Advance polls close for District 9 deferred election

Friday was the last day for advance polls in P.E.I.'s District 9Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park, and Elections P.E.I. says voter turnout was higher than expected.

Paul Alan, manager of election operations with Elections P.E.I., saidthe polls closed at 7 p.m. with turnout sitting at 34 per cent.

"Voter turnout actually turned outa little better than we thought," he said. Nearly 1,400 peoplecasttheir vote ahead of election day on Monday, Alan said.

Advance polls have become a popular option for P.E.I. voters. Nearly 25 per cent of eligible voters in the district cast their ballots in the first two advance polls.

Alan said the advancepolling stations also saw a good turnout fromparents who brought their children along to cast ballots in the new Future Voters program.

"We had a really good response to that, parents thought that was a great idea and had fun with their kids showing them what they do when they go to the polls," he said.

Elections P.E.I. will also be releasing the results of the children's vote on Monday night when the final polls close. The question for kids was"What is your favourite thing to do in the summer?"

Election Day is July 15

The finalopportunity to vote is election day on Monday, July 15. The poll will be open from9 a.m. until 7 p.m. at the Malcolm J. Darrach Community Centre.

There are four candidates running in the election.

• John Andrew, Green Party.
• Gordon Gay, NDP.
• Natalie Jameson, Progressive Conservative.
• Karen Lavers, Liberal.

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