For our democracy, it is the best of times, it is the worst of times. How do we make it better next time?

New polling results from Campaign Research suggest democratic engagement remains an uphill struggle after Oct. 21.

In the latest federal election, 29 per cent of voters described being “irritated.” Another 22 per cent felt “indifferent,” and 13 per cent “excluded” or “confused.”

That adds up to 64 per cent of voters feeling disenchanted or disengaged with democracy in the survey conducted by Campaign Research for the Toronto Star, ahead of a Ryerson Democracy Forum I moderated this week as a post-election post mortem.

You can’t check off any of these categories on your ballot. But it’s worth noting that only 10 per cent of respondents to the survey said they were “optimistic” and a mere three per cent “inspired.”

We know from Elections Canada that turnout in the Oct. 21 election resumed its steady decline, with 65.9 per cent of eligible voters casting ballots. That’s a disappointing, if unsurprising, drop from 68.3 per cent in the 2015 election.

In the previous two federal elections, the turnout slumped to roughly 60 per cent ⸺ a far cry from previous decades when most turnouts were far in excess of 70 per cent. So why are eligible voters not voting?

The top three reasons for people disengaging from the election this time: dislike of politics (23 per cent), distrust of politicians (20 per cent), and a disconnect from parties that don’t reflect their views (18 per cent), according to Campaign Research (the weighted survey of 2,479 people was conducted online; a probability sample of this size would have a margin of error of plus or minus 2 per cent, 19 times out of 20).

There’s a fourth reason, perhaps even more depressing, for not voting: 17 per cent said they were just “too busy.” Among millennials, ages 18 to 34, the figure is even higher — one in four (23 per cent) were too tied up to cast ballots.

For those who voted, the motivations weren’t always auspicious: one of four voted against a politician or party — suggesting that strategic voting and antipathy to polarizing figures (such as Premier Doug Ford) played an important role in the Ontario battleground, where the federal Liberals swept 79 of 121 seats at the expense of both Tories and New Democrats.

Why so negative?

“The whole election campaign was not a positive,” says Nick Kouvalis, principal of Campaign Research, referring to the scandals and character attacks that dominated the contest, often to the exclusion of key issues. “You want people to be inspired and motivated, but that’s not normally how it works.”

Kouvalis doesn’t buy the response from many millennials that they couldn’t find the time to cast their ballots, given that there were so many advance polls in more locations than ever before. It’s a cover story when questioned by a pollster.

“No one’s too busy to vote,” he noted in an interview after analyzing the results. “It’s an easy excuse to explain why you didn’t take the time to vote.”

Not only were voters unmotivated by politicians, they were largely unmoved by policies. Affordability is the biggest concern, far more than platform policies such as pharmacare, child care, or even the environment.

Affordability and cost of living concerns were ranked first by 24 per cent of all Canadians. Which explains why party leaders kept raising it throughout the campaign, with the Conservatives talking up tax cuts, and the Liberals responding in kind to neutralize the issue, and the NDP pointing to pocketbook issues.

Canadians “living paycheque to paycheque” are skeptical of campaign promises to engineer new programs, says Kouvalis (which helps explain why the carbon levy brought in by the Liberals was pointedly sold to voters with a promise that it would be offset by rebates at income tax time).

Despite the march of social media, the survey suggests mass media still dominate political discourse and decision-making: 39 per cent of Canadians cited television as most important in making up their minds, far ahead of Facebook (six per cent) and other social media (13 per cent). Among millennials, however, Facebook was cited by 10 per cent, and other social media by 18 per cent (a combined reach of 28 per cent, versus 23 per cent for TV).

“I don’t believe that social media is the be all and end all,” Kouvalis said. “I think social media attracts people who already know how they’re going to vote.”

The tougher question, however, is whether they will vote at all — especially in campaigns that aren’t “change elections” or fail to generate excitement.

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Asked what would make them more likely to vote in future elections, the most popular choice by far was online voting, cited by 21 per cent of people — far more than electoral reform (five per cent), better advance polling hours and locations (six per cent), or an improved “political culture” (six per cent). If given the opportunity in this election, two-thirds of Canadians — of all ages — would have voted online last month.

As voter turnouts decline over time, a lot of people are spending a lot of time and money wondering how to revive our democratic impulses. The challenges are vexing and the remedies daunting — electoral reform, detoxifying campaigns, wasted votes, electoral re-engagement.

But this survey, and others before it, remind us that there is a virtual pathway that may take us at least part of the way: Turns out that getting with the times — with online voting — could make the biggest difference in boosting turnout next time.