Turnout for advance polls in Hamilton Centre byelection around 5% of registered voters
CBC
Around 5.2 per cent of registered voters cast a ballot for the provincial byelection in Hamilton Centre last week — less than half of those who submitted a ballot in the advance polls for the same riding in the general election last year, according to Elections Ontario.
Preliminary results released Saturday by Elections Ontario say that 4,166 voters cast their ballots in the byelection last week. Advance polls were open from March 8 to 10.
According to Elections Ontario, using census data from 2016, there are 100,100 registered voters in Hamilton Centre.
Ahead of the June provincial election last year, 8,535 votes — about 11 per cent of registered voters — were submitted in advance polls in Hamilton Centre.
Voter turnout overall in the 2022 provincial election was a record-low 43 per cent.
The NDP's Andrea Horwath went on to be re-elected as MPP for Hamilton Centre, before stepping down to run for mayor in August.
Ten candidates are now running to take the seat.
Byelection day is Thursday, with polls open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Voters can continue to vote ahead of election day by going to the returning office on 1211 Barton St. E, at the Centre on Barton next to the Giant Tiger.
The returning office will accept ballots from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, and on Wednesday, ballots will be accepted from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The deadline to vote by mail was March 10.
The provincial riding encompasses the space between west Hamilton near the 403 and Kenilworth Ave. N to the east, and from below the escarpment line in the south to the Hamilton Harbour.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.