Nova Scotia’s 2024 provincial election had the worst voter turnout in its history.
With only 45 percent of the voting population casting a ballot, it continued the downward trend of voter turnout in the province. Turnout has been steadily decreasing since the 1990s, with only the 2021 election seeing a positive increase. The next election saw a significant decline, becoming the first to have a turnout of less than 50 percent.
Part of the problem is the disinterest of younger voters in electoral politics. Elections Nova Scotia data shows only 16.6 percent of voters aged 18 to 24 voted in 2024, and 23.8 percent of people aged 25 to 34 cast a ballot.
The highest turnout? Those 75 years or older, at 66.6 percent.
There are a few factors for this discrepancy. The election campaign itself was only 30 days, leaving little time for anyone who wasn’t running with the PC Party to put up signs and canvas. It was a tight deadline that made it difficult for other parties to compete, with some voters only finding out about different candidates in their riding on election day. However, the PC Party was a strong favourite to win from the start.
So, why didn’t young people come out to vote? Why does Nova Scotia’s election turnout continue to plummet?
The situation
The PC Party trounced their competition in the 2024 election, winning 43 seats, the majority of which belonged previously to Liberal MLAs. This isn’t surprising. The Liberals failed miserably to sway voters through policies that copied those of their conservative counterparts and increased the numbers by a smidge. If the PCs reduce the harmonized sales tax to 14 percent, the Liberals vow to lower it to 13 percent. If the PCs build housing, the Liberals will find a way to build more.
All signs point to this childish system of retorts continuing into the future, as interim Liberal leader and former premier Iain Rankin says the party will offer centrist solutions: an ideology of supposed balance. A big tent for every voter who feels like the current conservative government isn’t for them.
The problem is, surveys show the Tories still command an impressive lead among voters, attracting around 50 percent support province-wide. The majority of Nova Scotians can find a space within the PC Party, which itself takes a centrist approach to many social issues compared to other conservative parties across the country.
The Liberals’ approach to politics will not work. Rankin is utterly mistaken in believing that centrism is the way to go. The centrists are already getting what they want out of the current provincial government. With only two seats left for the party, and after the most devastating election loss in its history, the Nova Scotia Liberals feel completely lost.
However, the NSNDP has a chance.
The New Democrats grabbed up three seats during the 2024 provincial election and are still gaining momentum. In the same survey that displays the conservative lead, the NDP are polling at 31 percent—19 points behind Premier Tim Houston’s party, but still in the race. This is particularly true in Halifax, where most New Democrat seats are held, and where they are beating out the Tories in polling.
The unfortunate part is that none of this matters. The NSNDP attempts to mobilize young voters through social causes and their focus on housing, but that certainly doesn’t show through the broader 2024 election results. Part of that may have to do with the ousting of a candidate who previously criticized Israel for the ongoing destruction in Palestine, which is a very simple way of making young people not want to vote for you.
The popular sentiment within youth circles is disenfranchisement. Why should it matter if all of these politicians feel like they will do the same thing as the others? As much as the NDP gets right in sticking to issues that matter to young people, it wasn’t enough to drive the youth vote. It doesn’t help that the previous NDP government in power had a heavy focus on austerity—an extremely strange way to go for a supposed workers’ party. There is a negative perception of the NDP that persists today due to the government from 15 years ago, primarily amongst voters who were cognizant of provincial politics back then.
Even the party with perhaps the best chance to capitalize on youth voters haven’t done enough to improve turnout in their favour. What will it take, then, for voters to once again become interested in electoral politics?
Well, the answer is surprisingly simple. The voters don’t need to change. Electoral politics need reenvisioning.
Where do we go from here?
The popular Fallout 4 meme of a text box stating, “Everyone disliked that,” can accurately describe the Tories’ decision to target treaty truckhouses in Indigenous communities in a cannabis crackdown—one we are still trying to understand from the perspective of a government that willingly shot itself in the foot and destroyed its relationship with Nova Scotia’s First Nation communities.
It is an utterly unfortunate turn towards right-wing authoritarianism. A “tough-on-crime” approach that may increase revenue for the provincial liquor and cannabis corporation, sure, but has left devastation in its wake, both in the communities it impacts and the reputation of our provincial government.
This isn’t the only authoritarian aspect of Houston’s government. They eliminated the provincial communications arm last February, cracked down on people’s right to protest, and have apparently enforced a strict code of silence for its MLAs while shutting out media where they can. The once centrist-minded PCs are taking a strange turn towards the right, even in light of some of their stances on social issues like 2SLGBTQIA+ rights. A $1.4-billion deficit and the cost-cutting that will occur because of it can’t uphold their current perception as a big-tent party.
This isn’t to say bad things need to happen for good things to occur. This just happens to be a solid opportunity for the NSNDP, or the Liberals if they can get their shoes out of the mud, to sway voters and bring young people into electoral politics.
The keyword is “electoral”. It’s not that young people aren’t into politics. Just talk with a 20-something about the state of the world, and they won’t be shy about their beliefs, no matter where they stand. It’s about capitalizing on that passion and making electoral politics matter in their perspective. If they believe nothing will change from their vote, then they just won’t vote. It’s that simple.
If you don’t connect with young people on the issues they care about, then this downward trend of voter turnout will only continue. Listen to young people. Work with them on policies that support the issues they face. It’s only then that you’ll see them show up for you at the polls.
Brendyn Creamer is the newsletter editor of The Coast Daily and a young voter himself. Originally from a town of 200 people in Newfoundland, he has called Nova Scotia home since 2022.