By Tyler Waugh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Pearl
Mount Pearl council believes several factors under provincial control contributed to ‘disheartening’ voter turnout numbers in the October 2025 municipal election.
The City’s municipal election report was presented at the May 26 public meeting and outlined only 5,327 residents cast votes. That’s just 28 per cent of eligible voters, down from 6,999 votes cast in 2021, or some 40 per cent of voters.
Councillor Jim Locke told his colleagues that a number of factors contributed to the drop, including the voter list provided by the Province.
“It was inaccurate. We know the number of people that were added to the voter list, but there didn’t seem to be any evidence that people were taken off the voter list – those that moved from the city and those who are deceased,” he said. “And of course that’ll impact the voter turnout. If there were 400 or 500 people on that list that shouldn’t have been on that list that would drive up our voter turnout from 28 per cent to higher.”
The municipal election was held October 2, while a provincial election was called September 15 and held October 14 – creating confusion as political campaigns and election officials from two different levels of government competed for attention.
Locke, the longest-serving council member, pointed out this wasn’t the first time during his tenure when provincial and federal elections overlapped with municipal ones, resulting in voter fatigue and proving a disservice to the municipal election process.
“I’d like to communicate to our provincial counterparts the importance of having a big enough buffer between (elections) because, in my humble opinion, municipal council and politics, this is where the rubber hits the road,” Locke said. “I would suggest (municipal) is an important election where we need people’s input because it more directly impacts their day-to-day life.”
Locke added he would also like to see online voting explored and see more options for advance voting similar to provincial and federal elections.
“We need to engage our electorate to get the vote count up,” said the councillor.
Lower than usual voter turnout was seen in municipalities across the province, the report stated, noting that comparable communities like Paradise, which saw a 28.2 per cent turnout, Conception Bay South a 30.9 percent draw, and Corner Brook a 19.6 per cent turnout, were also impacted.
Councillor Bill Antle presented the report at council and said there were several deficiencies in the Municipal Elections Act (2001). As a result, council submitted a resolution to Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador (MNL) to ask the provincial government to make legislative improvements.
The resolution was adopted during the MNL’s November meeting, and at the recent MNL symposium, there was a session hosted by the Department of Municipal Affairs that kicked off a review of the Municipal Elections Act.
“The City of Mount Pearl is encouraged to see both MNL and the department respond promptly to these concerns and begin this important work,” Antle said. “This includes enhanced accessibility for municipal elections, strengthening protections for candidate’s privacy and addressing other identified concerns through the view of the Act in consultation with MNL and municipalities across the province.”
Council adopted the report, which outlined 17 recommendations – seven that have been either fully or partially implemented, seven new ones, one standing recommendation and two items that are no longer recommended.
Mayor Dave Aker pointed out that adopting the municipal election report does not necessarily mean the recommendations will be acted upon. Specific actions would have to come back to council for adoption.