Turnout at advanced polls down compared to last Ont. election

CTVNews.ca
June 9, 2014

Voter turnout at advanced polls took a six per cent dip this year, compared to the last provincial election in 2011.

According to Elections Ontario, 566,845 voters from across the province cast ballots at more than 800 advance polls that closed on June 6.

The numbers show early voter turnout is down from the 2011 Ontario election, when 603,785 voters chose to cast their vote ahead of the official election date.

Advance polls, which opened on May 31, gave registered Ontario voters a seven-day window to cast their ballots, before the June 12 election date.

Ontario election: A guide to voting

As the election campaign enters the home stretch, a recent survey suggests Thursday's election is going to be a neck-in-neck race between the Liberals and the Progressive Conservatives.

An Ipsos Reid poll survey for CTV News, conducted after the party leaders' June 3 televised debate, shows PC Leader Tim Hudak and Liberal Leader Kathleen Wynne each had 35 per cent of the vote among Ontario’s decided voters.

The Ontario NDP, led by Andrewa Horwath, trailed at 26 per cent.

The poll, conducted between June 3 and June 6, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.