For a lot of North Shore residents, voting is already done and dusted, even though Election Day isn’t until Monday.
More voters than ever cast their ballots in the advance polls which ran from Oct. 11 to Oct. 14 across the three North Shore ridings.
More than 20 per cent of voters in the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country riding have already cast their ballots. According to Elections Canada, preliminary figures indicate an estimated 19,289 voters turned out in that riding to the advance polls – an almost 20 per cent increase over 2015.
It was a similar scenario in the North Vancouver riding, where just over 20 per cent of the riding’s voters – an estimated 17,754 people – have already cast their ballots. That’s over 24 per cent more than took advantage of early voting in the last election.
In Burnaby North–Seymour, about 17 per cent of those eligible – or an estimated 13,067 people - voted in the advance polls, an increase of about 22 per cent over 2015.
The numbers of people weighing in early on their choices reflects trends across the country.
According to Elections Canada, the number of voters who cast ballots early was up 29 per cent from the last federal election.
Parties usually encourage supporters to vote early to avoid voters changing their minds at the last minute and to lighten the load on campaign workers on election day. Advance polls are also popular with seniors, and with those who will be out of their riding on election day.
All three ridings on the North Shore are considered close races by political pundits.
