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The 2015 federal election is already underway and recent polling data suggests that the race could be interesting. The Liberals and the New Democrats are making plays for Alberta’s Tory-dominated ridings. The Conservative party claims that next year’s budget will focus on tax cuts. The scent of attack ads hangs in the air like the smell of linden blossoms in spring.

But as compelling as the horse race may be, voter turnout will continue to decline. Between 1957 and 1988, turnout ranged from 69 to 79 per cent. Since then, it has only once risen above 69 per cent—and has fallen as low as 59 per cent.

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The death of an older generation of Canadians is partly responsible for this trend. Senior citizens are far more likely to cast a ballot than their younger counterparts — the ones who couldn’t tell you what a typing pool or an 8-track is. Indeed, the 2011 federal election saw 75 per cent of Canadians aged 65-74 vote, compared to just under 39 per cent of those aged 18-24 — in lock-step with a trend that goes back at least a decade.