ontario election: not your typical campaign — windsor area voters hit the polls thursday
unusually cold, unusually short, and dominated by trade...
4 minute read
a man enters a wfcu centre banquet hall on thursday, feb. 20, 2025, to cast an early vote for the provincial election during advance poll voting ahead of feb. 27 ontario election.
dan janisse
/
windsor star
unusually cold, unusually short, and dominated by trade and sovereignty threats from our once-closest ally.
windsor-essex voters head to the polls thursday after one of the most unconventional ontario election campaigns in recent memory.
it may have been unorthodox, but the 2025 provincial campaign appears to have failed to ignite the passions of most voters.
“the job of getting out the vote is typically done by the political parties,” university of windsor political scientist lydia miljan told the star. “the challenge this time is the opposition parties were found flat-footed in that a lot of ridings didn’t have candidates.
“in some ridings, candidates withdrew. that’s a problem for encouraging votes. but, nonetheless, i think people should be aware by now that there is an election going on, and it’s part of the obligations of citizenship.”
health care, taxes, cost of living, and job security were once again top-of-mind for candidates and checked-in voters.
but candidates, including the premier who called this election more than a year early, also spent a lot of oxygen selling ontarians on why they’re the best choice to face off against u.s. president donald trump.
while this is the first time voters head to provincial polls contemplating crippling u.s. tariffs or american annexation, it isn’t the only unusual aspect of this election.
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there hasn’t been a winter election in ontario since 1981. it has also been one of the shortest elections in a long time.
the snap election went into gear on january 28, giving parties and candidates a four-week runway to get their messages out.
this election has also been noteworthy for pc candidates skipping public debates across ontario, including in windsor and essex county. in some cases, parties had to scramble just to find local candidates — in the case of the former liberal stronghold of windsor west, voters don’t even have a liberal on the ballot.
is anyone paying attention?
much like the rest of ontario, the windsor region saw a dismal voter turnout in last week’s advance polls.
elections ontario told the star that 3.4 per cent of registered voters in windsor west, or 3,289 people, cast ballots during advance polls on feb. 20 to 22.
in windsor-tecumseh, there were 3,792 advance ballots cast, accounting for 3.89 per cent of registered voters.
polls in chatham-kent—leamington saw 7.14 per cent of registered voters show up, with a total of 6,310 ballots.
in essex, 8.69 per cent of voters took advantage of advance voting, with a total of 9,477 ballots.
elections ontario said 678,789 people, or just 6.14 per cent of eligible voters, cast advance ballots across the province.
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miljan said there are several possible reasons for such low numbers, including a federal leadership race dividing attentions and lack of voting information.
“because it’s also a snap election, a short campaign — only 28 days — there were a lot of people not really sure how they could even do the advance polls,” she said. “the information wasn’t as robust as we got in the past.”
also, people don’t like to venture out in the winter.
“it’s easier to canvass in june. it’s easier to door-knock. it’s easier to put out signs,” said miljan. “and it’s obviously easier to vote. even during the advance polls, it was a cold week last week.”
she said the lack of interest so far doesn’t bode well for election day because people typically take advantage of advance polls, even though overall voter turnout has been declining.
“the last provincial election was the lowest we had,” said miljan. “so i’m concerned that we’re going to have even lower turnout this time.”
in 2022, ontario recorded the lowest overall voter turnout in history, with just 43.5 per cent of eligible voters casting a ballot.
windsor west helped set that record with one of the worst voter turnouts in ontario. only 33.6 per cent of registered voters in windsor west — that’s 32,039 out of 95,295 people — cast their ballots in 2022.
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how do you vote?
anyone who is 18 years old, a canadian citizen, and ontario resident can vote in the provincial election. you’ll need identification. but photo id is not required.
acceptable identification includes most documents issued by the government of canada, the government of ontario or an ontario municipality.
international id and permanent resident cards are not accepted.
every registered voter should have received a voter information card telling them where and when they can vote. if you received the card, bring it and one piece of identification with your name on it to your voting station.
what if you didn’t receive a voter information card?
if you didn’t receive a voter information card, don’t panic. it’s not required.
you can check assigned voting locations by downloading the elections ontario app or punching in your postal code at elections.on.ca.
if you don’t have the voter card, just make sure to bring a piece of identification showing both your name and home address.
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