Turnout March 11 could be higher than is typical for byelections in Thompson if the number of people who came out to vote in the advance poll March 4 is any indication.
Senior election official Dave Turpie said 365 people showed up at City Hall on Monday to have their say in the three-candidate race between former councillor Blake Ellis, Chiew Chong and Andre Proulx, the latter two of whom tied in the election night count last Oct. 24 as well as in the judicial recount that followed.
It was one of the largest one-day advance voting turnouts that Thompson has had, Turpie said, and about 80 per cent of the total number of people who voted in advance polls for the Oct. 24 municipal election, which took place over three days. More people voted yesterday than on any of the advance polling days in the fall, when 215, 124 and 121 people turned out, respectively.
“It was steady right from the get-go,” said Turpie.
If the trend holds up and the byelection sees 80 per cent of the turnout of the fall election, that would mean more than 2,200 voters, or about 30 per cent of the electorate, which totals about 7,400 people.
That would be a much higher turnout, both in percentage terms and in absolute numbers, than the most recent Thompson byelection in 2009, when only 7.5 per cent of voters – 673 people – cast ballots in a five-candidate race that saw Erin Stewart win with 218 votes, being one of only three candidates to attract more than 100 votes. About 20 per cent turned out for a council byelection for two vacant seats in 1991, when two sitting councillors, including Bill Comaskey, resigned their seats to seek the office of mayor following the death of Mayor Don MacLean while he was still holding office.
Thompson voters will elect an eighth member of council March 11.
Polls will be open at the Thompson Regional Community Centre from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mobile polls will be at Harmony House from 10 a.m. to noon March 11, at Rotary Place from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., Thompson General Hospital from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Northern Spirit Manor from 4:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Voters who are unable to vote on election day may apply in person to Turpie at City Hall until March 8 for a sealed envelope ballot
Any Canadian citizen 18 or older who has lived in Thompson or owned property in the city for six months prior to the byelection date is eligible to vote. Voters may be required to produce one piece of government-issued photo identification such as a driver’s licence or a passport or at least two other documents that provide proof of identity.
