{
  "id": "voter-turnout",
  "category": "Governance",
  "title": "Voter turnout in the City election",
  "geography": "City of Victoria (municipality)",
  "scope": "city",
  "levels": [
    "Residents",
    "Municipal (Chief Election Officer)"
  ],
  "plain_question": "What share of registered voters cast a ballot in the most recent City general election?",
  "value": 41.44,
  "display_value": "41.4%",
  "unit": "of registered voters",
  "period": "2026 general local election",
  "period_start": "2026-10-17",
  "period_end": "2026-10-17",
  "comparison": {
    "previous_period": "2022",
    "previous_value": 37.98,
    "change_percent": null,
    "change_unit": "percentage points"
  },
  "since_text": "Certified October 21, 2026. 31,281 of 75,490 registered voters. 2022: 37.98%",
  "trend": "context",
  "trend_basis": "The Chief Election Officer certified a turnout of 41.44% for the 2026 general local election (October 21, 2026); the City's statement of votes cast gives 31,281 voters of 75,490 registered. In the October 15, 2022 election, 27,452 of 72,284 registered voters voted (37.98%).",
  "direction_good": "up",
  "right_direction": "A higher share means more registered voters took part. Turnout is a simple measure of participation, not of trust.",
  "caveats": [
    "Turnout is calculated by the City's Chief Election Officer as voters ÷ registered voters (the City's voters list on election day).",
    "The 2022 declaration of official results does not print turnout, so the 2022 figure is read from the City's 2022 statement of votes cast, which uses the same base. That statement is marked preliminary.",
    "Estimates based on all eligible voters, such as CivicInfo BC's, give a different percentage."
  ],
  "series": [
    {
      "period": "2022",
      "value": 37.98
    },
    {
      "period": "2026",
      "value": 41.44
    }
  ],
  "refresh_frequency": "Every four years",
  "source": {
    "name": "City of Victoria, Declaration of Official Election Results, 2026",
    "url": "https://www.victoria.ca/media/file/declaration-official-results-2026-municipal-election",
    "dataset_url": "https://www.victoria.ca/media/file/declaration-official-results-2026-municipal-election",
    "download_url": "https://www.victoria.ca/media/file/declaration-official-results-2026-municipal-election",
    "earlier": {
      "period": "2022",
      "display": "38.0%",
      "name": "City of Victoria, 2022 general local election, statement of votes cast",
      "url": "https://www.victoria.ca/media/file/preliminaryresultsstatementofvotescastrptpdf",
      "page_url": "https://www.victoria.ca/media/file/preliminaryresultsstatementofvotescastrptpdf#page=1",
      "page": 1,
      "reads": "City of Victoria - Total 72,284 27,452 37.98%",
      "published": "2023-09-12",
      "note": "Election held October 15, 2022; preliminary statement"
    },
    "publisher_page": "https://www.victoria.ca/",
    "page_url": "https://www.victoria.ca/media/file/declaration-official-results-2026-municipal-election#page=3",
    "page": 3,
    "locator": "Declaration of Official Election Results 2026, page 3, “Voter Turnout”",
    "reads": "“Voter Turnout: 41.44%”, certified correct October 21, 2026"
  },
  "licence": {
    "name": "Public data, not under an open licence. Used with attribution.",
    "url": "https://www.victoria.ca/legal-disclaimer",
    "open": false
  },
  "verified_text": [
    "Voter Turnout: 41.44%",
    "Certified Correct October 21, 2026",
    "City of Victoria - Total 75,490 31,281 41.44%",
    "City of Victoria - Total 72,284 27,452 37.98%"
  ],
  "data_published": "2026-10-21",
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11T20:11:19Z",
  "attribution": "Source: City of Victoria, Declaration of Official Election Results, 2026. Public document, used with attribution; not endorsed by the publisher.",
  "licence_type": "public",
  "data_published_basis": "file dated",
  "status_rule": {
    "rule": "One rule for every measure: a change smaller than 5% of the earlier value, or smaller than the agency's own margin of error, is “About the same”; no change is calculated across a marked break in a series; homelessness estimates, prices, staffing and comparison pages are shown for context without a label.",
    "reason": "Shown for context, without a better or worse label.",
    "threshold_percent": 5.0
  },
  "changes": {
    "year": null,
    "five_year": null
  },
  "direction": {
    "type": "outcome",
    "rule": "Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series.",
    "key": "better",
    "label": "Better",
    "arrow": "▲",
    "rel": 9.110057925223805,
    "delta": 3.460000000000001,
    "vs": "2022",
    "cur": "2026",
    "why": "The change is 9.1% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold.",
    "change": "3.5 pt",
    "one_year": "+3.5 pt",
    "long_why": "The only earlier figure (2022) is the one already compared, so there is no longer reading yet."
  },
  "source_tier": 1,
  "measure_kind": "outcome",
  "better_measure": {
    "what": "A regular resident survey",
    "who_could_publish": "City of Victoria",
    "status": "Not published as data. Not asked for yet."
  },
  "benchmark": {
    "rung": 4,
    "rung_name": "Context measure: no target expected",
    "as_of": "2026-11-12",
    "items": [
      {
        "kind": "context",
        "label": "Context measure: no target expected",
        "area": null,
        "source": null,
        "documents_checked": null,
        "text": "Context measure: no target expected. Turnout is decided by voters. No body sets a target for it."
      }
    ],
    "drawn": [],
    "rule": "Highest rung found is shown; the site never sets a target. Methods, Targets."
  },
  "no_target_expected": "Turnout is decided by voters. No body sets a target for it.",
  "benchmarks": [],
  "highest_rung": null,
  "decided_by": [
    {
      "body": "NONE",
      "name": "No government decides this directly",
      "note": "Each voter decides whether to vote."
    },
    {
      "body": "COV",
      "name": "City of Victoria Council",
      "decides": "Runs the City’s elections through a chief election officer it appoints.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "lga58",
          "label": "Local Government Act, s. 58",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/r15001_03#section58"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    },
    {
      "body": "BC",
      "name": "Province of B.C.",
      "decides": "Sets the rules for local elections, including that they’re held every 4 years.",
      "laws": [
        {
          "key": "lga52",
          "label": "Local Government Act, s. 52",
          "url": "https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/r15001_03#section52"
        }
      ],
      "last": null,
      "next": null
    }
  ],
  "main_decision_maker": "No government decides this directly",
  "label_1y": {
    "key": "better",
    "label": "Better"
  },
  "label_long": null,
  "target_line": {
    "form": 7,
    "text": "No target expected",
    "target": null,
    "gap": null,
    "comparison": null,
    "applies_here": false,
    "note": "Turnout is decided by voters. No body sets a target for it."
  }
}