I Came, I Saw, I Voted: Distance to Polling Locations and Voter Turnout in Ontario, Canada. Issue 2 (June 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Garnett, Holly Ann; Grogan, Sean
• Is Part Of: Canadian journal of political science. Volume 54:Issue 2(2021)
• Page Start: 316
• Page End: 334
• Publication Date: 2021-06
• Subjects: elections -- voter turnout -- polling locations -- convenience voting -- electoral management; élections -- participation des électeurs -- bureaux de vote -- vote de proximité -- administration électorale; Political science -- Periodicals; 320
• DOI: 10.1017/S0008423921000196
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0008-4239

Abstract

Abstract: How accessible are polling locations in Canada? This article explores, for the first time in the Canadian context, the distance that voters may travel to get to their polling stations. It assembles a new set of data from the province of Ontario, mapping the distance between polling locations and a representative point in the polling division, using a variety of measures, including walking, driving and public transit times. It estimates the relationship between these distances and travel times and socio-demographic characteristics of each polling division, finding noteworthy relationships between these distances and the percentage of minority populations (both immigrant and Indigenous) in the polling division. This article also presents a potential negative, but nonlinear, relationship between distances and travel times and turnout, contributing to our understanding of how voters' rational calculus of voting may be related to the locations of polling stations.