THUNDER BAY — More than 10,200 Thunder Bay voters so far have taken advantage of the opportunity to cast their ballots ahead of the official election day of Oct. 22, almost double the number that voted early in the previous municipal election.
The increase follows the city's implementation of electronic advance voting.
The city clerk's office reports that as of Monday morning, 6,810 people had cast their votes electronically, including 6,188 online and 622 over the phone.
The balance, 3,421 votes, were cast last week at the in-person advance polls.
In the 2014 municipal election, when electronic voting was not an option, a total of 5,540 people voted at the advance polls.
There are just over 79,000 eligible voters for this election.
"I'd say that any expectations I had are certainly being met at this stage. Overall we hope to see at least 50 per cent of votes to be cast electronically," city clerk John Hannam said.
Hannam said Monday that he expects "some measurable increase" in the overall voter turnout for the 2018 election compared with 2014.
Both electronic voting options are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, until 8 p.m. on Oct. 22.
