In the 2025 federal election, Canadians voted at the highest rate since 1993. Explanations for high or low turnout usually focus on the national election campaign, including how close the race was and what seemed to be at stake.

As lead author of a new study published in the Canadian Journal of Political Science, I worked with my co-authors — Daniel Rubenson, Roosmarijn de Geus, Benjamin Allen Stevens and Peter John Loewen — to look close to home and examine how someone’s political views compare with those of the people around them.

Our research shows that people whose views closely match the average views in their riding are less likely to vote than those whose views differ moderately. Similarly, people whose views differ extensively from those around them are less likely to vote. In short, voting peaks at moderate levels of disagreement.

Measuring disagreement next door

We used the Local Parliament Project, an online survey of more than 31,000 Canadians conducted during the 2015 federal election campaign, in our research. It included respondents from nearly every riding, which allowed us to compare each person’s views with those of others in the same riding.

Research shows labels like “left” and “right” mean different things to different people. We, therefore, measured political views using people’s positions on 37........

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