Only about 1 in 10 eligible voters picked Jeromy Farkas for mayor. Will that matter?

In an election marked by low voter turnout and tight margins between several candidates, Jeromy Farkas ended up winning Calgary's mayoral race with only about one out of every 10 eligible voters checking his name on the ballot.

For some, it will trigger the question — what exactly does that say about the mandate of the city's new mayor?

A political mandate refers to the sense of legitimacy an elected leader wields, based on the number of votes they receive.

The larger the vote share, the larger the mandate that leader might be seen to have. They will then implement their policies with what can be assumed is the broad support of the electorate.

Farkas beat his closest rival, Sonya Sharp, by 616 votes following Monday's recount, according to the city.

He was actually propelled to the mayor's office with fewer votes than the number that landed him in second place against Jyoti Gondek in 2021: just over 91,000 this time, compared to 116,000 last election.

As it stands, Farkas earned about 26 per cent of the ballots cast in an election that saw 39 per cent voter turnout.

And that's where the math comes in.

"You've got somebody with the mandate just north of 10 per cent," said Mount Royal University policy studies professor Lori Williams.

But Williams says at the end of the day, the fact that a small number of Calgarians chose the next mayor does not detract from his win.

"Now, that doesn't mean that that it wasn't a fair win, but what it does mean is that it's going to be very important for the new mayor to reach out to those who didn't vote for him," she said.

Stewart Prest, a political science lecturer at the University of British Columbia, agrees outreach can be important for a leader who did not receive an overwhelmingly big share of the votes.

"In situations like this, elected politicians really have to pay attention, to continue to listen to voters between elections. And they can't just assume that the message delivered on election night was the only one that matters," said Prest.

And of course the mayor's power will be limited, not only because of the scope of municipal responsibilities, but because Calgary's weak mayoral system means Farkas will be just one vote out of 15 at city hall.