Candidates announced for school board elections. But how strong will voter turnout be? [Video]

Candidates are being announced for the upcoming school board elections — the first time they’re being held since parts of Bill 40 were overturned.

But there are still questions about how strong voter turnout will be.

“I wouldn’t put all of my eggs in that basket. I don’t think that the voter turnout alone is an indicator of whether school boards should continue to exist,” said Joe Ortona, chairperson candidate for the English Montreal School Board.

The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) tried to eliminate the elections and school boards all together with Bill 40. Part of the reason was because of low voter turnout.

The last election doesn’t have solid data as it was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But in 2014, turnout was under 17 per cent province-wide.

Katherine Korakakis is running against Ortona to be chairperson of the EMSB.

“I think that it would be an …