Out of town/away | 10.1 |
| Own illness or disability | 8.5 |
| Did not like candidates/issues | 7.6 |
| Forgot to vote | 3.8 |
| Not on voters list | 3.7 |
| Too difficult or transportation problem | 2.9 |
| Religious beliefs | 1.3 |
| Weather conditions | 0.1 |
| Other | 11.4 |
| Source: Statistics Canada, 2011 Labour Force Survey. | |
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