---
title: "Community groups are working to get more Toronto voters to the polls on October 26"
description: "Organizations including Voice the Vote and North York Harvest Food Bank held engagement events ahead of the Toronto municipal election, as advance turnout hit its highest total in more than a decade."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/on/toronto-2026/news/community-organizations-voter-apathy-toronto-october-19"
last_updated: "2026-10-19T16:01:05.893Z"
---

Community organizations across Toronto held voter engagement events in the weeks before the October 26 municipal election, as the city reported its highest advance voting total in more than a decade.

Voice the Vote, a joint initiative by Toronto Metropolitan University's Democratic Engagement Exchange and United Way Greater Toronto, held a fair at Lawrence Heights Community Centre. Global News reported that the event drew 200 people and that 20 were taken to a nearby advance polling site. The advance voting period ran from October 6 to 11 and is now closed.

More than 222,000 people cast advance ballots in Toronto's 2026 municipal election, Global News reported, the highest advance total the city has recorded in more than a decade.

Rania Ahmed of the Democratic Engagement Exchange told Global News that her group's work focuses on a gap in public knowledge. "A lot of people don't know that the issue they care about is tied to municipal government," she said.

Abby Tait, a senior public affairs officer at United Way Greater Toronto, described Voice the Vote as built around local issues. "We developed this community-led project focused on grounding the municipal election in local issues," she told Global News.

Jonathan Dong of Voice the Vote told Global News that showing up sends a message. "Showing up is how people know that you're important, and if you don't show up, you don't get a say," he said.

North York Harvest Food Bank also took part in the Lawrence Heights event. The fair drew residents to a venue where a hot dog cart and an ice cream truck were set up alongside information tents, according to Global News.

Lydia Miljan, a political science professor at the University of Windsor, told Global News that the connection between local decisions and residents' daily lives is not always clear to voters, which is part of why municipal turnout tends to be lower than provincial or federal elections.

Toronto's 2022 municipal election saw overall turnout below 30 per cent, and the 2023 mayoral byelection reached 37 per cent, Global News reported. Global News reported the 2018 municipal election had turnout of 41 per cent.

Voters who have not yet cast a ballot can vote on Election Day, Monday October 26, 2026. Polls open at 10 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. The City of Toronto's website has a tool to find the polling station for your address. Toronto voters choose the mayor, one councillor for their ward, and school board trustees. The full candidate list is at [/on/toronto-2026/candidates](/on/toronto-2026/candidates).

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