Fewer than half of all eligible voters across Ontario — and in each of Ottawa’s nine electoral districts — turned out to vote in the recent provincial election.
A team of Capital Current reporters captured the views of local residents about why they did or didn’t cast a ballot in the 2025 Ontario election.
Some — ultimately representing the minority of eligible voters on election day — said they felt it was their duty to vote. Others, part of the majority of about 54.6 per cent of Ontario citizens on Feb. 27 who didn’t make the trip to a polling station, said they hadn’t heard enough about the issues to make a meaningful choice.
Max Dorris, originally from Brant County in Southern Ontario and now a Carleton University psychology student, said he voted for the Green Party in Ottawa Centre.
“I didn’t do a whole lot of research and looking into it this year,” he said. “But I’ve been pretty upset with what’s been going on. I just kind of looked at some of the things that the Green Party was offering and it seemed to align with my personal beliefs.
“I think it’s important (to vote). … Growing up, my dad always told me the only wrong vote is a no vote. So I feel like the bare minimum you can really do as, I guess, a member of Canada, is vote. And that’s why the democracy works.”
Asked why he thought so many young people don’t vote, Dorris blamed a “lack of education” about the importance of casting a ballot.
“I feel like people don’t understand the magnitude of how important voting really is, so they kind of care less and they think it doesn’t affect anything. But it’s not just one person not voting. It turns out (it’s) hundreds of thousands of people.”
Devon Brimicombe, a Milton, Ont. native who studies criminology at Carleton University, lives in Old Ottawa South and was eligible to vote in Ottawa Centre.
“No, I did not vote,” he said. “Honestly, the reason for me was I don’t think I was educated enough. I’m a big believer in voting … where you should do it when you know what you’re thinking about, and you know what you’re talking about. I simply wasn’t equipped with all the facts about this election, and I didn’t end up going to vote.”
Brimicombe expressed some regret about his decision.
“I think I definitely could’ve done my due diligence in getting these facts together and formulating my own opinions.”
Halla Little, a third-year political science and law student at the University of Ottawa, voted for the first time in a provincial election on Feb. 27. As a political science student, she said she felt very passionate about casting her vote.
“It’s my civic duty,” Little said. “I just felt that it was important to get my values out there.”
She admitted she was not in favour of the Progressive Conservative government but was anticipating — accurately, as it turned out — it would be another majority for the party. Despite not being confident the party she supported would have success, Little said that was part of why she felt it was so important for her to vote.
“I knew (Ontario’s PC premier) Doug Ford was going to win, but I still wanted to put in my vote so hopefully he could have less seats,” she said.
While disappointed many eligible voters did not vote, Little said she was not overly surprised with the low turnout.
“I don’t fault them for not voting,” she said. “[I think] Doug Ford called the election during the winter for a very specific, strategic reason.”
She pointed to some of her friends who were debating whether they would vote, because they didn’t know if they would have the time. Little said she made an effort to encourage all her friends who were hesitant to get out and vote.
“The only way to actually have your voice out there is to vote.”
Little went straight to the polls after her evening class at uOttawa finished at 7:30 p.m.
Eli Zima Luste, a third-year University of Ottawa student in International Studies in Modern Languages, also said it was important for him to vote in this election.
Zima Luste is originally from Mississauga, but has been living in Ottawa for the past two and a half years while attending uOttawa. Despite not being in his riding on election day, he still made sure he sent his mail-in ballot on time.
“I really wanted to make sure I voted because I think it’s really important to get your voice out there,” he said.
As an international studies student, Zima Luste said he is always paying attention to politics in Canada and around the world. With so much going on globally — including the tension between Canada and the United States — he said he believed it was especially important that he voted.
“Every vote counts,” Zima Luste said. “If there’s an issue that matters to you, you need to vote to make a difference.”
Volunteering in different campaigns was a valuable experience, said Zima Luste, as he was able to see how different people felt about the election, the different parties and their candidates. He was able to hear people’s excitement to vote, as well as the vast reluctancy.
“I knew there was going to be a lot of people abstaining this year,” he said.
Carleton University student Gigi Fuller admitted she didn’t vote because “I didn’t know it was happening.” She’d heard earlier in the campaign about the coming vote but had lost track of the date.
“I don’t even know who I would have voted for if I was able to,” she said, while adding: “Democracy is great.”
Ottawa resident Freddy Kuvonda said he didn’t vote either: “I honestly just didn’t care about it.”
He questioned the level of attention this year’s election received.
In Ottawa Centre, Ali Belbachir, 48, took time out of his day to vote in the election. Belbachir said his main priority was “to keep the Conservatives” in power.
“I didn’t really hear about it,” he said. “I would definitely say it wasn’t promoted that well.”
On the overall low voter turnout, Kuvonda acknowledged it’s problematic.
“It’s definitely not a good thing,” he said, adding that it “needs to be fixed.”
Kim Trudel, a 64-year-old Centretown resident, said she made a point of getting out to cast her ballot on Feb. 27: “It’s my right to vote.”
