The early votes are in and it appears Nova Scotia residents have embraced electronic voting in this year’s municipal election campaigns.
Jud Pearson says the number of electronic votes increase each time he clicks the refresh button on his computer.
“We’ve passed the number of people who voted in the last election already in the first five days of voting,” says Pearson, Truro’s returning officer. “It’s going up as we look at the screen, every few minutes.”
More that 2,200 voters have cast an electronic ballot in Truro, which is just over 25 per cent of eligible voters.
Nearly 12 per cent of people have voted online in Halifax. Advance polls will remain open until Thursday night.
This is the last day for online voting in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. So far just over 29 per cent of eligible voters have cast a ballot.
“When we did the traditional paper ballots, we would have two days of voting at polling stations in person and we would probably be in the vicinity of somewhere around 12 to 14 per cent, so we’re actually double,” says Bernie White, returning officer for the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.
In Truro, all voting will be done by computer or phone; there are no paper ballots. Four public sites are available for voters without Internet access.
“I love it. I think it’s a great way to give community members access no matter where they are,” says voter Norma Johnson MacGregor. “Even if they don’t have a computer or Internet access, they can come to locations like the library and quickly come in and vote and be on their way.”
“It’s raining here in Truro today…if this was an open polling day, that would keep some people home,” says Pearson. “They can do it at home, at a time that’s convenient for them.”
Trurois one of six municipalities in Nova Scotia that is using electronic voting throughout its campaign. That means, come election night, results should be available within minutes after the polls close.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh
