The city is blaming a last minute rush to the polls for delays over municipal election results.
City clerk John Hannam said everything was running smoothly until the last hour before the 8 p.m. close when a few polls saw a rush, delaying results by more than an hour and a half. People complained of long lines at the polls and reported that some potential voters left frustrated without even casting their ballots. Some polls stayed open until 8:30 p.m. To try and accommodate the rush.
"Everybody decided to come at the last minute," Hannam said.
Some cities, including Toronto, had already declared winners before Thunder Bay's first results rolled in. Mayor Keith Hobbs said the delay felt like game seven of a Stanley Cup hockey game. The city needs to find a way to speed it up.
"This is a horrible process. We're hearing people have been turned away at the polls," he said.
"A lot of people are ticked off that they got turned away or they waited over an hour outside. You know the system obviously has to be looked at."
Hobbs said it might be time for the city to look at online voting, something city council turned down last year.
Ken Boshcoff agreed. He's hoping this next term of council reconsiders how the city votes next election.
"I (support electronic voting) primarily because of the dignity and privacy it gives to the disabled community and it means you increase the vote participation because more people, especially younger people, want to vote that way."
Despite the last minute rush overall voter turnout was 46.05 per cent compared to 46.5 in 2010. Meanwhile Shuniah saw its largest voter turnout ever at 51 per cent while trying online voting for the first time.
Hannam said it's up to council how the city votes. With 98 municipalities in the province using online voting this election, perhaps there will be compelling evidence that Thunder Bay could do the same.
"For the moment we use what we have," he said.
