Advance voting down by more than 36,000, but city officials pleased with turnout

Just under 125,000 Torontonians turned out to cast their ballots during the recent advance polling for the upcoming municipal election, according to figures released on Monday.

Numbers released by city officials show that a total of 124,306 eligible electors went to the pollsduring the advance vote, which ran continuously for five days from Oct.10 to 14.Thiswas oneday less than the 2014 advance vote period.

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"We are pleased that so many voters have chosen to take advantage of the city's advance vote opportunities," Ulli Watkiss, Toronto's city clerk, said Monday in a news release.

"We hope this turnout continues on Election Day, and all eligible electors come out to vote onOctober 22."

The advance vote was held at 51 locations across the city.

The number show36,821 fewer peopleshowed up to the advance polls than in 2014, when161,147 eligible electors cast their ballots.

A breakdown of the 2018 advance voter turnout by day shows the following:

• Wednesday, October 10 24,999
• Thursday, October 11 20,701
• Friday, October 12 18,483
• Saturday, October 13 23,412
• Sunday, October 14 36,711

Torontonians will head to the polls on Oct. 22 to determine the city's future mayor and 25 council members.

It's unclear how the Ontario government's controversial decision to cut the number of Toronto council seats from 47 to 25 so close to the election will affect voter turnout.