Six of ten eligible voters did not show up

Fewer than 100,000 Laval residents exercised their civic responsibility, out of about 300,000 who were eligible to vote. Participation rate: 35.7%.

In the mix of Quebec’s ten largest cities where mayoralty elections were held Sunday, only Terrebonne recorded a worse showing than Laval, with a participation rate of 34.8%.

The impression created by a large turnout of voters at advanced polls October 25 and 26 did not pan out on election day in Laval. Although Laval voters cast advanced ballots in numbers double that of 2005, the same was far from the reality on election day November 1.

In 2005, the anemic turnout of 30.5% could be justified by the lack of opposition as 9 of the 21 PRO des Lavallois councillors were returned to office by acclamation and mayor Glles Vaillancourt had as his principal opponent an 18-year-old student, Audrey Boisvert, who nonetheless racked up 16% of the vote.

This time, two opposition parties, the Mouvement lavallois (ML) and the Parti au service du citoyen (PSC), respectively led by Lydia Aboulian and Robert Bordeleau, campaigned for several months. Needless to say, these parties did not awaken the interest of the voters in Quebec’s third largest city.

With John Fasciano

(Photo: Martin Alarie)