A surge in early voting may not mean higher voter turnout: N.S.political analyst
Early voting is up significantly in Nova Scotia compared to the same point in the last provincial election, but it's unclear if the increase will translate to more votes overall.
As of Thursday, 12,300 voters had already cast their ballot or requested a write-in ballot. At this point in the 2017 provincial election, just over 4,300 early votes had been cast.
Although early voting is up, experts say it’s too early to tell if this will reflect in the overall voter turnout.
"What this shows me is that there hasn't yet been a massive push, either through generalized advertising by Elections Nova Scotia, or the parties and candidates themselves to get people to cast their ballots early," said Tom Urbaniak, a political science professor at Cape Breton University.
Voter turnout for the 2017 election was just 54 per cent. Some worry this election could drop below that.
"Fifty per cent is a psychological threshold," said Urbaniak. "If we were to see voter turnout below 50 per cent it would have a kind of corrosive impact on our sense of the legitimacy of our political actor."
As for the leaders of the three major parties, NDP's Gary Burrill was the first to cast his ballot on Wednesday and Liberal leader Iain Rankin voted Friday. PC leader Tim Houston says he plans to vote on Election Day.
"We just want people to vote, it's important, it matters who we elect. Democracy still matters and that's the message we're sharing with Nova Scotians,” said Houston.
"I think that people are excited about the next chapter for our province. Everywhere I go I hear optimism of what we can do in this province,” said Rankin.
"All of our candidates are experiencing on the doorsteps a real engagement, a real interest,” said Burrill.
Elections Nova Scotia typically hires about 6,000 people to run a provincial election, but because of new COVID-19 protocols, they need an additional 2,000 workers.
"Most positions you need to be an eligible voter, so you need to be 18 years of age or older, a Canadian citizen and have lived in Nova Scotia since January 17 of 2021,” said Naomi Shelton.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.