By Pepper Parr
October 30th, 2022
BURLINGTON, ON
Where did the votes come from?
There were four polling stations in each ward. A voter could vote at any one of the four locations.
The first release of voting data on Monday evening old the story. All seven incumbents were leading with just the internet voting data available.
The data set out below is final as confirmed by the City Clerk
A poll by poll breakout of where the votes were cast for the Mayoralty candidates is set out below. The data for the six wards will follow in separate articles.
The first four lines show the internet and advance poll results. For a candidate who really didn’t campaign Jim Kerr did surprisingly well with the internet vote. Had he gotten into the race a year ago and created a campaign team and had a platform, 2022 would have been a different election; it would at the least have forced Meed Ward to do more than photo ops.
The mythical Marsden vote, which she did get in her race for the office of Regional chair in 2028 didn’t show up when she was running for Mayor this year.
Anyone can run for any office – why Tuck or Rieck spent $200 to be nominated is something only they know.
Meed Ward was elected because there was no other choice. The 27% voter turn out reflected just that.
Elected members of council should not be using the word landslide to describe their win. To be elected by just over a quarter of the people who were on the voters list isn’t much of a win – and it certainly isn’t isn’t what true champions would produce.
This council has a number of huge problems to face: the changes brought forward by the Premier the day after the election; a budget that is going to hurt; legal problems that look to be insurmountable are just the beginning.
The one issue that will not crop up will be time for council members to get through a learning curve. They have all been through it and we at least know where the strengths and the weaknesses are with the seven you reelected.
There is no room for any more of the smugness that has been seen.
Back for a second round – will the behavior between the members of council improve; it couldn’t be much worse.
Re: “Meed Ward was elected because there was no other choice. The 27% voter turn out reflected just that.” – That’s how you might look at it if you were disappointed in her success.
A more objective perspective is that in 2018 MMW got 23,360 votes and in 2022 she received 30,135, i.e., 29% more than the previous election. Clearly she was elected simply because she got the most votes, in spite of the Gazette’s not so subtle attempts to prevent it.