Advanced polling in Niagara drops
But advanced voting up across Ontario
Fewer Niagara voters took advantage of advance polls for the provincial election than during the 2014 vote.
Some 1,726 fewer voters cast their ballots early this year when compared to 2014, Elections Ontario data shows.
In 2014, 28,611 voters cast their ballots early whereas this year only 26,885 people did.
Most of that decline in advanced voting comes from the new riding of Niagara West, which replaced the old Niagara West–Glanbrook riding. The new boundary captures about 9,000 fewer residents than before.
The number of advanced voters also dropped in the Niagara Falls and Niagara Centre ridings. Like Niagara West, Niagara Centre is a new riding, with 1,000 more residents than the Welland riding it replaced.
In St. Catharines early voting increased to 7,254 voters from 6,625.
Overall, advanced polling in Ontario was up from 647,261 votes in 2014 to 768,895.
Polls open Thursday at 9 a.m. and close at 9 p.m.
People who have not registered to vote can do so by going to their local returning office, or at their polling station by bringing proof of identification and address. For example, a voter can bring a phone bill and a piece of identification with their name on it. People can also bring their voter ID card, which was mailed out by Elections Ontario, to the polling station.
To find your local returning office or polling station go online to www.elections.on.ca.
Niagara’s newspapers — The Standard, The Review, The Tribune and Niagara This Week — will bring you election results live online Thursday evening starting at 8:30 p.m. Reporter Grant LaFleche will host the broadcast and will be joined by reporters across the region and former Standard political report-
er Jeff Bolichowski.
You can watch the livestream broadcast on The Standard’s Facebook page, YouTube channel or website.
You can also join the conversation about the election by commenting on Twitter using the hashtag #Niagaravotes.
Comprehensive stories about local results will also appear on the paper’s website after the polls close, and beyond press deadlines.