Election on

Hundreds of people have voted already in the Fort William First Nation General election and it’s expected to get busier before polls close Thursday night an election officer says.

Fort William First Nation electoral officer Kimberly Pelletier said around 200 people had turned out to vote for the chief and 12 councillor positions by 1 p.m. Thursday. And with mail-in ballots not being picked up until 3 p.m., Pelletier said she expects a good turnout.

"We’ll be even busier around dinner or just after," Pelletier said. 

More than 1,400 people are eligible to vote. There are eight candidates for chief and 67 for the 12 councillor positions. During the last election two years ago there were more than 100 candidates, but the numbers seem about average for the election.

"It’s comparable to other years," she said.

Polls close at 8 p.m. and results are expected by Friday morning.

"It’s a tradition with Fort William First Nation that they count the votes tonight after the close of the polls. Then I’ll go in through the mail-in ballots. Then I’ll take a bit a bit of a break and we’ll start the count," Pelletier said.