Cathy Dobson/Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A former Sarnia councillor wants municipal voters to get tax breaks or grocery vouchers to encourage a higher turnout at the polls.

Margaret Bird says municipal elections should be “incentivized” to get more people to vote.

Voter turnout in Sarnia is consistently low and needs to increase or no change is possible, Bird told council March 30.

“People refuse to vote because they say it makes no difference,” she said. “They say nothing changes at all and therefore it’s a waste of their time.”

Property taxes increased “too much” in 2026 and Sarnia city council needs change, Bird added.

She urged city council, the mayor and city staff to “work together” to increase turnout for the Oct. 26 election.

Bird recommended physical polling stations, which she said are proven to be more secure than online voting. 

Sarnia used a hybrid voting system in 2022 that offered online as well as in-person voting with paper ballots.  That resulted in a voter turnout of 40.41 per cent in Sarnia, higher than the Ontario average of 32.9 per cent that year.

Council has already endorsed the use of a hybrid voting system for this year’s election.

Bird believes a lack of transportation contributes to lower turnout and suggested that the voter lists are not accurate enough and could allow for fraud.

On the other hand, if it’s too late to do anything about what Bird perceives as the biggest roadblocks to voting, she urged council to offer a one-time “overall voting incentive bonus” to get the vote out in October.

The bonus or incentives could include a discount on property taxes, bus passes or even grocery vouchers, Bird said.

“This would be a win/win,” she said. “Everyone would gain. Many more would contribute to and engage more positively in our total community.”

City Clerk Amy Burkhart is responsible for overseeing Sarnia’s municipal election and said Sarnia’s turnout for the last two elections was above the provincial average. In 2022, it was about seven points above Ontario’s voter turnout and in 2018, Sarnia’s turnout was 48.9 per cent compared to the provincial average of 38.3 per cent.

Still, turnout across Ontario was dramatically down in 2022, Mayor Mike Bradley noted.

Councillor Adam Kilner asked for a staff report addressing her concerns.

But Bradley warned council has to be careful to stay out of election administration.

“The clerk does have independent statutory authority with respect to the administration of the election,” Burkhart said. “This keeps the election fair and independent from political influence.”

Burkhart said voter lists will come from Elections Ontario for the first time in 2026. “That should improve the quality,” she said.

Staff confirmed there will be free public transportation on election day to encourage higher voter turnout.