Your vote is bigger than you think
A municipal vote isn't one drop in the ocean. It's your share of a decision a small group of people makes for everyone else. In London's 2022 election, barely 1 in 4 eligible voters (25.5%) chose the mayor and all 14 councillors. The three-quarters who stayed home were a larger group than everyone who voted, combined.
Low turnout doesn't shrink your vote. It hands a small, organized group of neighbours outsized power over a city of 400,000. And city hall runs the most of what you touch every day (the roads, the water, the buses, what gets built next door) while drawing the lowest turnout of any level of government. That's not a reason to shrug. It's where an ordinary person's vote goes furthest.
Races here are won by a few dozen ballots
- London's Ward 13 came down to 34 votes in 2022, 1,885 to 1,851. Two dozen neighbours changing their minds would have picked a different councillor for roughly 20,000 people. City of London — Certified 2022 Results ↗
- Just down the 401, a Chatham-Kent council seat was decided by a single vote in 2022, 2,083 to 2,082. The Chatham Voice ↗
- In Woodstock, about 50 km away, the whole mayor's race turned on 171 votes. Global News ↗
- And in Conmee Township, a council seat tied 121–121; a recount confirmed the tie, so under Ontario law the clerk broke it by drawing a name from a container. One more voter, either way, and it wouldn't have come down to luck. Township of Conmee ↗
The most powerful thing you can do isn't complicated: vote, and bring one neighbour with you. In a race decided by dozens, the two of you matter.
People coming together move real decisions
It isn't only election day. When Londoners organize (at the ballot box, at council, in their neighbourhoods) outcomes change.
- In May 2026, west-London neighbours organized as "Londoners For Responsible Development," filled a council meeting, and watched council vote down a staff-recommended development 5–10. (The developer may still appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal, a win, not a guarantee.) CBC News London ↗
- Every year, Londoners vote directly on how $250,000 gets spent on local projects through Neighbourhood Decision Making. In 2023 they cast 12,229 votes and funded 15 ideas, built on their own streets. CBC News London ↗
- In 2019, Londoners, many of them students, rallied at City Hall for climate action. That April 23, council declared a climate emergency, one of the first Canadian cities to do it, with targets written into the City's plans since. Five years on, the city's own 2024 progress report said emissions were falling but not fast enough to hit the 2030 target. A declaration is a door opened, not a job finished; it still takes people showing up to hold it open. CBC News London ↗
A small group decides for everyone else
- London's 2022 turnout was a record-low 25.5% (71,678 of 281,073 eligible voters) down from about 40% in 2018. The people who showed up chose city hall for everyone who didn't. Global News ↗
None of this means your one vote elects a mayor by itself. It means you're one of a small number of people who actually decide, and the fewer who show up, the truer that is. Someone is going to decide who runs this city. You can be one of them.
Then show up
You don’t need to know everything, just what’s on your ballot and where to go. Find your ward → or see how to vote →