With just a day to go before Torontonians heads to the polls, John Beebe is watching the city’s mayoral byelection closely.
The founder of the Democratic Engagement Exchange, whose mission is to foster democratic participation, said last fall’s municipal vote was a wake-up call. With a record low 29 per cent voter turnout, his organization has been hard at work during this campaign doing outreach and providing free tools, resources and training to community groups.
As for the reasons for the low turnout, Beebe said the impact of the pandemic, the strength of then-incumbent John Tory and the lack of a single predominant issue all were likely factors.
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