Older people are more likely to vote.
In the 2011 federal election, about 50% of the eligible voters aged 18 to 24 years actually voted. That compares to 25 to 34s turned out at about the same rate. People in the 35 to 44 bracket turned out at around the national average of 61%.
Compare that to 70% turn-out for 45- to 54-year-olds and 82% among eligible voters aged 65 to 74, according to figures from Statistics Canada.
Other factors influenced turn-out as well.
From the House of Assembly and a discussion of the recent vote taken among the province’s nurses on a contract offer from the provincial government:
PREMIER WILLIAMS: Mr. Speaker, quite simply, a strike can be avoided if the nurses decide not to go on strike. It is my understanding that 80 per cent voted and that 63 per cent of those who voted, voted to have a strike. The math on that is 50.4 per cent, so one out of two nurses wants a strike and one out of two nurses do not want a strike.
He’s right.
That’s the way the numbers break out if you look at the total number of eligible voters.
Of course, that isn’t the way, the Premier and his supporters like to look at the results of the last provincial election. They’ll talk about things like the nearly 70% of the popular vote for the Provincial Conservatives.
Of course, as some people conveniently forget, only 60% of the electorate turned out to vote.
The math on that is 41.76%.
So…
you can fill in the rest.
-srbp-